Porn is disgusting .. .

[Darth Executor]

But what of the porn itself? Do you feel that the state should regulate activities that adults engage in that is not otherwise illegal?

Prostitution is illegal in most of the US.

More specifically, do you really want the state to be your neighbor's nanny?

Yes, under the condition that the state is generally subservient to my will. Barring that I will settle for the state being my neighbor's nanny in all matters I agree with.

[yxboom]

Transformation is a form of control.

ok

[joel]

It'd probably be unconstitutional too or I hope it would be.

Everything's constitutional now.
Want gay sex to be illegal? You just have to call the penalty a "tax." Then anyone who doesn't report their gay sex encounters will be guilty of the additional crime of tax evasion.

[KingsGambit]

According to SCOTUS in Lawrence v. Texas a few years ago, it's unconstitutional because the Constitution guarantees privacy. However, I still haven't managed to find just where that is.

[KingsGambit]

Yes, under the condition that the state is generally subservient to my will. Barring that I will settle for the state being my neighbor's nanny in all matters I agree with.

I go back and forth between having similar views myself. While I know I tend to lean authoritarian, I'm just not sure I trust myself as the best arbiter of morality.

[Seasanctuary]

According to SCOTUS in Lawrence v. Texas a few years ago, it's unconstitutional because the Constitution guarantees privacy. However, I still haven't managed to find just where that is.

The right to privacy is a general principle inferred from specific privacy protections mentioned in Constitutional amendments. The basic idea is that there are some areas of personal life which the government — even a democratic government — may not control. I'm pretty sure most people agree with this idea; they just disagree on the scope of privacy rights.

For example, much of the conservative complaining about the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate being unconstitutional was an argument from the right to privacy. The NRA fights for privacy rights. Heck, early in the 20th century, the right to privacy is what kept private religious schools open as a parental choice rather than forcing all kids into government schools.

Privacy rights go hand in hand with the concept of a limited government.

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/project...ofprivacy.html

[KingsGambit]

I'm pretty sure most people agree with this idea; they just disagree on the scope of privacy rights.
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/project...ofprivacy.html

I think this is fair to say; most everybody is likely to appeal to it as a general principle to back up at least some of their political beliefs, though just how this will be done/on what issue is likely to vary widely, as the examples you bring up demonstrate. And it probably is just as well that it's not stated more explicitly in the Constitution so as to encourage taking policies on a case-by-base basis.

[Zero Tolerance]

I am vehemently against pornography and think it has a dangerous affect on our society. While I wouldn't object to it being banned, I think a far more productive endeavour would be to vocally point out its effects on marriages, on women, and on viewers, and how it represents a view of sexuality that falls far short of what God intends for us in marriage.

I am at tears at this post. I can personally confirm the destructive nature of porn, and how it has totally perverted not JUST God's view on sexuality, but secular ones, too. Remember back in the day when girls thought they had to "put out" to keep their boyfriends? In the 21st century, girls think they have to text explicit images of themselves to GUYS THEY ARE NOT EVEN DATING to "compete" with other girls. And in relationships, "putting out" isn't enough...you have to go above and beyond the call of duty, experimenting with anal...in high school.

I've almost lost everything. Wife, kids, career, because of porn. I am a recovering addict...just three weeks "clean" in fact. I have journals upon journals, confessions and written a testimony, all with the exception of the testimony is most un-printable here.

Believe me when I say this: conservative Christiandom thinks that homoseuxuality is the "last bastion" of defending holiness in an ever-increasingly secular world. No. Maybe it's just coincidence that I have not logged on and posted on TWeb in OVER A YEAR, and this topic happens to be at the top of the Civics page, but I believe in the Holy Spirit, and even in my procrastination from work while being being here, I want to tell you that in the name of all that is Holy, I believe that pornography is the gateway that will lead to our destruction.

It's so pervasive, it's casual. You have to go out of your way, for example, to acquire weed. But porn is as accessible as MISSPELLING A WORD IN GOOGLE, MESSING UP A URL, let alone if you are actively looking for the stuff. It's so casual, even church leaders are doing it, WOMEN are doing it. It's a fantasy that will consume you as much as you will allow it to, and you convince yourself that it's okay, because it isn't real.

Yet we find ourselves scheduling our lives around our consumption of it...like being in front of the TV when your favorite show comes on, or setting the DVR so you don't miss a thing.

The insidiousness of it all, the allure...sex is the Evil One's most diabolical weapon.

[fm93]

sex is the Evil One's most diabolical weapon.

Nope. That would be greed. Sex itself is a good thing. It's when greed makes its way in (i.e, when people try to have what isn't theirs) that it can be a problem.

[Zero Tolerance]

Nope. That would be greed. Sex itself is a good thing. It's when greed makes its way in (i.e, when people try to have what isn't theirs) that it can be a problem.

Your pedantic selection of a single phrase in my entire post for the purpose of flexing your intellectual muscles is among the reasons why I stopped taking this message board seriously. You were reading so narrowly that you might have missed where I said,

I can personally confirm the destructive nature of porn, and how it has totally perverted not JUST God's view on sexuality...

establishing the context from where I would be henceforth discussing "sex" without needing someone like you coming behind me and making asinine differentiations.

The topic here falls under the category of "lust."

[KingsGambit]

It sounds like you have one powerful testimony, ZT, though I understand why it couldn't be posted here. I hope you can use it to reach out to many of those who are still mired in the web of pornography addiction.

[Zero Tolerance]

It sounds like you have one powerful testimony, ZT, though I understand why it couldn't be posted here. I hope you can use it to reach out to many of those who are still mired in the web of pornography addiction.

I wish. I'm involved with Celebrate Recovery and delivered my testimony at my local church. Problem is, however, that they recently changed the rules at CR so that only people who have become leaders can deliver their testimonies. It's odd, because the way the program works, is that we're supposed to work on testimony as part of the recovery process...so now a crucial step is missing. At the time I wrote it, I wasn't completely free, because I had not yet completely given up control. During my step study (12 steps, meeting over a year), I relapsed.

I wasn't ready to give up control, establish accountability. God saw fit to give me chance after chance. I'm a year behind on finishing my dissertation because of my addiction, with the funding clock ticking. I pray that what I've done, and what I continue to fight, has not jeopardized my and my family's future.

[Darth Executor]

Nope. That would be greed. Sex itself is a good thing. It's when greed makes its way in (i.e, when people try to have what isn't theirs) that it can be a problem.

His analogy was a good one. Weapons, like sex, are neutral things that can be used for good or bad.

[KingsGambit]

Believe me when I say this: conservative Christiandom thinks that homoseuxuality is the "last bastion" of defending holiness in an ever-increasingly secular world. No.

I especially agree with this part. I hesitate to weigh in here, knowing how many churches and denominations these days are moving away from even labeling homosexuality as a sin, but it seems undeniable to me that American conservative Christianity, as a whole, does seem softer on heterosexual sin than homosexual sin. And I'm not really one to talk because I do have some sexual sin in my own past, but like you, I'm on the path of repentance, as difficult as it is.

[fm93]

Your pedantic selection of a single phrase in my entire post for the purpose of flexing your intellectual muscles is among the reasons why I stopped taking this message board seriously.

I'm sorry that you have such a negative view of me that you assume that I made that comment "for the purpose of flexing my intellectual muscles."

You were reading so narrowly that you might have missed where I said

No, I didn't miss it, thank you very much. But perhaps you were thinking so narrowly that you might not've considered that the points in your post weren't nearly as clear or obvious as you seem to think they are.

I'm aware that, as you said, "the topic here falls under the category of lust," and that you don't mean sex itself is a diabolical weapon. Nevertheless, it's still a highly misleading phrase, for one thing, and for another, I was just pointing out that greed is the ultimate root of it.

establishing the context from where I would be henceforth discussing "sex" without needing someone like you coming behind me and making asinine differentiations.

Perhaps you should consider making a few differentiations in your definition of "asinine" so that you won't consider well-intentioned attempts to fruitfully contribute to a discussion and clarify a point to be asinine.