Lust is a natural and immensely strong animal desire. However, those that can rise above it lead freer and very frequently more happy lives. Many cannot see the wisdom of that. However, many can.
Pride
Avarice
Lust
Envy
Gluttony
Sloth
Anger
Who is to say which is the worst of sins for any given man or woman?
An interesting assertion--and perhaps it's true. Easy to make such claims, but have you got any quantitative evidence to back it up? Or is this just anecdotal wisdom? Some blithely claim that liberation from society's suppresive norms leads to happier lives. Whom should we believe? Where's the evidence?
Please don't take this as too sarcastic. I only mean to point out that a lot of assertions are made in the course of these arguments. It's very hard to prove things one way or another. But each side argues (or implies) its way is inherently morally superior--whether or not there are unequivocable facts to back it up. Anyway--even if porn and lust are such pernicious scourges, I just can't believe they amount to much compared to other pressing problems. That's MY subjective viewpoint...no evidence to back it up...ok, nevermind.
Anyhow, I agree with you about becoming "freer" when one overcomes sexual animal desires. Sex isn't wrong in the right context... which is between a husband and wife. Outside of this type of arrangement, people often become slaves to sexual desire because there tends to be less obligation and consequences (no children, family, etc., etc.). The body isn't "dirty" (God himself took on a human body) and sex is only wrong when removed from it's proper place and then it becomes a distortion... just like many other things (money, food, etc.). To sum it up, when anything other than God becomes the center of one's existence, it is wrong and leads to many miseries. I see pornography as a severe distortion of what sex was intended to be and it makes me cringe when I hear about children being exposed to it. Currently, it seems a far more common occurence than when I was growing up and it makes me worry about future generations.
I know that some will disagree and that's fine, but I just thought I'd try to state my perspective on it. Hopefully, it made some sense as I'm quite tired at the moment.