[bcsoda]

Originally Posted by gargamel

I don't think it's fair to assume that any of those parties are being forced to perform a sex act.

I also don't think it's fair to assume that they're doing it of their own free will in every video you watch, with no coercion whatsoever. I tend to be more cautious, and can't dissociate from the idea that this could be a forced sex act while I'm watching it.

Originally Posted by bubbsy

if we set aside this side of the debate though. Love and christianity - do people believe that monogamy is the completely natural state of human mating/courtship? If so, why do we continue to have urges after finding the "one"?

Why is it that since the feminine revolution (woman are less and less depandant on her husband for survival, and can be self-sufficient economically) over the past 50 years, that we are seeing more and more divorce?

As for love and christianity I can't really argue since I'm not religious. I do wonder if monogamy is a personal thing in the same way that sexual preference is. Not that it's something that you choose, but rather something that you're born with. I do believe that it's possible for someone to be happy in a polyamorous relationship if that's what everyone in the relationship agrees with and wants. However, non-monogamous relationships don't sit well with me. It doesn't feel right, for me. You could argue that this is because it's how I was raised in society, but other aspects of me go against what society says, and I still don't feel that they're something I could change. They're simply who I am, and no amount of wanting to change it could cause it to happen.

I also don't think that there is "the one", but I do think that there could be "the one that you want to make it work with". If you've tried to make it work, but its still not, then I think leaving the relationship is the obvious answer. Now that this is more of an option for women, it makes sense to me that there would be more divorces. They're accepting that it isn't working with this person, and potentially trying to find the one that it does work with. Monogamy is limited in my views to within a relationship, but to me it doesn't mean that there can't ever be other relationships if that one has run it's course.

Originally Posted by octothorp

Is it fair to say that amateur porn is automatically more moral, or is that simply making further assumptions about the people involved that may not be true?

I think I've already touched on everything else you posted, but I wanted to reply specifically to the question on amateur porn.
I don't think it's fair to say that amateur porn is automatically more moral. There are people who've had amateur porn posted on websites without their consent. Videos being made without their consent. Maybe the person was enjoying the act as it was happening, which makes the actual acts in the video seem less demeaning, but their choice as to whether or not that was posted online was completely taken away from them. This is another instance where I can't ignore the thought while I'm watching the video that there is a chance that this video has been posted online without the consent of one of the parties involved, and that if they did find out it could have potential to be traumatizing for them.