Article in school newspaper supporting porn use

[Beautiful_Feet]

Hey guys this is one of my first posts on here but I attend LSU and in our campus newspaper there was an article saying the porn shouldn’t be demonized and that it should be something that is accepted and if people find out their partners are looking at it they should not freak out.

I want to write a reply to the newspaper, if you have any helpful points or info please post them up. I’d really appreciate all the help! Here’s the link to the article

lsureveille.com/opinion/positively-carnal-pornography-shouldn-t-be-demonized-for-its-downfalls-1.2707729#.T00Su1vbiME

 

[Semper_Zelare]

1. “self-love” is just a cute way for modernists to rephrase: selfishness. You could go as far as writing, “Because masturbation is a selfish act, it is regarded by the Church as being always and everywhere evil”
2. Human beings, as well as all creatures are not made to have sex, they are made to reproduce. The penis and vagina are not sexual organs, they are reproductive organs. Any activity which is not open to reproductive goes against Natural Law.
3. The problem with pornography isn’t that people think this is what real life relationships are like, it is that pornography actually replaces the desire for many people to have real life relationships.
4. List of statistics:
   -56% of all divorce cases “involved one person having an obsessive interest” in pornographic websites
   -Severe clinical depression was reported twice as frequently among pornography users compared to non-users
   -Pornography increases marital infidelity by more than 300%
   -The average age of initial pornography exposure is just 11 years old
   -Sex addicts are 23 times more likely than those without a problem to state that “discovering online sexual material was the WORST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED in their life”.

Good luck and God Bless you in your work. Let it Glorify His Name by defeating the wicked. Pray that the Holy Spirit speaks through you and uses you as His instrument.

2 more:
-89% of all pornographic webpages are made in the U.S. IE: If you think your level of viewing pornography is “normal” … it’s probably much much higher than anyone in other countries.
-More than 50% of people who engage in “online sexual interactions” had lost interest in sexual intercourse. That proves the earlier point that pornography replaces relationships.

Not to mention all the people that don’t know how to treat/ talk to/ relate with women because of it.

Oh… btw Roll Tide

 

[Rich_Olszewski]

. Human beings, as well as all creatures are not made to have sex, they are made to reproduce. The penis and vagina are not sexual organs, they are reproductive organs. Any activity which is not open to reproductive goes against Natural Law.

LOL! Go tell that to the couples who practice NFP because they want to enjoy sex without the wife having to get pregnant. And, tell that to the clergy who advise couples to use NFP if circumstances make it unfeasible to have another child at that time or for health reasons. As you said, “any activity which is not open to reproducti[on] goes against Natural Law.” I presume “any” means “any.”

 

[Semper_Zelare]

LOL! Go tell that to the couples who practice NFP because they want to enjoy sex without the wife having to get pregnant. And, tell that to the clergy who advise couples to use NFP if circumstances make it unfeasible to have another child at that time or for health reasons. As you said, “any activity which is not open to reproducti[on] goes against Natural Law.” I presume “any” means “any.”

How would natural family planning violate natural law? Let me answer that for you: it doesn’t.

You can laugh at me all you want. I will be praying a lot for your soul today. We’re called to prayer not to mock. You wouldn’t mock God, why do you treat God’s creation any differently?

That’s all I have to say to you, everything else will be said through the graces of the Holy Spirit, Mary and all the Saints that she is the Queen of.

 

[SamH]

LOL! Go tell that to the couples who practice NFP because they want to enjoy sex without the wife having to get pregnant. And, tell that to the clergy who advise couples to use NFP if circumstances make it unfeasible to have another child at that time or for health reasons. As you said, “any activity which is not open to reproducti[on] goes against Natural Law.” I presume “any” means “any.”

What exactly are you ranting about now? How does that in manner address what you quoted?

 

[scipio337]

…Oh… btw Roll Tide

You had me, up until that point!

Great reasoning. I found this part of the article to be myopic:

While there are downfalls in porn production, viewing pornography shouldn’t be the taboo and shameful practice it is today.

Really? No mention of the downfalls, or the harm it does to those in the porn industry, but its perfectly acceptable to support that industry by buying and using pornography?

 

[Digitonomy]

1. List of statistics:

Citing statistics can bolster an argument, but I see a few problems with these stats that should be considered before citing them. First, there is no source listed.

-Severe clinical depression was reported twice as frequently among pornography users compared to non-users

It’s not clear whether the use of porn is a cause of depression, or if porn use is more likely as a result of depression.

-Pornography increases marital infidelity by more than 300%

Same problem.

-The average age of initial pornography exposure is just 11 years old

Not really an argument for adults to avoid porn.

-Sex addicts are 23 times more likely than those without a problem to state that “discovering online sexual material was the WORST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED in their life”

If this is true, and if we accept that sex addicts comprise a pretty small segment of the population, it means that the vast majority of people are very unlikely to consider the discovery of online porn the worst thing that ever happened in their lives.

If I can spit back these objections in just a few minutes, the readership of the college paper will have no trouble doing the same and more. However, if you can come up with statistics that truly support your argument, it will go a long way in strengthening your argument from essentially “My opinion is that porn is bad,” which is what most of the replies in the paper will be.

 

[Semper_Zelare]

Citing statistics can bolster an argument, but I see a few problems with these stats that should be considered before citing them.

The problem is you don’t have a single objection to the most important stat I listed: 56% of divorce cases occur because one spouse has “an obsession with online pornography”. I’m sure you could just google that to verify the source from any number of news sites, and then all you have to do is find out how many divorces happen annually.

Given that around half of marriages end in divorce right now… I found there were 2.3 million divorces in 2005. So, that’s 4.6 million people. (assuming none were polygamists HAHAHA)
56% of that is roughly 2.6 million people had divorces because of pornography.

Want a source just plug it into google… we’re not debating it here. This is Catholic Answers Forum, the truth REIGNS in this place. What this thread’s purpose is, is to help someone defeat the kind of false heresy which is being spread in the LSU newspaper.

So… while I find your objections to those stats (which took me like a minute to find) interesting, what I find more interesting is that you have absolutely nothing to say about the very first one I listed. 56% of divorces are caused by pornography.

At the end of the day, Digitonomy, you can nit pick some statistics… anyone can do that, but can you answer this question: Do you believe pornography is evil, yes or no? If you say no you lose all credibility on this thread, and to the OP.

God be with you

 

[Digitonomy]

The problem is you don’t have a single objection to the most important stat I listed: 56% of divorce cases occur because one spouse has “an obsession with online pornography”.

I wouldn’t call that a problem, I’d say that makes it the strongest (and therefore most useful to the OP) of the stats you cited, assuming it’s true.
Semper Zelare:

I’m sure you could just google that to verify the source from any number of news sites

The generally accepted practice is that the person making a claim is responsible for providing the support for that claim, so that others can examine the merits of that source. If you don’t believe me, go look it up somewhere!
Semper Zelare:

there were 2.3 million divorces in 2005. So, that’s 4.6 million people. (assuming none were polygamists HAHAHA)

Semper Zelare:

we’re not debating it here. This is Catholic Answers Forum, the truth REIGNS in this place.

I think it’s strange (especially on a message board like this) that you consider debate and truth to be mutually exclusive. I would suggest that debate is a tool used to arrive at and demonstrate truth.

 

[Semper_Zelare]

The generally accepted practice is that the person making a claim is responsible for providing the support for that claim, so that others can examine the merits of that source. If you don’t believe me, go look it up somewhere!I think it’s strange (especially on a message board like this) that you consider debate and truth to be mutually exclusive. I would suggest that debate is a tool used to arrive at and demonstrate truth.

I’m not the one writing for the Newspaper. When I have wrote for the newspaper I spent roughly 2 hours doing my research to argue against contraception. And that’s the whole point… the LSU newspaper matters a little more than some random thread on CAF.

I agree that debate can be used to demonstrate truth, but it is not a tool to arrive at truth. The Catholic Church doesn’t need to worry about “arriving” at truth… they already know what the truth is. And part of that truth is that pornography is always and everywhere evil.

My point to you is, you haven’t actually debated a single thing yet. The OP wanted to write for the LSU newspaper against people saying pornography was good. I gave him some help to prove that it’s bad. And your response was essentially that of an English Professor saying “You didn’t properly cite according to MLA guidelines all your sources in a bibliography”.

If you think pornography is a good thing, why don’t you just say so, then I’ll debate you.

But, up until this point there hasn’t been a debate. I’ve said pornography is always and everywhere evil- malum semper et ubique. You responded by refusing to answer my question: do you think pornography is evil yes or no?

I can’t debate you if I don’t know your answer to that question.

 

[Digitonomy]

the LSU newspaper matters a little more than some random thread on CAF.

Which is why we’re discussing the merits of what the OP should put in his letter.
Semper Zelare:

And your response was essentially that of an English Professor saying “You didn’t properly cite according to MLA guidelines all your sources in a bibliography”.

While having a reputable source for ones information is important, that’s a minimum standard. The more important part of my response is that the stats as listed were fairly weak points, and in fact could be twisted by others to draw an opposite conclusion - not a good thing if you’re trying to construct a strong argument for an apathetic or skeptical audience.

I forgot to mention earlier that the pornography → divorce stat could also be looked at in the same way as the others: those with poor concepts of marriage, or low commitments to their marriages, or just weak in the personal skills needed to work hard at a marriage, may be more likely to use porn, rather than porn being the cause of divorce. I suspect all of these things reinforce each other, but the important thing is that I think the stat as listed rings truer to the average reader and is less susceptible to flipping this way than the others, which is why I let it be.
Semper Zelare:

But, up until this point there hasn’t been a debate.

On the contrary, instead of debating whether pornography is good or evil, we’ve been debating the thread topic - what are helpful points or information to include in the OP’s letter?

 

[Semper_Zelare]

On the contrary, instead of debating whether pornography is good or evil, we’ve been debating the thread topic - what are helpful points or information to include in the OP’s letter?

I offered 11 helpful points… 4 of them were logic and reasoning, 7 of them were statistics.

So, I do encourage you to help the OP. Why don’t you give the OP some “helpful points” to malign the evil of pornography and to eviscerate all arguments that posit that pornography is good. I await to hear the points you’re going to offer him, I’ve come up with all I can think of off the top of my head. Perhaps you can shed light on why pornography is evil. So, what in your opinion will help him explain the Catholic Church’s position that pornography is evil?

And, though your 3 posts on this thread served no purpose but to criticize my post… I won’t criticize any points you offer to the OP to help him explain why pornography is evil.

My heart will always rejoice to hear the precepts of the Lord spoken.

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

At the end of the day, Digitonomy, you can nit pick some statistics… anyone can do that, but can you answer this question: Do you believe pornography is evil, yes or no? If you say no you lose all credibility on this thread, and to the OP.

God be with you

Says the person who quotes statistics without citing them.