First off: I have opened this discussion thread not for the intention of posting porn-links or NSFW images and video. My intention is that this will house a thoughtful dialogue about the social conception of morality within a rapidly changing liberal culture.
Second: I am somewhat reticent to open this thread that I have been mulling over for some weeks now. The topic is a sensitive one, and in many ways a private matter, and I would ask everyone to bear this in mind before posting. If people are incapable of keeping a level head about this the subject, then I will shut it down.
In Matthew 5:27–30, Jesus is reported to have taught the following:
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Originally Posted by "The Matthean Evangelist"
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell (RSV).
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And then in 6:22–23 we read: “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
The interpetation of Jesus’s instructions in modern, North American culture has taken on an absolute form:
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Originally Posted by New Life Ministries
Lust is a fantasy designed to do one thing-keep you completely to yourself. It is a lie. Lust tries to tell you what sex should feel like and look like. Lust will destroy the relationships around you. You will pull away from reality because of this secret. As you allow lust to consume you, it becomes your life and you will eventually lose control to addiction.
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http://newlife.com/emb/first-steps/
This has become a pretty familiar refrain in evangelical circles: It is not an exaggeration to claim that the North American Church has been irrevocably impacted by increased availability and access to pornography, and
statistics show that Evangelicals consider this a matter of huge concern, often citing pornography as a primary cause of the end of marriages. Sermons dedicated to the evils of internet pornography in the Sunday morning services at our last church in Canada before we moved were among the most frequent over the past five years, and I suspect that this is likely a trend across North America.
In short, the teaching in Evangelicalism is pretty straightforward:
· Premise 1: Jesus taught that all sin was equally grave.
· Premise 2: Incorporeal lust is a sin
· Conclusion: Lust is indistinguishable from actual infidelity.
My interest in this is in how closely the modern, Evangelical ethic reflects the “secular” counterpart in Western society, especially amid our modern tendencies that are increasingly more sexually liberal. Is this nothing more than a religiously motivated problem, or will our increasing sexual liberty prove to be the downfall of our society? Is legal internet pornography (as opposed to child porn or human trafficking and and sexual slavery) a danger to adults? to relationships? Is lust merely a benign fact of biology, or is it indistinguishable with infidelity and adultery?