I’m pretty new to this just a heads up. Anyways I was wondering if porn is bad I do watch it and masturbate to it but I was just wondering why you think it’s bad. All my friends and I watch it or just talk about it and we don’t really think it’s bad. I heard its natural and porn is fine. Just wondering what you think about porn and why.
Hello GamingBro, and welcome. The simple answer to your question is “yes, porn is bad.” You’ve received some very good answers in this thread already, so I thought I would just augment them here.
In order to understand why porn is bad, setting aside the clear evidence that it is (i.e., the deleterious effects it has on you, your mind, and your sex drive, and also the horrendous way women in that industry are treated, and also the poor way women are treated by men who are addicted to pornography), we should first understand the nature of our own human sexuality.
The mentality of western culture is that we are animals, behaving as animals behave, and the idea of any kind of sexual morality is more a matter of evolved social norms than anything to do with behaviour that is authentically derived from human nature. This mentality ignores the simple fact that we are, for example, not dogs or fish or birds, but humans. And as humans, we are intelligent, self-aware, and can act freely, and truly altruistically.
A dog may appear to rape another dog, and we wouldn’t think anything of it. Why? Because rape involves the notion of free consent. Dogs don’t have this. Humans do. So, acting upon every sexual urge we have is not a human thing to do, it’s an animal thing to do. We hold to this notion of free consent because we are respecters of the personhood that is held by every human. There is dignity in people that we must respect.
So what about sexuality itself. We may look at our biology and understand that our bodies are designed to work in concert with each other. In other words, the sexual act is inherently inter-personal. Physically, two bodies come together in the sexual act. Metaphysically, two persons come together in the sexual act. Sexual intercourse is by its own nature the coming together of two persons in love and openness.
So what about pornography (and by extension masturbation)? Here are two really simple questions to ask: 1) Are two people coming together in love and openness in this sexual encounter? and 2) Is there a personal connection here? The answer to both of these questions is no.
Pornography is selfish, entirely. The men and women (in some cases, but not all by any stretch of the imagination… many are forced into it) and pornographers in the industry act selfishly by using you for your money. The viewers of pornography act selfishly by using the men and women in the porn to gratify their sexual urges. This is entirely contrary to true human sexuality, which is wholly about love and respect for the other, about giving yourself to the other. In pornography, the pornographers expose their bodies for pleasure, but hide themselves, while the viewer of pornography is completely hidden, both body and soul, from the other. In true human sexuality, the loving couple open themselves up entirely to the other, body and soul. That is the language of human sexuality.
Pornography and masturbation are a perversion of true human sexuality. They use subjects as though they were objects. They are closed in on themselves, rather than opening themselves up to the beloved. As such, they warp not merely the sexual relationship, but also normal human friendships. Intimacy between men becomes seen as somehow homosexual. Intimacy between siblings becomes seen as somehow incestuous. Mere politeness between people of opposite sex becomes seen as somehow flirtatious. Pornography destroys human relationships, human closeness.
Seriously, it is not a posting that we come across everyday in Catholic Answers… .and in a more or less conservative Catholic site at that 