Comments on: Pormonism (or, Porn meets Mormonism)

By: chanson

chanson — Fri, 02 May 2008 05:29:52 +0000

I agree about the middle way and moderation in all things. I’m just saying that not all extreme behaviors are the same. Overeating or fixation on sex can’t necessarily be dealt with effectively by assuming they work just like a chemical dependency.

Re: “porn that does not depend upon a male-heterosexual consumer”

So you’re saying it’s okay for some gender/orientation combos to have erotic materials that turn them on. Just not straight men.

By: xJane

xJane — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:59:54 +0000

Re: addiction
People familiar with me can predict this argument & will probably roll their eyes for me bringing it up, but, Aristotle’s model of the “middle way” between two extremes may be useful to us here. Use of porn (use of food) can be excessive to the point that it causes harm to the user or the relationships the user has. It can also be deficient to the same point. Perhaps the best example of “deficient porn use” is the woman who thinks glancing at Maxim is equal to cheating on her. Although that said, I think Jesus’ “if you think about it, it’s just as bad” rule is pretty unrealistic.

Re: porn
I’m trying to come to terms with my own feelings about whether or not porn can be sustainable. Porn that celebrates sexuality without demeaning it (even if demeaning is your name of the game), porn that does not emotionally/physically damage is actors, and porn that does not depend upon a male-heterosexual consumer would be awesome! I’ve never met any such porn. But I will defend the right of porn to exist (and the rights of its users to use) because of the possibility of such a model. In general, I see most porn as being WalMart: people generally agree it’s despicable, but it’s cheap/ubiquitous. Does anyone know where I can get some Whole Foods or REI porn?

By: MoJo

MoJo — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:07:00 +0000

Slightly tangential: Art.

Being LDS and liking art. Do you look at representations of the naked human body. Is that pornography? Are you an addict? Does it matter how old the art is?

Being LDS and being an artist. Do you represent naked human bodies in your art and if so, are you making pornography?

I think the inability to draw a line between art/pornography is what feeds the deluge of mediocre interchangeable religious art that takes the bloggernacle by the throat. I know a devout LDS artist who sculpts nudes and I asked him about this dichotomy. He shrugged at me helplessly and said, “I don’t know.”

By: Unrealistic Expectations? « The Visitors’ Center

Unrealistic Expectations? « The Visitors’ Center — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:59:01 +0000

[...] of MasturbationDoctor Jane on Fast Offerings: A Personal History of MasturbationJohnR on Pormonism (or, Porn meets Mormonism)chanson on Pormonism (or, Porn meets Mormonism)chanson on A sticky situationJohnW on [...]

By: JohnR

JohnR — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 22:20:26 +0000

I started writing a defense of the addiction terminology (not the way the Church uses, but in clinical usage), and the more I wrote, the more problematic it seems. My concern is that there needs to be a way to distinguish, label and approach socially harmful behaviors (for example, difficult to suppress urges to fondle others or to expose oneself to non-consenting persons) from healthy ones. Religion has a tendency to label otherwise healthy behavior as socially aberrant (male masturbation is perhaps the best example).

Maybe this is one reason Mormonism has spirits, angels and an all-seeing god: even if you jerk off behind the bathroom door, you’re still doing it in public.

By: chanson

chanson — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:19:44 +0000

Personally, I’m not convinced that the addiction model is that useful for describing behaviors that have their root in innate biological drives such as eating and sex. And the fact that any desire to look at porn is systematically labeled “addiction” by the church community comes off as trying to find a secular second opinion to justify why it’s bad, as though deep down they don’t think that calling masturbation-with-porn a sin is sufficient to condemn it…

By: JohnW

JohnW — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 08:15:09 +0000

I had a similar reaction. There seemed to be a blurring of the line between “likes looking at porn,” and “is addicted to porn,” despite one of the article clearly drawing a line between the two.

Is masturbating to a non-visual fantasy “cheating with his brain?”