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To: Cindy
I didn't realize until this moment that you are not only sharing this piece, but perhaps the author as well(?) If that is in fact the case then thank you so much for addressing so succinctly and eloquently a topic that has irritated me for many years...that topic being the misapplication of the word "adult" in our modern lexicon.

Another topic that occupies a similar niche for me is the co-option of our symbology for love by the porn industry (valentines' hearts, little cupids, etc). Our culture does itself no small disservice by deliberately confusing love and lust.

In reality I'm no "enemy of pornography" however, unlike the crowds depicted at the beginning of the film "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" I am not inclined to proclaim the grotesque to be king simply as an excuse to revel in grotesquery.

I have in the past found myself wondering where exactly in pornography lies the evil, and why a porn film should be considered any more evil than a slasher film or even a modern-day action movie. Ultimately I've concluded that the evil of pornography is it's depiction of selfishness - because it is a depiction of individuals pursuing their own base pleasure with no regard to those with whom they participate.

When "Rambo" risks his own life to rescue the prisoners it is a selfless act...when "Big John Holmes" gets it on it's a selfish act. I believe selfishness is at the core of pornography, and that it is perhaps the purest distillation of evil.

7 posted on 02/19/2002 3:27:31 AM PST by The Duke
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To: The Duke
Ultimately I've concluded that the evil of pornography is it's depiction of selfishness

That is an outstanding analysis, but I think it lacks one piece. The selfishness is not just the use of things for pleasure, but the use of people for pleasure. Using a man or woman for sexual gratification, without any intent to form a lasting relationship, reduces that man or woman to a mere animal - similar to enslaving them. If they proclaim to like being so reduced - as even one FReeper has claimed - we have done even worse than reducing them to the status of a beast.

We have taught them to accept it.

Shalom.

15 posted on 02/19/2002 5:34:07 AM PST by ArGee
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