Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
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?
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Is it a danger? It certainly has the potential....
- Does it modify your expectations of a sexual relationship with your spouse? Probably (the degree of course would vary on the individual). Could this reduce your enjoyment of sex or damage the sexual relationship with your partner? Possibly
- Could it damage the relationship between wife and husband (or other forms of union) if one party was "caught in the act" of getting off on internet porn? Probably (again - depending on the couple and their previous experiences with porn as a couple and as individuals)
- Porn (like booze, drugs, failblog, lolcats, gangnam flash mobs and all other vices) is definitely addictive, forming habits that are hard to break and leading to modified behavior to hide/feed the addiction
- Would I like my kids to be exposed to it? Not really, although that is pretty unrealistic. I know my first playboy was experienced in elementary school (some classmate with an older brother) and I know that over the years an exposure to port did give me some unrealistic expectations of sex within marriage
- Would I like my kids to be acting in it? Absolutely not, and I shudder to think of the damage (mental, physical and spiritual) done to the actors / actresses throughout their careers). Does that change your impression of porn, realizing that those are people as well and that by you encouraging their trade you are further encouraging this damage.
Is it a benign fact of biology? Challenging...
- Is there a problem with rubbing one out in the shower (in the total absence of porn or other mental images)? Is this lust? Is it a problem?
- What if you rub one out with a mental image of your spouse in your mind? Is this lust? Is it a problem?
- What if you and the spouse film your own sex video? Is this now considered porn? Is it infidelity if you watch this and rub one out while the wife is out of town?
Is it infidelity? Also challenging, particularly with the lust = infidelity conclusion that biblical interpretation & teachings indicate that it is....
- Is it lust (infidelity) when watching Game of Thrones or any movie / show with nudity and you admire the body of the nude actress?
- Is it infidelity when having sex with your spouse you think of someone else (ex, porn star, neighbor)? What if you are thinking of your wife in her 20's from 40 years ago and your now in your 60's still happily married?
- Is it infidelity if you are a widow (but remarried) and you think of your previous husband (now deceased)?
At the end of the day, this is a VERY grey area in anyone's relationship with both their spouse (and God if you are spiritual) and I don't think there are any right answers. There are things that will hurt one spouse and not another. There are substances or experiences that are addictive and will destroy one person yet have no impact on another.
Wow - that post went on & on. Good topic - I hope that people don't just bash it or ignore it for the biblical references you have quoted, as I think it is a relevant topic for people of multiple faiths as well as those without any spiritual beliefs to think about and make some conclusions on.