God Squad Review CXXVII (Internet Porn)
May 2, 2005 | 30 Comments
The sex-savvy Squad struts its stuff this week, in response to a woman who feels “degraded and betrayed” because her husband frequents internet porn sites. They seem to know even more about the subject than I do (of course, I only know what people tell me about it):
The most damaging aspect of porn is that it separates love and sex. It makes sex just a bodily function rather than a deep spiritual, physical and loving gift. Pornography also demeans and degrades women by turning them into sex objects. It’s hard to figure how your husband can reconcile the image of women he sees on porn sites with the image of you he should carry in his heart.
I have to assume that the Rabbi half of the Squad is writing all of this, because the celibacy vows that Father Hartman took separated not just his love, but his life from sex. Presumably so he wouldn’t be distracted from his efforts to defend a Church which demeans and degrades woman by excluding them from its hierarchy (not that promoting superstition would be a wise career choice anyway).
As to the part about reconciling etc., I don’t see why those internet ladies can’t just join the image he carries of his wife in his heart in a frisky little bubble bath frolic. Fantasizing about Jesus casting a warm, approving spiritual gaze from the closet just isn’t going to do it for him. Is that what she is thinking about? Hardly.
Pornography is also highly addictive, so even if you can convince your husband that not “all the guys do it,” he may have trouble breaking his habit. Viewing porn can also lead viewers to porn chat rooms and eventually into adultery.
Porn chat rooms?!?!? What’s this?? Are they a premium, membership only feature of those sites or something? Are they saying that after a guy splatters his keyboard with a jizwad of warm spunk, he runs off to discuss the experience with other men? Why, that’s sounds even better than cuddling! How come none of my friends ever told me about this resource? Do I have to learn everything from the God Squad?
No . . . wait. Those porn chat rooms lead to adultery. So they must be filled with hot, horny women, the kind who only date men who hang out on internet porn sites all day! Tell me more! Tell me more!
We don’t want to sound like prudes, but we believe strongly that there’s nothing spiritually redeeming about porn, even though it’s a hugely popular cultural cancer. It’s a huge source of income for hotel chains and a major reason for the growth of the Internet.
Few things, however hugely popular, are redeeming if they’re cancers. But I never knew that internet porn cancer was such a profit center for hotel chains. Is it really? I know hotels make money off cable TV porn, and adultery, but do people really leave the comfort of their basements to pay $5 a minute connection charge in a Holiday Inn? I guess Paris Hilton was pretty popular online for a while, but I doubt her daddy’s chain profited much from her, seeing as how she was a free download.
And I thought that websites like mine were the reason for he popularity and growth of the internet. Am I being upstaged by sites which people in with filth and profanity? Those cocksucking whoremastering cunting fuckhouse bastards!
Anyway, in closing the Squad offers a cure for the cancer:
Still, you have a right to feel degraded and betrayed. You should demand a meeting with a trusted counselor to explore your husband’s need for porn and affirm your need for love and trust.
Attention ladies and gentlemen: the Trusted Porn Counselor chat room is now open in the comments section!
May 2nd, 2005 @ 2:32 pm
The hotel porn the writer refers to is the “SpanktraVision” pay-per-view variety that hotel chains do make a mint from. Three stats of interest:
The average viewing time of a pay-per-view movie in a hotel room (all movies, not just porn): 7 minutes.
Estimated revenues of the pornography business in America: $1 Billion
Number of adult movies rented (either on DVD/VHS or pay-per-view): 800 million
And as the porn industry likes to say, “that’s not 800 guys renting a million movies each…”
May 2nd, 2005 @ 2:32 pm
The hotel porn the writer refers to is the “SpanktraVision” pay-per-view variety that hotel chains do make a mint from. Three stats of interest:
The average viewing time of a pay-per-view movie in a hotel room (all movies, not just porn): 7 minutes.
Estimated revenues of the pornography business in America: $1 Billion
Number of adult movies rented (either on DVD/VHS or pay-per-view): 800 million
And as the porn industry likes to say, “that’s not 800 guys renting a million movies each…”
May 2nd, 2005 @ 2:32 pm
The hotel porn the writer refers to is the “SpanktraVision” pay-per-view variety that hotel chains do make a mint from. Three stats of interest:
The average viewing time of a pay-per-view movie in a hotel room (all movies, not just porn): 7 minutes.
Estimated revenues of the pornography business in America: $1 Billion
Number of adult movies rented (either on DVD/VHS or pay-per-view): 800 million
And as the porn industry likes to say, “that’s not 800 guys renting a million movies each…”
May 2nd, 2005 @ 2:32 pm
The hotel porn the writer refers to is the “SpanktraVision” pay-per-view variety that hotel chains do make a mint from. Three stats of interest:
The average viewing time of a pay-per-view movie in a hotel room (all movies, not just porn): 7 minutes.
Estimated revenues of the pornography business in America: $1 Billion
Number of adult movies rented (either on DVD/VHS or pay-per-view): 800 million
And as the porn industry likes to say, “that’s not 800 guys renting a million movies each…”
May 2nd, 2005 @ 2:32 pm
The hotel porn the writer refers to is the “SpanktraVision” pay-per-view variety that hotel chains do make a mint from. Three stats of interest:
The average viewing time of a pay-per-view movie in a hotel room (all movies, not just porn): 7 minutes.
Estimated revenues of the pornography business in America: $1 Billion
Number of adult movies rented (either on DVD/VHS or pay-per-view): 800 million
And as the porn industry likes to say, “that’s not 800 guys renting a million movies each…”
May 2nd, 2005 @ 3:10 pm
Actually, while I have a libertarian philosophy, I think the Squad’s answer was pretty good. They basically said for the wife to have a meeting with a trusted counselor along with the husband to discuss this issue. They didn’t suggest a specific type of trusted counselor, just someone who could help the couple communicate with each other about something that one of the people in the relationship has a problem with.
The only “religious” stuff in their response was mentioning the spirituality side of sex, but they spoke in general terms of “spirituality” and didn’t get into sex being God’s gift to humans, etc.
All in all, not bad advice, especially given the Squad’s track record.
May 2nd, 2005 @ 3:43 pm
Rational indulgence leads to moderation. Irrational abstinence leads to compulsion.
And studies done lately indicate that males who do not ejaculate regularly have an increased risk of prostate cancer.
So that wife better show her husband how much she cares for his health and make sure that he gets to ejeaculate regularly! If she is unable to satisfy this need, then she shouldnt be so upset about him getting his ejaculations taken care of by some computer images.
Sheeeeeeit these people are fukkin idiots!
May 2nd, 2005 @ 3:48 pm
I think what the real problem is that there is a lack of good-quality couples friendly porn. I mean, there’s a lot of stuff about lotsa porn out there that just isn’t a turn-on. Fake-ass tits, Ass to Mouth YUCK!, all kindsa stuff. What about good old fashioned hot sex where everybody really looks like they’re havin’ a really good time? Where can I find some a that?
The Onion had an editorial a while back (which now requires a premium account to access, apprently) wherein an elderly woman was complaining about all the cussing in porn. She wanted to settle down to watch some hot action, but it was all “F-my-P this and S-my-D that! Disgusting!” It was hilarious.
May 2nd, 2005 @ 4:43 pm
If God didn’t want us to jerk off, he wouldn’t have had Al Gore invent the internet……..
May 2nd, 2005 @ 6:16 pm
Unlike Jarod, I think the squad’s answer is a load of hooey. To the extent that the husband’s activities are really a problem all the blame is placed on him. Aside from the obvious reason that he enjoys it, the squad doesn’t know why the husband seeks out pornography on the internet. Could it be that perhaps a woman making this kind of complaint to a religious group in the first place is a cold fish who thinks sex is dirty, or has very narrow limits to what she finds acceptable? The squad doesn’t know and assumes her behavior is “normal” and his is “abnormal.”
The conseling suggestion is also total hooey because the husband will not, and probably cannot, get a fair hearing in the context in which the “conseling” is likely to take place. Again, the presumption will be that he is the one entirely at fault because he is doing something “wrong” –looking a pornography. Jarod, the “counseler” isn’t going to be someone like you; he’s likely to be a Bible Beater who tells the guy what a disgusting pervert he is for looking at pornography and how this behavior is “immoral” and “injures” his wife.
And back to reality: sex IS a bodily function. Human beings can invest any act with whatever “spiritual” feelings their minds allow them to, but a fuck is still a fuck and the fundamental things apply –as time goes by (yeah, they said “kiss” but we know what they really meant). Anybody (well, any man at least) who claims that every time, or even most of the time, they have sex, they experience a “deep, spriitual, loving gift,” is either full of shit or delusional. This bullshit about a “deep, spiritual, loving gift” is intended to relegate most sexual activity to the category of “dirty” (except of course, sex between husband and wife for the purpose of procreation, which has the Church stamp of approval). Some of the hottest most pleasurable sex that you can have is libido driven and spontaneous, with a partner you may not even know. And even with a long time partner, or the love of your life, the hottest sex may well occur when it is driven by the libido and you can revel in the pure physicality of the act itself.
May 2nd, 2005 @ 7:34 pm
“…he’s likely to be a Bible Beater who tells the guy what a disgusting pervert he is for looking at pornography and how this behavior is “immoral” and “injures” his wife.”
And after the session, the bible beater will get on a porn site himself and beat something else!
May 2nd, 2005 @ 8:56 pm
Hermesten wrote: “Anybody (well, any man at least) who claims that every time, or even most of the time, they have sex, they experience a “deep, spriitual, loving gift,” is either full of shit or delusional.”
I would love to hear from some rational, atheist women respond to H’s idea here.
Where angles fear to tread: I suspect H is right, but women have some other way of looking at sex (call that wild freethinking if you wish) that might be interesting. Are the spiritual/emotional aspects of sex driven by the female’s (supposed?) greater need for permanence in a relationship?
May 2nd, 2005 @ 9:16 pm
This just shows once again how infantile and perverted christians tend to treat anything sexual. 99% (no proof) of men masterbate. And I’m sure most women do too. If anything, I see internet porn as an outlet, not a gateway to adultery or perversion. My wife asks me to watch porn (DVD) with her frequently. Maybe I’m just lucky, but I doubt it. Women love sex too. Porn, or anything, becomes unhealthy when it is an obsession. Porn is not addictive, but can be abused. So can sugar, or caffeine, or soda, or drugs. The funniest thing about this kinda stuff is that the christians are the ones who obsess over it.
May 2nd, 2005 @ 9:28 pm
Paul – It may not even be “females’ (supposed?) greater need for permanence in a relationship”. It may be that it takes a more skilled, communicative lover to bring a woman to orgasm than a dude. A guy can pretty much stick his dick in anything warm and wet and he’ll get off. Women need to be a bit more selective, even for a one-night stand.
May 2nd, 2005 @ 9:31 pm
I have a right to feel horny. The only thing I need to explore is the crevice between a woman’s legs.
Where do I go to affirm my need for a good gang bang?
May 2nd, 2005 @ 9:33 pm
Anbody else remember when Jimmy Carter stated in public that he sinned by commiting adultery in his mind? More evidence of how truly fucked up some of these religious types are when it comes to sex.
May 2nd, 2005 @ 9:59 pm
My perspective on this issue is probably not quite the same as a typical atheist gal, for more reason than one. I despise the porn industry, for various reasons, but I’m not inclined to bother over people who watch/download it.
I won’t comment further on the whole sex thing. I’m not a typical atheist woman, for one, but I don’t have the experience necessary to be all that knowledgeable about casual sex.
May 3rd, 2005 @ 1:49 am
Paul, I’d like to hear a woman’s perspective too, since I only get my wife’s perspective (and I wouldn’t call her typical). Then again, maybe we can’t consider any of the women who might respond here “typical.”
You hear that many women would prefer “snuggling” to sex, and that non-sexual intimacy is more spiritually satisfying for women. Maybe this is more a function of age than gender. When I was young I only thought of sex and there was nothing “spiritual” about it. Now that I’m older, with kids in college, I think I find the non-sexual intimacy more “spiritually” satisfying. On the other hand, I find that the deeper and more intimate “spiritual” feelings interfere with both arousal and satisfaction.
I could be screwed up, but if so, I’m in good company, as Plato spoke about being freed from sexual compulsion as an old man, and Shakespeare wrote a sonnet about lust that nails it for me (and I think Shakespeare’s appeal is his universality).
May 3rd, 2005 @ 1:57 am
god watches me masterbate. oops! I mean dog watches me masterbate. Sorry. Dyslexic yes am I.
May 3rd, 2005 @ 2:25 am
I’m not an expert in this area but as a atheist woman i have to say that its not the “regular” porn that is objectionable, its the kiddy porn, and the degrading humilating porn that i find absolutely sickening. I can’t help but wonder if one doesn’t lead to the other. I know its a slippery slope argument, but there’s a lot of sickness out there.
and by the way ghoulslime – your name is appropriate and start going to porn sights cause that’s the only place you’re going to get off.
May 3rd, 2005 @ 2:28 am
Ancient Egyptians believed that god created the world by masturbating. Earth may just be his chatroom.
May 3rd, 2005 @ 4:54 am
Okay, I’m an atheist woman… and I’ve watched a fair share of porn myself. Some of it I only watched after a boyfriend hooked me up. Some of it I’ve even enjoyed.
I do think paying too much attention to porn instead of your real partner in front of you could be a problem. But I don’t see this as a sign of some inherent divine judgment on the nature of porn. People can distract themselves from their partners with just about anything. Are there any commandments out there about not watching football games?
May 3rd, 2005 @ 7:44 am
I don’t think every sexual experience has to be emotionally meaningful. I also fail to see how any sex can be “spiritual” ..wasn’t Jesus celibate?
May 3rd, 2005 @ 9:51 am
Ever notice that they know more about gay sex than most gay people?
May 3rd, 2005 @ 9:51 am
Ever notice that they know more about gay sex than most gay people?
May 3rd, 2005 @ 9:51 am
Ever notice that they know more about gay sex than most gay people?
May 3rd, 2005 @ 10:18 am
oN mAY 1, The Times of London has published a leaked 2002 British memo clearly showing that self-proclaimed CHRISTIANS Bush and Blair wanted a war in Iraq so badly that they were willing to violate the Ninth Commandment to get it.
Just another example of why I believe that Jesus greatly prefers honest atheists to GODDAM LYIN’ LIAR “CHRISTIANS”.
Read the following and weep, because you probably won’t hear about this from your friendly local newspaper or from your favourite TV anchor-hairdo.
*******************
The Sunday Times – Britain May 01, 2005
Blair hit by new leak of secret war plan
Michael Smith
A SECRET document from the heart of government reveals today that Tony Blair privately committed Britain to war with Iraq and then set out to lure Saddam Hussein into providing the legal justification.
The Downing Street minutes, headed
May 4th, 2005 @ 11:44 am
Dave,
Per your complaint in #4: Heather is married to her co-star (whose name I couldn’t care less about!) and what’s your problem with ass-to-mouth sex? Ever hear of soap?
Just kiddin’ bud. (But really, what gives?)
May 5th, 2005 @ 1:21 am
To those who want a woman’s perspective: I do not want the old man going to porn sites. You catch all kids of viruses there and get all manner of scumware downloaded to your computer. It’s almost as bad as the free coloring pages the kids go to and catch stuff like Comet Cursor.
As far as the actual content of the sites, I don’t give a damn. It’s not like he’s actually going to have sex with these women. I don’t feel degraded or unloved by a man looking at porn.
May 5th, 2005 @ 10:08 am
Andrea, sounds like the old man just needs a good firewall, like ZoneAlarm, and perhaps a different browser if he’s not using Mozilla. The first time I ran Adaware and Spybot on my computer –after frequent browser redirects– I had all kinds of crap infecting it –hundreds of hits. The programs like Adaware and Spybot helped eliminate most of this stuff (and it doesn’t just come from porn sites), and using Firefox did in a lot more of it, but since I installed ZoneAlarm I’ve scanned my computer numerous times and haven’t gotten a single hit from anything –in several months of all kinds of browsing.