Comments on: The hypocrisy of porn-again Christians

By: law

law — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 18:10:35 +0000

So following the teachings of Christ Jesus not to lust with the eye actually causes you to? ? ? How is that possible? Oh wait, or are you saying that they "claim" to follow Christ but apparently don't and fall prey to sin like other people? Or are you saying they still sin but try to turn from sin unlike those who indulge it?

I once knew of an atheist who thought he was going to die while screaming for "Jesus". .. I knew it. An atheist can't find God for the same reason a crook can't find a cop.

You either have:
A savior/Christ Jesus
Religion (bribing a holy god on judgment day with good works)
Or faith in nothing/atheism (everything "scientifically" came together without reason or orchestration from an unknowable origin. If you're honest with yourself…

By: Amy

Amy — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 06:10:21 +0000

I don't know if anyone has thought through this, but calling oneself a Christian does not instantly remove any wrong doing from your life. Secondly, Christians who are viewing/interacting with porn are in one of a number of categories:
1. They are a new Christian still struggling with old habits and still have trouble.
2. They are a nominal Christian who may to church and have righteous opinions, but doesn't really know who God is and frankly doesn't really care. Thus their Christianity, lacking relationship with God, is not really Christianity at all, but mere religiosity, which is generally not strong enough to keep one from an addiction like porn.
3. They are following God in some areas of life, but have not yet given up sexual addiction, in which case they are rebelling against God and need to fess up and take action to get clean before porn eats their heart out.

Those are just three possibilities, but if you understand people, you understand that they cannot be lumped into one category (stereotyping). Among Christians you have what we call "sinners" just like everyone else; you'll find alcoholics, liars, cheaters, hookers, hypocrites etc. but the difference is that the mark of a true follower of Jesus is change. I grew up in the burbs, never had sex, never did drugs, got off to a good start, so am I a better Christian than my friend who isn't a virgin and still struggles with lust? No.

Of course, Christians should not be viewing porn. But let's do some thinking folks. Although, it is easier to dump us all in one bin, isn't it?

By: PabsX

PabsX — Thu, 07 May 2009 11:24:39 +0000

Benjamin Edelman's article in the Journal of Economic Perspectives: Red Light States: Who Buys Online Adult Entertainment? @Wayne For an example of how NOT to build an argument, see Debunked: Porn in the USA, Conservatives are biggest consumers at ihatethemedia. Thanks for the link Kevin!

By: Broga

Broga — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:39:09 +0000

So, what else is new? They are also viciously enthusiastic child beaters. “Spare the rod etc….”

By: Wurble

Wurble — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:39:53 +0000

So christians are the biggest wankers eh? Well well well, who would have thunk it!

By: Wayne

Wayne — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 12:12:38 +0000

I will be using this article with my students today as a classic example of how NOT to reason, how NOT to try to persuade, how NOT to build an argument. I use plenty of such examples from the religious side of things, but it’s sad how many there are on our side as well. Let’s try to be Clear Thinkers as well as Free Thinkers, not just setting up straw men of our own to shoot down.

My only hesitation in using it is that it is such an extreme example and barely merits the respect of being used as an example at all; seems like the type of argument you might get in a high school freshman essay.

Let’s do better.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:13:27 +0000

Hypocrisy and religion going hand in hand, noooo – never I tell you, never….

By: Bubblecar

Bubblecar — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:29:08 +0000

The conclusions of this study really are reading an awful lot of detail into very little data. What it actually tells us is that very few people in any of these states buy online porn, or at least not from the companies studied. I think it can fairly be labelled a wanky story for a slow news day.

By: Godless not gormless

Godless not gormless — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:09:56 +0000

Mark, the first and most important thing that is wrong with that article at ihatethemedia is that the picture of the naked lady is all pixelated and you just can’t see her tits at all.

Secondly, they bang on about the dubious accuracy of, and lack of evidence for the conclusion of the ABC report then go on to give this as their conclusion:

“While we think itâ€™s quite possible that conservatives buy more porn, weâ€™re also think itâ€™s quite possible that liberals actually consume more porn. The difference, we think, is that conservatives pay for it, but liberals donâ€™t. After all, why would anyone think that the same people who want free healthcare, free welfare and free mortgages wouldnâ€™t also want free porn.”

Is this not jumping to conclusions too?

By: Stuart W

Stuart W — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:53:25 +0000

Hi Wayne. While the article title and opening paragraph jump the gun a little in the assumption that a conservative voter majority in any given State must be those who identify as Christians, it is surely highly unlikely that
a) Only a small amount of them do, especially given that the USA is more devoutly Christian than many other countries in the developed world, and
b) All Internet porn customers in these particular States are in the liberal/secular minority.