XXX

I’ve been exploring a few new blogs and websites, seeing what items of interest I might discover. I found some fascinating essays over at The Baron of Deseret.

I’ve been giving some thought to the issues he brought up about Pornography.

I have some strange ambivalence on this issue. On the one hand I am a strong advocate for free speech and I balk at the idea of most forms of censorship. There are many sorts of programs or print media that I would find distasteful or offensive that I still think has every right to exist – I simply choose to avoid it. However, there are some limits to what sorts of communication can be permitted at all. For example, most reasonable people would agree that civilized societies do not tolerate individuals shouting “FIRE!” in a crowded theatre simply to get a reaction. There are regulations against libel and slander. It is also illegal to publish materials deemed to be of national security. So there is plenty of precedent set for saying some forms of communication are so dangerous or harmful that no one should be allowed to engage in them, rather than leaving it up to a matter of personal choice. But who decides when entertainment medium crosses that line? What sorts of films or print materials should be restricted from production even though there is a proven demand?

I find it unacceptable for media to portray sex and violence in a titillating, gratuitous fashion. But I am aware that some people find this stimulating and appealing. At what point does my concern for the negative influence of pornography outweigh another person’s right to view it if he or she wishes?

I have every right to speak out against pornography or to try to educate others about the negative influence is has in society. But at what point do I as an individual (or banded together with others as a concerned group of citizens) have the right to tell other consenting adults what they can or cannot be a part of making or viewing??

I tend to view pornography much as I do alcohol consumption. I am convinced that pornography is addictive to SOME people, just as alcohol is addictive to SOME people. I am convinced that pornography leads SOME people to do dangerous, destructive things just as alcohol consumption leads SOME people to do dangerous, destructive things. Yet, I do not support a total ban on alcohol. Likewise, I am not comfortable with insisting on a total ban on pornography.

I personally choose not to drink and I do not allow any form of alcohol in my home for others to drink. I support restrictions that ban young people from drinking. But, for the most part, I agree that whether or not someone will drink should be up to each individual, even though I recognize that the consequences of excess drinking are serious indeed. Thousands of people are killed on our highways each year in alcohol related crashes. Countless acts of interpersonal violence are either triggered or exacerbated by booze. In general, alcohol abuse contributes to havoc being wreaked in families, in society and in individual lives. Yet I am a firm believer that we should have the choice of whether we will drink or not drink.

For most mainstream types of pornography, I feel the same way. I choose not to view pornography and I do not allow it in my home. I feel quite strongly that children should not be exposed to it. But if adults choose to have pornography be part of their lives, so be it. I really do believe in the maxim that folks should be taught correct principles and then allowed to govern themselves.

But pornography also has an incredibly dark and twisted side that goes so far beyond sexy movies or magazines….there are some in the industry who profit substantially from unleashing a level of depravity that makes me shudder. There is stuff on the market today that just feels so insidious and WRONG that I am tempted to say it should be stopped. However, I recognize there are adults who would say they have the right to participate in even the most extreme fetish fulfillments. How far is too far? Whose sensibilities determine where we as a society will draw the line?

I honestly don’t have an answer to that.