Overall in this debate, I think that we also have to consider a seldom discussed concept in Christianity, the conscience. Bro. Jamal 5000 has brought some interesting scriptures into the debate, while I see the need to discuss them, I must curb my desire to do so, seeing as though I have a proclivity to become very long winded when discussing scripture (PM me Bruh!
) but I think we can get to the point where our entertainments have to become a matter of conscience. Paul discusses in I Corinthians chapters 8-10 the issue of food being offered up to idols and though he states that idols are nothing to those people who understand righteousness outside the law, it may still offend the consciencenes of those weaker believers who are weak because of their lack of knowledge. Now is porn similar to food offered up to idols ( in the since that it affects different people diferent ways)? It depends on how a person views porn.
The arguement was proposed that since they really have sex on film that watching porn is akin to prostitution. What about documentaries that show people in drug houses using crack, is this akin to you using crack? What about news broadcasts that show people being killed? Real depictions of real lifes situations are sometimes ugly reflections of our true humanity-both good and bad. If there is a sin here, I don't think it is the sex acts themselves. Does it indulge in a lustful desire as Jamal5000 states-of course it does. But these lustful desires aren't just piqued in porn, they are in our rap videos, other movies, spring break at Kappa Beach and our dearly departed freaknik, when we go to the club, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, Honey Magazine, beer and car commercials, the clothes that we find sexy (thongs and muscle shirts) etc. What I am saying here is that I think the popularity of porn speaks not about a few perverted men in sexshops, but a whole society that has devalued sex into a mere "drug" so to speak (an outlet to curb a physical desire) and a media that has marketed this "drug" to a society of "drug abusers". I sub sometimes in the public schools here and to see 13 and 14 year old girls wearing thongs to school and with words sprawled across their chests and behinds is utterly rediculous. Acording to some reports, AIDS is the number one killer of Black people ages 25 to 44 and the fastest growing segment of HIV infections is occuring with Black women. Porn is symptomatic and a deeper issue in our community, that of sex abuse-which is rampant in the whole country.
What does any of this have to do with conscienceness you ask? Well, the issue with the food offered up to idols was that it affected people because of their lack of knowledge, in other words, it wasn't really anything wrong with it, but since so many people were in the dark about it, it should be avoided. This speaks to relativity in sin, that not everything we percieve as sin is actually sin for everybody. Sex ouside of marriage is sin for everyone, no matter the context (presumably). But , for example , is me watching an R-rated movie- like "The Mack", is that sin? sure it has violence, drug use, sex, etc. But, if I can see a keen social message about the double conscienceness of a black man being trapped by a racist system and learn and grow from it, is it a sin for me? I was at a church conference on gangsta rap a while back and one of the men there stated that he had some Tupac in his truck. He could listen to Tupac and gleam from it passion and pain, and also recognize the mysogyny, hedonism, and materialism were symptomatic and not things that should be taken as truth. Now, the issue became whether a 15 year old could make those distinctions, probably not, so Tupac wouldn't be profitable for him to listen to, but other, more mature people probably would not be affected by tupac the same way. It is a matter of conscience-what you know about a situation, that determines whether it is profitable for you to do certain acts, in some instances. Is porn on this same level, I think so because some people who watch porn do come away thinking that this is really life, but others think it to be fantasy. Though it can lead to some sad ideas about sex, but I think our society already has sad ideas about sex, and it is not solely because of porn.
Blackwatch!!!!!!
Conscience
Linear Mode
