Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Would Our Government Fund Slavery?
Amid the clamor of those groping for government handouts are a couple of unexpected petitioners. “…adult-entertainment moguls Larry Flynt and Joe Francis said Wednesday that they are asking Washington for a $5 billion federal bailout, claiming that the porn business is suffering from the soft economy….The request, Francis said, was being made in a letter to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass, and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The $5 billion figure, he said, reflects the decline in U.S. adult-entertainment- industry revenue from $18 billion three years ago. (Kevin Modesti of the LA Daily News, Thursday, January 08, 2009)
Surely they jest! How could such an inhumane industry even be considered for government assistance? Pornography is a type of modern-day slavery; it enslaves the viewed and the viewers. Just as prospective masters used to look at the teeth, the muscle tone, and the attractiveness of the humans they traded, modern consumers browse magazines, movies and the internet looking at body parts and lewd behavior they can purchase. Those who pose are literally selling their bodies and those who watch often find that their minds and emotions become addicted (enslaved) to it.
Admittedly, some of these sex objects are in the business of their own free will. However, many are doing it because of their desperate financial straits and some (especially children and teens) are doing it because they have no choice. Wouldn’t it be rather hypocritical for America to celebrate its decency and sensitivity to civil rights and then financially underwrite pornography?
Pornography is one of the largest industries of our day. Morally speaking it is just as despicable as the slum Lords, sweat shop owners and slave traders of yesteryear. This industry is dumping more toxic waste into the streams of society than all the factories in the world are dumping into our physical waterways. If the industry is waning, we would do well to let it fail. After all, self-respecting society doesn’t encourage its citizens to parade their nakedness and gawk at the nakedness of others.
Women should be especially offended by this business. Many readers will agree with Raymond Woodward who wrote: Women who have failed to condemn pornography have “unwittingly aided the most heinous assault against the female gender ever devised in the pits of hell…It is a virus that kills intimacy, dignity, reality, and spirituality. It snuffs out the soul of everyone it touches, because it reduces humanity to a commodity to be used…Gary Brooks, a psychologist who studies pornography at A&M university, has demonstrated that even “soft-core” pornography has a very negative effect on men because ‘it’s voyeurism—it teaches men to view women as objects rather than to be in relationships with women as human beings.’” (The Pentecostal Herald)
I Thessalonians 4:3 and I Corinthians 6:18 advise us to “flee fornication” (sex outside of biblical marriage), not because it is a forbidden joy, but because it is slavery. If you are bound by pornography it might be an encouragement to know that many people have been set free. The key is to get to know God intimately. Let Him give you a life of dignity and self-respect by means of His unconditional love.
On September 22, 1862 President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which freed slaves in Confederate states. We celebrate that legislation, and we should. But, it is high time for emancipation from the slavery of pornography. Men, treat your wives, daughters and girlfriends with respect and dignity. Women, do the same for the men in your life. Emancipate your mind. Emancipate children and young people who are selling their bodies and souls. Don’t buy the stuff and ask your government not to underwrite those who do. That is all it would take to bankrupt this whole system of slavery.
Surely they jest! How could such an inhumane industry even be considered for government assistance? Pornography is a type of modern-day slavery; it enslaves the viewed and the viewers. Just as prospective masters used to look at the teeth, the muscle tone, and the attractiveness of the humans they traded, modern consumers browse magazines, movies and the internet looking at body parts and lewd behavior they can purchase. Those who pose are literally selling their bodies and those who watch often find that their minds and emotions become addicted (enslaved) to it.
Admittedly, some of these sex objects are in the business of their own free will. However, many are doing it because of their desperate financial straits and some (especially children and teens) are doing it because they have no choice. Wouldn’t it be rather hypocritical for America to celebrate its decency and sensitivity to civil rights and then financially underwrite pornography?
Pornography is one of the largest industries of our day. Morally speaking it is just as despicable as the slum Lords, sweat shop owners and slave traders of yesteryear. This industry is dumping more toxic waste into the streams of society than all the factories in the world are dumping into our physical waterways. If the industry is waning, we would do well to let it fail. After all, self-respecting society doesn’t encourage its citizens to parade their nakedness and gawk at the nakedness of others.
Women should be especially offended by this business. Many readers will agree with Raymond Woodward who wrote: Women who have failed to condemn pornography have “unwittingly aided the most heinous assault against the female gender ever devised in the pits of hell…It is a virus that kills intimacy, dignity, reality, and spirituality. It snuffs out the soul of everyone it touches, because it reduces humanity to a commodity to be used…Gary Brooks, a psychologist who studies pornography at A&M university, has demonstrated that even “soft-core” pornography has a very negative effect on men because ‘it’s voyeurism—it teaches men to view women as objects rather than to be in relationships with women as human beings.’” (The Pentecostal Herald)
I Thessalonians 4:3 and I Corinthians 6:18 advise us to “flee fornication” (sex outside of biblical marriage), not because it is a forbidden joy, but because it is slavery. If you are bound by pornography it might be an encouragement to know that many people have been set free. The key is to get to know God intimately. Let Him give you a life of dignity and self-respect by means of His unconditional love.
On September 22, 1862 President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which freed slaves in Confederate states. We celebrate that legislation, and we should. But, it is high time for emancipation from the slavery of pornography. Men, treat your wives, daughters and girlfriends with respect and dignity. Women, do the same for the men in your life. Emancipate your mind. Emancipate children and young people who are selling their bodies and souls. Don’t buy the stuff and ask your government not to underwrite those who do. That is all it would take to bankrupt this whole system of slavery.
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