Timothy P. Nixon, Contributor
THE NEW millennium has brought a change in perspective concerning a host of issues that were once thought to be demoralising and destructive. One such issue is pornography. A growing number of groups today are defending pornagraphy as harmless adult entertainment
Civil libertarians and free-speech advocates defend pornography and fight against censorship all in the name of protecting free speech.
What should we as Christians make of this new acceptance of pornography? If it involves consenting adults and married couples, why should it matter?
The divine gift
Human sexuality is a divine gift, invented by God and given to Adam and Eve in marriage for the purpose of procreation, mutual intimate communion, and physical fulfilment. It is the highest form of communication that a man and woman can enter into and is reserved for the exclusive relationship of marriage.
Pornography wars against the basic principles of monogamy, exclusivity and mutuality originally intended by God. It views humans narrowly as sexual objects to bring us pleasure, as opposed to whole beings with minds to be enabled and characters to develop.
Though there is no direct biblical description of pornography , 2 Samuels 11 does give us an account of what can happen to someone who views a person as a sexual object. In verse 2, King David ignored his own marital vow and disrespected hers as well. He saw her only as a subject to bring him pleasure and sexual gratification, and lost sight of his responsibility to God, his family, and the nation of Israel.
Why is pornography harmful?
Of our five senses, our visual sense has the greatest power in influencing our actions. The Blackwell Dictionary of Cognitive Psychology says that when our senses receive conflicting information, our visual sense dominates and supersedes our other four senses in determining our actions. This is called "visual dominance".
Because we are not automatically alerted by visual signals, our tendency is to accept what we receive visually without analysing it ethically. The indiscriminating nature of the visual sense makes pornography an insidious perversion that subtly weakens our moral sensibilities. It introduces ethical compromise without initial detection.
The eyes are the windows to the soul. What we see, contemplate, and think shapes what we do and who we become. (see Job 31vs7 and Proverbs 16vs 9).
Pornography introduces depraved notions about human sexuality and initiates self-indulgence. It makes the self-centred drive to fulfil one's sexual desires primary and all other considerations secondary.
Reasons
Here are some reasons we should avoid pornography.
1. Objectification of womenPornography distorts our value system by reducing women to sexual objects whose only purpose is to fulfil physical gratification. It encourages self-indulgence
2. Pornography suggests that human desire should determine our decision-making. It sees fulfilling one's sexual drives as the goal of the human even when it contradicts God's principles.3. Defiles the imaginationThe brain is a delicate computer that stores and catalogues everything we view. Viewing pornography pollutes the imagination and distorts our memories.
4. Contradicts monogamy in marriagePornography promotes an immoral notion about sexuality. it suggests that all sex is permissible as long as it involves consenting adults.
5. Destroys the notion of mutuality in marriagePornography is self-centred in its emphasis.
6. Promotes the sin of lustSadly the accessibility that young people have to pornography through cable, TV, satellite and the Internet makes it easy to receive demoralising images abut sexuality.
Remember, SEX is NOT a SIN
It is not a sin to be sexually curious or to have sexual urges. There are three basic principles to deal with the challenge. (Proverbs 22 vs 6)
1. Give information needed to aid children to understand their sexuality with all of its pleasures and pitfalls.2. We should control the environment and influences. 1 Corinthians 15vs33: Phillipians 4 vs 8Parents must also model what it means to be sexually responsible and spiritually mature.Timothy P. Nixon is associate chaplain at Andrews University located in Berrien Springs, Michigan.
