Banning pornography

[Cloudwalker]

Someone told me Catholics are supposed to support making pornography illegal. Is this true?

 

[Jonatello]

i can’t lie, i would love to see pornography just go away, and the idea of it being banned is tempting, but it opens a pandora’s box that would be more harmful in my opinion.

i don’t think making pornography illegal or not has anything to do with whether you’re a good Catholic.

not only that, but it would never happen, so it would be a great way to manipulate Catholic votes. A politician can make a distinction between himself and his opponent “i believe porn should be banned, so Catholics must vote for me” and then of course it wouldn’t get banned, but we’d be stuck unable to make more compete, nuanced and wise decisions in the voting booth.

and even if it was illegal, it would still be prevalent.

 

[Joe_5859]

Everyone would agree that we can and should make child pornography illegal, but when it comes to “adult” pornography, many people resort to a “live and let live” attitude.

I think one of the greatest con jobs of the 20th century was the porn industry convincing the culture that porn falls under “free speech” that is therefore protected by the First Amendment. If a guy pays a girl for sex, that’s prostitution and it’s illegal. But if a guy pays a girl for sex and records it on video so that he can sell it and make money, that’s protected free speech? It truly boggles my mind how they got away with that peculiar form of rhetorical gymnastics.

I don’t think we can assume some sort of post-illegal prevalence as a reason to toss up our hands and say “Why bother?” Drug use is prevalent. Lots of things are prevalent but they still remain illegal.

 

[NewsTheMan]

Ban it. It’s vile, a mockery, satanic.

Something so beautiful, a gift from God where we can participate in His creation act is made evil and the mainstream culture laps it up as if it were something to celebrate.

Pornography is one of, if not the leading cause of immorality in society today. It all comes down to that perversion of sex.

Ban it for good, all forms.

 

[1ke]

Of course.

 

[BVM_1221]

Someone told me Catholics are supposed to support making pornography illegal. Is this true?

Probably, but…

It is not about laws on the books, it is about the Supreme Court decisions. We would need to change the members of the Supreme Court, stuffing it with very conservative Justices.

And for most Catholics, that would mean Justices who opposed abortion. Pornography would be lower on the list of prioraties:coffeeread:

 

[Nate13]

Someone told me Catholics are supposed to support making pornography illegal. Is this true?

Lots of other battles to fight first You would also have to wonder if in the age of internet that is even possible of enforcing. I agree with the prior poster that protecting pornography under “free speech” is highly suspect, while at the same time saying prostitution is illegal.

 

[KostyaJMJ]

How would you even approach such a monumental task as banning porn in a country the size of the US? Even if you have all American ISPs filter pornographic content, people will simply be able to circumvent the restrictions using unrestricted servers in other parts of the world. Add to that, we already have the largest prison population in the world. How are we going to go about investigating, prosecuting, and imprisoning millions of new criminals?

Right now pornographers are losing money because of the wide availability of free porn on the internet. If pornography is made illegal it doesn’t mean that porn will stop being produced, it just means that it will be more expensive and more profitable. So on top of trafficking narcotics we will just give organized crime another profitable enterprise to go in.

Completely impractical idea.

 

[GelasianumVetus]

From the Catechism, 2354: …Civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornographic materials.

Which, would mean, by implication, we should assist them in doing so and ask them to do so.

 

[Joe_5859]

How would you even approach such a monumental task as banning porn in a country the size of the US? Even if you have all American ISPs filter pornographic content, people will simply be able to circumvent the restrictions using unrestricted servers in other parts of the world. Add to that, we already have the largest prison population in the world. How are we going to go about investigating, prosecuting, and imprisoning millions of new criminals?

Right now pornographers are losing money because of the wide availability of free porn on the internet. If pornography is made illegal it doesn’t mean that porn will stop being produced, it just means that it will be more expensive and more profitable. So on top of trafficking narcotics we will just give organized crime another profitable enterprise to go in.

Completely impractical idea.

But child pornography is illegal, is it not? I presume they would handle it the same way.

Not all criminal activity is punishable by jail time. Lots of people break the law by speeding. We don’t imprison those who speed. Nor do we do away with speed limits just because “everyone does it anyway.”

 

[pnewton]

But child pornography is illegal, is it not? I presume they would handle it the same way.

Not all criminal activity is punishable by jail time. Lots of people break the law by speeding. We don’t imprison those who speed. Nor do we do away with speed limits just because “everyone does it anyway.”

That sounds like a good idea. Ban it, make it punishable by a fine. It would still carry a stigma and the idea of getting caught would at least curtail its use and profitability.

I would never want it punished harshly, lest it be on the same par as child pornography and result in an increase of that greater evil.

 

[KostyaJMJ]

From the Catechism, 2354: …Civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornographic materials.

Which, would mean, by implication, we should assist them in doing so and ask them to do so.

The thing is that most people now carry a cell phone capable of producing and distributing pornography in their pocket.

 

[KostyaJMJ]

But child pornography is illegal, is it not? I presume they would handle it the same way.

Not all criminal activity is punishable by jail time. Lots of people break the law by speeding. We don’t imprison those who speed. Nor do we do away with speed limits just because “everyone does it anyway.”

The same problem with child porn.

By the mid-1980’s, the trafficking of child pornography within the United States had been almost completely eradicated through a series of successful campaigns waged by law enforcement. Child pornographers had become lonely and hunted individuals. Producing child abuse images was both difficult and expensive, and reproducing images was equally difficult and expensive. Purchasing and trading such images was extremely risky. Anonymous distribution and receipt was not possible and it was difficult for pedophiles to find and interact with each other. Unfortunately, technology has changed the situation.

Producing child abuse images has now become easy and inexpensive. The Internet allows images and digitized movies to be reproduced and disseminated to tens of thousands of individuals at the click of a button. The distribution and receipt of such images can be done almost anonymously. As a result, child pornography is readily available through virtually every Internet technology (web sites, email, instant messaging/ICQ, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), newsgroups/bulletin boards, and peer-to-peer). The technological ease, lack of expense, and anonymity in obtaining and distributing child pornography has resulted in an explosion in the availability, accessibility, and volume of child pornography.

justice.gov/criminal/ceos/childporn.html

 

[Warrenton]

Probably, but…

It is not about laws on the books, it is about the Supreme Court decisions. We would need to change the members of the Supreme Court, stuffing it with very conservative Justices

This overlooks the fact that legalizing pornography was the act of the Supreme Court. They overstepped their mandate in doing this, as they did with abortion. The members of the Supreme Court engaged in a usupation of the right of Congress to legislate the laws of the land.

It is ludicrous in logic and fact for the Supreme Court to assert that although for 2 centuries and longer under the common law of the land both pornography and abortion were illegal by the near universal consent of the people, “evolving” standards, which they alone decreed, made the law of the people obsolete. One boggles at the Court’s concept of evolution, or progress - evidently, one described by pornographers and sex mongers never agreed.

For nine people, or any five of nine unelected people to overthrow centuries of public morality of a nation of 350 millions is tyranny.

 

[Warrenton]

That sounds like a good idea. Ban it, make it punishable by a fine. It would still carry a stigma and the idea of getting caught would at least curtail its use and profitability.

I would never want it punished harshly, lest it be on the same par as child pornography and result in an increase of that greater evil.

You are correct - historically, pornography and prostitution were never punished harshly. They were made illegal to give people the right to prevent their diffusion in society.

A fine would be sufficient to prevent the vast majority of porn dissemination simply by cutting into the profit margin of pornographers. It would also permit the government to confiscate and destroy pornography, which would drive up the cost of its production, further limiting it.

With the limitation in production, the amount of competition would decrease, and we could expect the vileness of porn to gradually decrease. Modern porn came in with the advent of photography - the first examples were what was called “French” postcards, which became available at the turn of the previous century. They are tame by today’s standards. The prevelence of child pornography today is a function of the need to entice and obtain a larger share of what has become an unlimited market. It must be stopped, or the problem will get worse.

 

[fred_conty]

Someone said:“and even if it was illegal, it would still be prevalent.”

Let’s make it illegal and find out.

 

[schaubj57]

Ban it completely. What purppose does it serve in society? It only presents the realization that society is growing further and further from God and his Laws then doing anything positive.

Ban strip clubs, or as some are called “Gentleman’s Clubs”. Trust me, no self respecting gentleman would be in one.

 

[edwest2]

I am sick and tired of hearing “tame by today’s standards.” I’ve heard it for years, and for years, what has the media done? Just turned up the volume on the amount skin, adult situations and profanity. This took 40 yrears to turn it into what it is today.

The internet? Impossible? And in Detroit, when a religious group proposed certain standards regarding the activities and coverage of strippers in so-called “gentlemen’s clubs” be made into law, the owners replied by saying “we’ve got millions to fight this.”

This isn’t about free speech. This is about the common good. And the good of our sons and daughters. We must look at the following for what they really are:

Sex worker: Prostitute
Exotic dancer: Stripper
Adult Language: Profanity
Adult Situations: Sexual situations

So what if they move their servers to Uzbekistan?

abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=129485&page=1

Get educated about what you can do, and politely complain.

fcc.gov/guides/obscenity-indecency-and-profanity

Peace,
Ed

 

[Not_Sure_1]

Ban pornography. Many from the internet will raise their voices in stories of how pornography ruined their lives.

Pornography is also evidence of the crime of prostitution.

 

[Infiltrator]

Simple Answer - No

Complex answer
A Catholic cannot support banning anything. We can say that something is wrong and is an affront to God; however we can under no circumstances ban anything.

It basically boils down to this. God gives us the choice to follow him or to walk a different path. It is well within his power to force us to love him but instead God wants us to love him as he loves us…

We have to choose to love him; we have to choose to follow him. When we ban something, we are saying “you cannot choose to do that” – we are taking away one of the key things that God has given us. The choice to do what is right, independently.

So it comes down to this. Is pornography wrong – yes. Is pornography an affront to God – yes. Is there anything good or noble about pornography – no. Can Catholics ban pornography, or anything else – no. We actually have an obligation to fight to make sure things are not banned. Those that ban, have no faith in God.