Dr. Collosus quoted this passage from the CCC:
2354 Pornography consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parties. It offends against chastity because it perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other. It does grave injury to the dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the public), since each one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others. It immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world. It is a grave offense. Civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornographic materials.
I think an honest appraisal of viewing pornography will lead most to the conclusion that it is a “grave” matter. However, the Catechism selection quoted does not imply that viewing pornography is a *grave matter. *In fact, all it says is that “*t immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world” and that it harms the public. “All who are involved” would, of course, include consumers of pornography. Producing pornography is the grave matter refered to in the CCC passage.
Again, intentionally viewing pornography for the purpose of sexual arousal is undoubtedly sinful. Whether it is mortal is, as has been noted by others in this thread, dependent on other circumstances.
Also, we are just
beginning to see the effects of pornography’s malignacy. Pornography is ubiquitous in our society and the pornography ethic of “sexuality is just about physical pleasure” is our culture’s sexual battle cry. It is so pervasive because it preys on our fallen natures–in such a way that few are left immune to its lure. I am a man in my mid 20’s and almost every guy I know either is using it to a point that makes him uncomfortable (most of these guys aren’t Christian and see nothing wrong with pornography in theory) or has fought a long battle against it and succeeded by God’s grace. Here are two startling facts:
90% of all films made in the U.S. in recent years are pornographic
30-40% of those who use internet pornography are women.
The good news is that awareness of the problem is growing rapidly. 12-step and other support groups are found in most sizable towns and there is a lot of literature being published on how to overcome compulsive pornography use, especially from our Evangelical brothers and sisters.
This fight against this cultural cancer suffers from the “impoliteness” of talking about pornography. Many won’t talk about it–or anything deviantly sexual for that matter–because it ofends against their sense of modesty. No doubt, there are many arenas where pornography is not an appropriate topic. There is no hard and fast line to be drawn but pornography is rarely if ever discussed and this limits the potential cultural push against it. How far would the anti-abortion movement get if no one wanted to talk about abortion? I suspect many are loath to talk about it because they might occasionally dabble in it. Nonetheless, we all need to do our best to create a helpful and informative dialogue that seeks to fight pornography, not judge those who fight an honest battle with their use of it. I regards to that, I am reminded of the verse from one of the Wisdom books about not adding to a person’s burden by reproaching him for something he reproaches himself for. (Does anyone know the verse? Even just the book?)
