Is it just me or does this world try to hide the son behind gray clouds? We think we add rainbows to life, but really we are hiding them behind dark clouds that never reveal the beauty of lightening and thunder. Just gray, dreary skies.
We believe rainbows are things like watching porn to spice up our marriages. Rainbows are created by homosexuality, feminism, and liberalism. We create them by designing right and wrong based off an individual's feelings instead of God's.
Because we don't think we can "know" what God feels. We believe that saying we "know" how God feels is a prideful assumption. No one can truly know how God feels, instead it's simply your own idea of how God feels based off of what makes us feel good.
I asked a bunch of people what they think about porn. EVERY single person told me something purely based off of feelings. Some of the answers were:
As long as it isn't interfering in sex, it is fine.
I think it is healthy, I think it is okay, I think go for it :) Every couple is different however. So judge it on what you both want not our opinions.
I personally think that if a married couple wants to use porn together, then its their choice. When it becomes unhealthy is if the intimacy in their lives is substituted by porn. But if its just there to spice up a marriage a little bit, there's nothing wrong with that.
I think people are always looking for things to complain about, and seriously, Your spouse is going to jerk off to images that don't involve you no matter WHAT they are watching or NOT watching.
well, i believe it is healthy IF it is not interfering with your relationship. And that goes along with being normal or abnormal depending on the situation.
I am a Christian and I believe that porn is not a big deal if both people see it that way. But if one thinks it is betrayal, then it needs to end.
I think you reading too much into things. Those people are doing a job that they love and, choose to do. And, besides who watches porn thinking about stuff like that? They're not on drugs most porn stars aren't.
And here's my favorite response, in reference to the brokenness of people in the porn industry:
It would be nice if the world was all about right and wrong, yes and no, black or white. But that is not how it is. Sometimes it is about maybe or grey or just because. We all do things we hate. My job sucks. Then again sometimes I love doing what I'm doing and my job is great. I am sure there are many porn stars that love their job. In fact I know a few. I also know of some that are on drugs and others that are abused. Just like the bad cop ruins it for all the good cops. The bad producer ruins it for all the good ones.
Just like that last guy, we don't believe in black and white anymore. Everything is "what feels right for you." If you want to have an abortion, cool, you do what you need to do. If you want to masturbate to images of abused men and women, well, go right ahead, it's no big deal. If you want to drop your kid in a dumpster, go on, it's all about you.
We think we create a colorful, rainbow-striped life with our "do as you please" mentality. We think by accepting gray areas we are being non-judgmental and loving. But we are only loving ourselves and seeking our own pleasure. And not loving others enough to tell them when they are wrong. Life is not about what we can give, it's about what we can get out of it before we die.
We have created hell on earth, people. A dark, gray life that is dead and color-deprived. Masturbate to porn, have an orgasm, and then look at a baby's smile and tell me which brings REAL color to life.
Self-pleasure and gratification may FEEL good, but it will strip all the color from your life until you are left with dismal clouds that hide all the rainbows.
There is black and white. And it's not hard to figure out what they are if we are open to hearing what we don't want to hear.
I imagine Jesus standing in gray clouds before He sacrificed Himself. I imagine Him saying, "Well, this doesn't feel right for ME, although it might be for you, Father... so I think I'm just going to skip this for now. Maybe later when I feel better about it."
Sometimes choosing white over black is more painful, sometimes it doesn't feel as self-gratifying as winning an Emmy or masturbating to porn, but when you choose white you paint your life with real rainbows. Colors that will last in eternity and trail behind you through the gates of Heaven.
Porn destroys. And we buy into it. We feed it. We laugh about people who take it too seriously. Meanwhile, our lives are stripped of color. And one day...one day we will stand before Jesus and show him a life of gray clouds or a life of color.
I want to be like Jesus.
I want to create real rainbows. I want to choose white over black. And I want to live in honesty, purity, truth, and goodness, sprinkling color wherever I go.
I don't want to be a puppet, a little girl who thinks she's so smart, but really she's naive and buying into the lies fed to her. It's so easy to consume lies and spit them out for others to devour. It's so easy to say that porn is good and there is no black and white. It's so easy to be like the world instead of against it.
But I don't want easy.
I want white.
32 comments:
As scripture tells us, children of darkness love the dark - those with evil deeds stay in the dark, because the light will illuminate the sin in their life. Oh wait, I forgot... sin is in the eye of the beholder right?
Well, I NEVER thought porn was right. I knew it was wrong. Maybe that made me all the worse for the years I spent tangled in it compared to those who believed in the "gray" theory.
I spent some serious time in the dark with this sin. It ate a hole in me. It left me feeling pretty numb about so many things, but somehow I knew that too (The Holy Spirit).
I remember saying to my friend Zach "I gotta get this out of the way, I just feel like God has so much more to work on, but I can't get past this wall..." I was so right!
The thing about being a child of God is this, you can't stay in the dark forever. God in His mercy will discipline those whom He loves. He disciplined me, and the light broke into the darkness, and it hurt, but it worked! I am walking free from that stuff now, and as I look back, I see the blackness that I was lost in.
People who think in gray, prefer that because it involves no absolutes, and it involves no punishment for wrongs committed. The same reason want to write God out of their lives... they try to erase His existence, because they don't like accountability. People don't even want to say others are in the wrong simply because they don't want the finger pointing at them ever. But there is a HUGE finger that can't be done away with. God instilled the natural law in all of us. We DO KNOW right and wrong as much as we understand east and west. But, we can drown out the sound of that reasonable voice. Many have, and many more will.
Porn causes so many problems. It damages the natural design. It infringes on masculinity and femininity. It perverts and twists the beautiful out of form. It spits on the act that is a living representation of the intimacy Christ has with His Bride. It is a masterful attack strategy from the Father of Lies. He looks like He is winning, but really... He is just giving His all at loosing. The Lamb of God has already won... knocked down, but He got back up! White wins, black looses... gray is gone in the light of that Truth.
-yours-
your among the minority of people in this world who want to see black and white. whats really sad is that you somehow associate this limited kind of thinking to jesus. do you not know how to live your life on your own, that everything you say or think or do has to have jesus's name stamped on it because your so scared of just living as an individual? because that is the clearest message i get out of this post. what are you scared of? just live. stop preaching to everyone. have a thought of your own and stand behind it without sitting on jesus lap as protection. be alive. your not dead yet. you still have a life to live here on earth, and it would probably start to be a little bit happier if you lived without these narrow minded blinders on in the name of jesus. its people like you that turn me off to christianity, and jesus, for that matter.
I don't find it at all coincidental that our particular American culture began to loose its sense of right and wrong around the time of Vatican II. There was nothing wrong with it, but there's a lot wrong with what people did with it. Whatever feels good, not what's been said to have been right in the past. We can create our own reality of what's right. As went the Church, so went the culture. No more responsibility for our own actions. No more having to judge yourself! And that meant you couldn't judge others. No judge sitting on the bench means no justice, and I wish people would wake up and realize how stupid that is.
I love to read magazines; I always have. But I can't find a single one that's liberal as hades. One article about how masturbation and porn is healthy and natural, and how you can't impose your own moral guilt on your spouse for it! Another about how to get your daughter to take birth control for her own good. I mean, come on!
I am always amazed that people don't see porn as adultery. Even if a couple is making love just themselves, and one of them is thinking of someone else, that's adultery. Someone else is really who they're making love to in their mind and heart, and some people still don't get it. Common sense has gone out the window.
Like George said, the children of darkness love the dark and hate the light. Thank God we can tell the difference.
Anonymous-
It is no coincidence that Christians are labeled "narrow minded". Narrow is the way that leads to life and broad is the path that leads to destruction.
You are sorely mistaken about Ashley. You insist that she isn't happy, and that she isn't living. Well, that is far from true. We can "preach" and be full of life. In fact, when you are full of Life and Light, people will often think you are preachy, because you can't help but include Jesus into everything.
Our opinions are shaped by the very life of Christ - by His words and by His actions. Do we live up to this always? No, otherwise I would never have been steeped in porn in the past.
We attack these things which we have seen cause great harm for so many lives - including our own. But, we are very much alive and happy. We are not pleased with the state of the world, but we are very much happy in life. We are more than happy, we are joyful, and that remains even when life is hard, or if there is grief.
Christians say what people don't want to hear. Jesus did the same, and He was hated, and He promised us that "If the world hates you, remember they hated me first". But we rejoice in this too, because He said this will gain us reward. When people bash us, for the sake of Christ, we are to "count it all joy".
We are not hate mongers. We love people, but love doesn't mean we don't say what people want to hear. We love, and that calls us to stand for truth and justice. We are not the judge, but the Judge has already spoken, and made the commandments clear. All we need to do, is hold ourselves and each other up to it, and we will see the truth.
I pray blessing on you. May you be happy and fulfilled in your life... in all you do.
-g-
Why is that most anonymous comments have something negative to say? Why not sign your name and stand up for what you believe in?
Anyway, I just have to respond to this one question Ms. Anonymous said:
do you not know how to live your life on your own, that everything you say or think or do has to have jesus's name stamped on it because your so scared of just living as an individual?
I am an individual and I live my life as an individual who has free will, free choice, and I choose Jesus Christ. I choose to honor Him, love Him, and glorify Him in all I do.
And when I fail... oh how much more He is glorified.
As George said... narrow is the way and FEW walk in it.
So thank you for calling me a minority.
ok you say im negative.
you are saying that you don't support rational thought or equal right for women (not to mention gay rights, but that's for another day, because i simply don't have the energy right now to dive into that one).
that's positive???
so let me get this straight.
its positive that you think women should be treated as second class citizens.
its positive that you think that logic and reason shouldn't exist?
feminism and rationalism are not negative ashely. did you take history in school? rational thought has brought us mathematics...science...technology...the discoveries that have made it possible to do the everyday things that you take for granted.
plato? aristotle? socrates? descartes? any of these names mean anything to you? rational thought is not evil. jeeze.
women used to be denied voting rights. sent to mental hospitals for having pms. beheaded because they didn't bear a son. the list goes on. you think the generations of women who fought for our liberty should be ignored and disregarded? are you insane? feminism is not what you obviously mistake it for. maybe you should really look at who is being negative here.
perpetuating ignorance is not positive. its inexcusable.
i chose to remain anonymous because i dont really think you need to know my name to be honest. its as simple as that.
Anon,
Jesus Himself said the way would be narrow. One thing He never did was compromise God's standards, so if you are looking for a "shade of gray" on moral law, or a "jesus" who affirms and accepts anyone and anything as "okay", you are creating a god in your own image.
Nowhere does the Bible condone subjective morality. God created everything by Himself and for Himself, so guess what? He makes the rules; not us.
Oh yeah...here's a pretty clear one:
"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell." (Matthew 5:27-29)
Hmm. Doesn't sound very ambiguous to me.
Do you entertain the thought that perhaps the moral laws God has given us are for our own good - to protect us from the consequences of sin and provide blessings (such as healthy and loving relationships), or do you see them as harsh and arbitrary? There are some who view God as a 'cosmic kill-joy".
I ask because I couldn't tell from your post if you deny the EXISTENCE of God, or you object only to Ashley giving Him preeminence in her life
actually anonymous---i thought your negative was your CLEAR insults to me, i don't recall about feminism and all the other things you listed in your previous comments, what i do recall... hold up, let's rewind here... go on up to the comment, take a looksie.... it looks like insults toward yours truly.
let me bold them for you:
your among the minority of people in this world who want to see black and white. whats really sad is that you somehow associate this limited kind of thinking to jesus. do you not know how to live your life on your own, that everything you say or think or do has to have jesus's name stamped on it because your so scared of just living as an individual? because that is the clearest message i get out of this post. what are you scared of? just live. stop preaching to everyone. have a thought of your own and stand behind it without sitting on jesus lap as protection. be alive. your not dead yet. you still have a life to live here on earth, and it would probably start to be a little bit happier if you lived without these narrow minded blinders on in the name of jesus. its people like you that turn me off to christianity, and jesus, for that matter.
now, on to your second comment there.
logic and reason DO exist whether we want them to or not. the question is... what do you think logic is? if you think it's separate from the master of logic, then you are not as logical as you think.
wanna know my thoughts on logic?
http://blog.ashleyweis.com/2008/03/is-god-logician-logical.html
oh and your statement here: you think the generations of women who fought for our liberty should be ignored and disregarded?
not sure what this has to do with porn, but no... women should not be ignored and disregarded. you obviously have no idea who i am and what i believe, you are taking pieces of things i have said on skylanas blog and some of my posts and turning them into things that they aren't.
if you'd like to talk about this stuff you can email me...
Anon -
No one is saying the woman's rights movement was "all wrong", but sometimes good things are wrapped up in other not so good things.
So, where women being treated with respect across the board is good, women thinking it is good to "express their sexuality" has in fact only caused a new kind of degradation. Actually, it is an old form with new outlets.
It was never a good thing for women to be mistreated as you mention, but now, they are mistreated in other ways. Not to mention, the natural role of a woman is downplayed and a new manlier woman is applauded.
Instead of strength in nurturing and being the glue that holds family (and thus society) together, now it is the thing to be at the top of the high stress work ladder. No longer is monogamy praised, but now sex for recreation is on the pedestal. No longer is rearing children seen as beautiful, but rather as a nuisance to achieving ones "goals" in life.
The tables have flipped... some freedom gained, and new struggles emerge. The liberation wasn't balanced... it went way off into left field and has left us with so many new problems. Woman since that time have struggled more greatly with self image, stress, lack of meaningful love, sexual degradation as a result of sexual expression, colder, meaner, harsher women have risen, and the soft beautiful woman of years gone by are few and far between. Soft and TRULY FEMININE doesn't mean "not powerful" It entails great strength that can only be found in a woman. It is in my humble opinion the stuff that makes or breaks a nation... see now, the fall of our nation as the family unit is torn apart.
Blessings and peace,
-g-
"you are saying that you don't support rational thought or equal right for women (not to mention gay rights, but that's for another day, because i simply don't have the energy right now to dive into that one)."
"i chose to remain anonymous because i dont really think you need to know my name to be honest."
Let me take a guess...
Barack Obama?
:)
am i supposed to be offended by the barack obama comment? weird.
george,
yes of course good things are sometimes wrapped in bad things. thats the nature of any societal movement. thats not a good enough reason to say that feminism is bad or look at it in a negative light. AT ALL.
in fact what i see you doing, as being exactly those "bad things" that have happened as a result of the extremely positive feminist movement.
meaning...overall feminism as done so many great things but the things that it didn't do unfortunately is show men like you how essential it is and how to appreciate it and not spend time dwelling on the few negative examples you have seen of it in your own life.
im guessing you have run into women who are "ball busters" as some people call them, and this has offended you greatly. to you, a women should be at home. she should not be striving to achieve personal satisfaction from anything other than her babies and making her husband happy, cleaning, cooking, and doing other domestic fun filled things while her family is perfectly taken care of. but see, the thing is, that is just great from where your sitting but not so great from where she is, necessarily.
what feminism has done is given women a CHOICE. a choice to say yes, being a homemaker is for me, i find fullfillment in it and i love it. it makes me personally happy and there is nothing i could learn in school or in employment where i show my strengths and ablilites as well as i could at home. and that great. good for that woman. no one is taking that away from her.
some women don't want that. some women have gifts that lie outside of the home, in an office setting, or in the entertainment field, or in the social services field, or in the financial field, etc...all of these places are open for them to come and participate in because- guess what!- they have a brain just like a man does and they can assert themselves and be very capable of running things without a man. on their own. without babies. without a husband.
all of these choices we should respect. why should we respect the mother but not the social worker? why should we say that a wife is more valuable than a nurse, or a makeup artist, or a grocery store checker, or a preschool director? and oh my goodness, what if she were to be BOTH??!
people are given talents by god and they do with them what makes them happy.
the thing that seems clear to me that you just dont get about feminism is why it exists. try to wrap your head around it, because i know its a big one. think about the slaves. after years and years and years of horrendously nasty treatment...generations and generations of families cruelly beaten and be made to feel like nothing day in and day out. the civil rights act (along with others) finally made them equals. people were murdered and scorned and the battle for equality was long and hard, but they did it. they finally gained tither rights and they finally got the nation to see that they should not be treated in this way. we acknowledged our WRONGDOING as a country and we tried to make it right (even though there is really no making it right in the instance of inequality cruel brutality). these acts and amendments to our constitution were made and came to pass because they were NEEDED. these people were unjustly treated, as im sure everyone can agree, and our government finally figured out that it was wrong. now think about women. women were very similarly owned as property, told what to do how to do it and when, denied voting rights, denied THEMSELVES. so acts were passed and movements sprang up to combat this UNEQUAL power differential to satisfy the wrongs, and try to make them right. now we have you. you think that this is wrong. feminism doesn't make sense to you. i see you as the one living in the dark. maybe ive shed some light.
Anon-
I hear you, and I acknowledge the good, but where it has gone since, is anything but "feminine".
I do NOT look down on the woman who works. Sad thing is, in this society, it is tough for a woman NOT to work, because money is so desperately needed, although that probably springs from the fact that America has long been greedy, and the American dream got bigger and bigger... people are loaded with debt and MUST work. So, I don't look at the social worker, makeup artist, flight attendant, realtor, child care services rep or anyone in a NEGATIVE light.
About ball busters... no, I haven't met any of them. I have met women in charge, and let me say this, they were not feminine. They were power hungry (obvious). They weren't at rest, but striving for some golden carrot the world hung in front of their noses. They tended to be pissy and made rash decisions which seemed emotionally charged. They didn't smile so much, except for when they were with clients. They seemed like they had a massive stick stuffed up their --- you fill in the blank.
Do I look down on them? No. I feel sorry for them. Most of the ones I met, didn't have a marriage anymore... it ended (I am pulling from several examples by the way). They had cash and achievement, but they were clearly not happy.
My belief comes from the fact that I think woman have TONS of gifts. More than that, they can do like a million things at once, but interestingly enough, that is just the sort of thing that is helpful when you are raising a family. Men tend to be more single minded and focused on a single task at a time... this is often useful in the work environment. It facilitates quality and organization.
I will let the "big head" slide. I will let God and those who know me make that call. If I am, may I be chastised.
Again, I wish nothing but the best for you. Our views are different. We look at the same thing completely different. I can live with that if you can. I do not oppress my wife or any other woman, so, my view inflicts no harm.
I think women deserve rights and choices, but I don't think "Feminism" at least that is what they call it is in actuality... feminine.
Best regards,
-g-
anonymous from the sunny side of california -- what does this have to do with my blog post which was predominately about porn?
if you want to "shed light" on feminism, send us to your blog or email us. we don't mind discussing it, but why comment on a post about porn?
there is nothing wrong with women working. i am a novelist. i'm also a business owner with george. but more importantly, i am a follower of Jesus, a wife, and a mother. relationships will always be more important to me than my own success. and if the government took away my right to have children (which they are thinking about doing) or took away my right to be a novelist... cool, i don't really care what the world tells me. my life is foremost found in Jesus Christ and everything flows from that. He is the center of my life, not my rights in this world.
but you are showing me by your insulting comments toward me and my husband, that your views are not something i want to take part in. you seem to enjoy wrapping your head around philosophical/social issues, but (at least on these comments) you are lacking love.
i know we all lack love to the fullest, but your comments are CLEARLY rude and if you would like to continue to bash us and shed light on us, please send me an email or even an anonymous comment and instead of posting it in the comments on a post about porn, i will create an entire blog post just for your comments.
ashley... i appreciate your post and your heart about porn... i have felt very much the same way in the past and i think there is a great deal to be gleaned from your perspective...
the only thing that makes me nervous is how positive (it seems) you are that you are right. i think porn can be and is terribly destructive. however i don't think it is a foundation to build gray vs. black and white theory on. There are many things in this world that are black and white and if you believe the bible then a great deal of them are contained there. however i think that porn is an issue that is not black and white.
if we are basing belief on the bible and we base it on the ENTIRE bible (not just specific verses), then we can see that sexuality is an issue that is not terribly clear. there are specific issues that are. do not commit adultery is one. david paid for this sin. however there are many men that god considered pure men that slept with prostitutes. Judah is an example.
i think that god sees the hearts of men before their actions. obviously prostitution is wrong (i think anyway). but it's not about that. it's about the heart. god sees the heart.
the marriage bed is sacred yes, but it is also a place where there is no judgment in what brings unity. i never thought i would say this, but i think that IF porn unites and excites marriage unity than god would condone it.
i can't say my husband and i have done this, or that i would be super excited about it, but i am open because my marriage is more important to me than whether porn is right or wrong.
anything that separates my husband and i as ONE, is wrong to me. that is my opinion. if it brought us closer i wouldn't be opposed to it.
i'm not one to say i am right and you are wrong. that isn't me. but i would encourage you to not be that way either. not that you are but it's just a thought. as i said i think i see your heart and it both precious and thought provoking. :)
oh and george... i also wanted to comment a tidbit on the following:
"Christians say what people don't want to hear. Jesus did the same, and He was hated..."
i think we should keep in mind that the people that hated Jesus were the religious. NOT THE WORLD. the world loved him because he loved them...
that's all :)
Blessings, Ashley and George,
I wholeheartedly agree with your submission to Christ in everyway. I believe that most people's struggles stem from wanting to be in charge of their own lives instead of choosing to submit their lives and decisions to God. I filter all things through God's Word because I don't want to waste a day on my own selfish desires. All of the philisophical debates dance around the real issue of who is in charge. Us or God?
Joanne
Elissa,
Thank you for coming to us bearing your name, and for being considerate in the way you have. It is respectful and respectable... many sincere thanks!
Anyway, was it merely the religious that hated Jesus? No, but they were the key persons that plotted His death.
Remember what Jesus said in John 15:18 "If the world hates you, know that it hated me first". I think the Lord even put those religious folks into that category. They might have been a few clicks worse, because they were hypocrites. Also, it should be noted, that Jesus ministry was mainly to Jews, who would all be considered "religious"... at least in the nominal sense. The word "world" does not denote "religious" A single person can both be religious and be a part of the world. You will know the tree by its fruit.
So, even today, people can call themselves Christians (which most of America does) and still in actuality be part of the world.
In 1 John 2:15 we learn that to love the world means that the love of the Father is not in you. We need to love all people, but not love the world system. So, some people house the philosophy of the world system... they may even seem religious on the outside... but the cup is dirty on the inside.
Sorry to rant, I just wanted to clarify and remind of a passage or two.
In Him,
-g-
Elissa- first, thanks for being kind instead of expressing disagreement with contempt.
second, i know a lot of people who were involved with porn in some way, not consumers, but makers. girls who were in the industry, men who were producers... they will be able to tell you more than i can how wrong porn is, not just because of the lust issue, but because of the pain that is behind it. i guess you could say, "well, not all porn is like that," but most is, if not all, because those people, in general, have broken hearts. but either way, porn breaks apart people, it doesn't unite and excite. that is a deception.
third, i don't have to question whether i am right or wrong about porn being wrong, because Jesus said it was when he said anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has committed adultery. porn is lust, you cannot watch porn objectively and think about your spouse while you are getting aroused. if anything is OK as long as the marriage bed is thumping, then i guess it's okay to bring little kids into the bedroom and have sex with them as one big orgy... or perhaps it's OK to have threesomes... or, let's just watch people make porn right in front of us, like let's say our neighbors, and get all excited that way...
why would a healthy marriage need to watch someone else have sex in order to get excited anyway?
my husband's eyes are enough. i don't need someone else's painful, unfeeling, void of passion, acted-out sex to want to make love to my husband.
porn is wrong. i will not discourage you from your "i don't know if it's right or wrong, it's just me" thing. but at the same time... you will never convince me that it is prideful or judgmental or WRONG to say that porn is wrong.
black and white.
porn is blackened with the filth of semen, blood, Gonorrhea, cocaine, self-gratification, and broken hearts.
it's dark. it's black. it's wrong.
http://www.shelleylubben.com/pornstars
http://www.shelleylubben.com/shelleys-videos
Completely in agreement with Ashley and George - very well said too.
Wow... I am astounded that anyone finds pornography to be acceptable or healthy in ANY circumstance.
This is not a vague subject in the Bible... the scripture the Weis's quoted alone makes that clear.
It really would be great to get a list of scripture on here that reference lust, the shame of nakedness, and how our bodies are to be a temple... just a thought.
ok you two... i hear your hearts and respect them...
and i do see what you are saying about porn being a step toward despicable immorality. but some of what is considered porn can be educational (to please our spouses) and lust is NOT involved. this once again is my opinion and experience...
i sound like a broken record player, but it just sounds like you never have considered the possibility that you are wrong. and i hear that you are not willing to in this aspect. which is ok but be careful in doing this with all issues in your life.
george, you brought scriptures up that i have spend much time memorizing and dissecting in greek. i did this years ago. i think it is a rabbit hole and it isn't something i want to do now. however i say this to say i don't think the issue is as black and white as you may think either. i don't mean this in a condescending way at all! this is just my opinion.
Joanne (anonymous) said something very wise:
"All of the philisophical debates dance around the real issue of who is in charge. Us or God?"
it goes no where and there is no point discussing it when you are obviously firm in your beliefs on this issue. these are just humble thoughts.
ep
hey elissa - even if people can somehow use porn for educational purposes (like, maybe how to fit a fist into a cow) they are still contributing to the brokenness and destruction of the people creating porn.
and that is selfish.
if we didn't consider the possibility of being wrong, how would we have BOTH (george and i) been users/consumers of porn when we were Christians?
We WERE wrong. We've been there.
good point...
Elissa,
You said: “Anything that separates my husband and i as ONE, is wrong to me. that is my opinion. if it brought us closer i wouldn't be opposed to it.”
By definition, pornography is a 3rd party. It will separate you from each other, whether it is “educational” or not, whether it is used during the act or sometime prior to it. People thousands of years ago didn’t have education videos to show them how to have sex, or how to make it better. Why do we need them?
Oy… This is what happens when you have no authoritative body to interpret scripture and everyone wants to have things their way. (Not a knock on you, I’m just observing, because you are not only in the opinions that you have stated.)
Like Joanne (anonymous) said: "All of the philosophical debates dance around the real issue of who is in charge. us or God?" Personal interpretations are us. There’s no getting around that. When Christians can’t agree on even these basic issues of morality, there are serious problems with the argument that the Holy Spirit is “all we need”.
Pornography is intrinsically evil in and of itself. There is no good to ever come of it. It does nothing but destroy. If someone wants to learn how to improve their sex life, they should ask their partner, not a third party.
I agree with you Brooke...although I do think some people could argue that by saying... "Well, what if I asked my husband how to improve our sex life and he wanted me to watch porn."
That is so common. There's a man who kept porn by the bed, and before sex with his wife he'd "have to" look at those pictures to get turned on. Then he'd turn over and have sex with his wife while thinking about those women.
This is the reality of porn. People, for their reasons, want to justify porn as a good thing. But fact is... it damages us whether we want to believe it or not.
It damages those porn stars, the producers, the little five year olds who find it, marriages, and consumers.
And if people stopped justifying this trash and stood up against it, maybe there wouldn't be so many consumers and maybe it would be less of a common thing than it is now.
i'm totally being devils advocate but in theory i agree with you... honestly i cannot imagine being bettered by an outside source but i have heard some people are.
this has all been very thought provoking...
FWIW...
Pornography is a mortal sin, and contrary to popular opinions, mortal sins do not apply to Catholics only .
God would never approve, even if Satan convinced us "IF porn unites and excites marriage unity than god would condone it. ”.
CCC:
2354 Pornography consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parties. It offends against chastity because it perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other. It does grave injury to the dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the public), since each one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others. It immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world. It is a grave offense. Civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornographic materials.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a6.htm
I like what George said about pornography spitting "on the act that is a living representation of the intimacy between Christ and His Bride." The sex act has tremendous spiritual significance, and we often fail to see that. Illicit sex can completely destroy a life. The way we treat sex in our society is like small children playing with a loaded gun. I think that if we could see the eternal ramifications of pornography, we would be appalled.
I don't expect unbelievers to be persuaded by anything I said, but this is also a huge issue within the church. Now that people don't have to face a cashier to buy pornography, the problem is out of control, even with pastors and other Christian workers.
Some of you referred to Matthew 5. "If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell." Sobering words, if read carefully. Note that the passage doesn't exempt those of us who have accepted Christ.
Elyssa, you're right that not everything falls neatly into black and white boxes. But, with all due respect, the New Testament standard for sexual purity is unambiguous. (Not to gang up on you--I appreciate your willingness to challenge our thinking and fuel the debate.)
we can look at porn objectively, see it from all sides, and see that the negative effects far outweigh the positive.
even the "positive" effects are only positive because of the way we have been trained to view sex.
i remember looking at that scrambly porn on tv as a kid. and i remember looking at porn as a teenager. and i remember having phone sex with a stranger. all because of my tainted view of sex.
i can only imagine what the kids nowadays have to deal with, especially since a majority of people agree that porn is okay and healthy and beneficial to a relationship.
and that's only one side of the story. we're so focused on our own relationships that we don't even care about the porn stars we USE for our own pleasure.
i read Jenna Jamesons autobiography... and she is very much pro porn. But she was also raped and abused as a kid. She was an underage stripper, etc. etc. And even now... I guarantee you her heart is still in pieces, no matter how successful her porn career is.
porn, on all sides, is used to fill a hole that should be filled with something else. period.
in my life... i decide whether something is good or bad based off one simple question.
Does this bring me closer to Jesus? Does it glorify Him?
Porn?
Don't think so.
This stuff is wrapped in a big filthy lie that makes $13.3 billion a year. Of course they want us to believe it's a good thing. last year porn made more revenue than CBS, ABC, and NBC combined.
people can say porn benefits them all they want, but something tells me porn benefits the industry's wallet as it steals from the rest of the world's hearts.
Annette said: “The sex act has tremendous spiritual significance, and we often fail to see that.”
And Ashley said: “even the "positive" effects are only positive because of the way we have been trained to view sex.”
To both, I say AMEN AMEN! :)
All life is grey, what a boring world it would be without if all was black and white. Scripture is nonsense, god more than likely doesn't exist, if he/she/it does its a horrible cruel creature. I quite enjoy a good wank.
Hello,
I am a porn addict who is trying to recover, and I must say that you are right on with the things you are saying. While not all these comments are based on feelings (i.e., As long as it isn't interfering in sex, it is fine.) per se. I wrote a blog post not too long ago called, "Pornography: Bad for just me or for everyone?" (here: http://blog.purifyinggrace.com/?p=504).
And to add comment to your blog post here, we are living in times very similar to the time of the Judges (see Judges 17:6 and 21:25, both state verbatim, "In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.").
Please visit my blog (http://blog.purifyinggrace.com), though I do not write as well as you, and please not that I am not in the clear yet either.
Post a Comment