Pornography and Censorship
Barrington H.
Brennen, January 23, 2012, 2021
Printer-friendly PDF Format
Online Survey on Government Censorship
This article was
written in January 23, 2012 in response to the public discussion
in The Bahamas about censoring pornography on the cable station.
However, the principles presented can apply to other practices
Christians consider wrong.
The subject of censoring pornography in the public media is a
very sensitive one and challenging to write about. But is has
been on my mind a lot and I know some might misunderstand my
views or deliberately twist them to suit their own purposes.
First of all, I am not in support of pornographic movies,
magazines, games, photos, or literature. As a Christian, I wish
it never existed or we had no pornography on our television
channels or satellites dishes. On the other hand, we are not
in a utopia and this is a pluralistic society where all beliefs,
opinions and values are protected by our nation’s constitution.
In addition, not everyone is a Christian or even a believer in
God. Even that is protected by our constitution. I am happy for
that.
The challenge I have is when individuals pressure the Church or
an association of churches to force the government to require
all citizens to have the same values and practices. While some
may not want to put pornography in this category, I cannot but
logically admit that although porn can be considered evil by
some,
government cannot legislate moral and individual values. These
are personal decisions. This is a very important point to
understand.
It is my view that the larger the number of volunteers viewing
of pornography, the greater is the evidence of the weakness of
the church, at least in a so-called Christian community. Wow! That might be too strong a statement. The
following questions may explain that statement. If the church
believes that pornography is evil, why are so many church goers
watching it? Is it because the church is not really preaching
about the real, Biblical, social gospel? This is the gospel
that impacts every-day living—the mental, spiritual, physical,
and social. This is the gospel that motivates not just
extrinsic behavior but also intrinsic values that transcend the
immoral and social
pressures in society. This is the gospel that teaches how to
recognize the stupidity of immorality so that the learners can
apply it to their lives. This gospel does not teach arrogance
and pride where its followers believe that their righteous
behavior automatically gives them brownie points for the
kingdom.
THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH
What then should be the church’s approach when it comes to what
it called moral issues in society—pornography, gambling,
legalizing of marijuana, drug addiction, alcoholism,
prostitution, nude clubs, etc? It is my view that
the church must first make sure its members are practicing pure
Biblical living standards and that they are living that way
simply because it is a result of a loving relationship with
Jesus, and nothing more. The wise Christian knows, that in this
sinful world, the bottom line is that Jesus saves and not the
absence of pornography or gambling in one’s life. In addition,
the wise Christian knows that Jesus, through the power of the
Holy Spirit, gives the power to avoid pornography, gambling,
etc. Good church leaders do not simply tell their congregants
that pornography or gambling is wrong, but teach them how to
know for themselves the dangers or risk factors. When Jesus
says do not do something there is usually a real practical
reason behind it.
Hence members are better equipped to
withstand the onslaught of immorality in society.
Here is what some may call a liberal view on censorship
published in 2004 in an article “Censorship and Pornography.” I
present it here for your thinking: “Many
liberal objections to censorship of pornography point to the
practical costs and dangers of censorship, arguing that even if
pornography does cause some harm to others, the risks involved
in censoring it are too great. They point to the difficulties
involved in formulating a legal definition of pornography that
will be sufficiently precise to minimize the danger that
censorship laws targeting pornography will be used
(intentionally or unintentionally) to censor other unpopular
material, including valuable literary, artistic and political
works. Censoring pornography may thus place us on a dangerous
"slippery slope" to further censorship of other material; and
may have a general "chilling effect" on expression, making
people reluctant to say or publish things that might be
construed as pornography and for which they could be
prosecuted.”
If more of our people, who say they are Christians, were truly
living Christian lives, we would have fewer problems in our
country.
The second thing a church can do is to encourage the government
to have a referendum for such issues to give an opportunity to
all citizens to express their opinion with a vote. This, in my
view, is good leadership. It is my view that it is not the
church’s role to force government leadership to pass laws
pertaining to its own views, practices, and values. Perhaps
this is difficult for some Christians to understand. The Bible
says in Matthew 5:13 and 14 that followers of Jesus are to be
“salt” and “light” of the world. Salt is used for flavoring.
Light is used to dispel darkness and for healing. These two
words suggest influence, not coercion. The lifestyle and
attitude of the Christian will provide a positive influence in
the society. Jesus said himself, “By this all men will know that
you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 15:35.
The only role of the church as an organization is to ensure fair
play and religious liberty for all. The Christian Church is to
ensure that all faiths/religions, including those that are
non-Christian, have the freedom to grow, and proclaim their
teachings without fear, intimidation, or ridicule. No
government should make laws to prevent that. It is
not the governments role to have laws to prevent or punish sin.
Should it be the same with pornography and gambling? Or at
least shouldn’t the government allow the people to speak on
these matters? It is my view, and mine alone, that
the church should have a loud voice on moral issues or immoral
living but first through the loud “voices” of the holy
lifestyles of their followers and not through forced
legislation. Many Christian churches want the government to ban gambling
and pornography, but some of the pastors are known to have extra
marital affairs, abuse women and children, and are disingenuous
with money. What hypocrisy! Maybe that’s our problem in the
society. Far too many Christians are duplicitous and the world
knows that they are. Never forget this point: The
role of the Christian is to EXPOSE and not IMPOSE the
Gospel--Jesus, Christian principles and living standards.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN?
While I am against pornography, I am still forced to ask the
question: What will happen if the government without a national
referendum enforces laws that many think restrict personal
expressions and freedoms they believe are protected under the
constitution? Imagine with me for a moment. If a referendum
to ban pornography or gambling is passed by a great majority of
voters, it may suggest that the majority of residents in the
country truly will not be using porn or gambling and very few
will go under ground to access it. On the other hand, if the
law against porn or gambling is passed without a referendum,
when the leadership is not aware of the real voice of the
people, it is more likely that thousands will continue these
behaviors.
As stated earlier, the best solution is personal censorship.
Parents and churches are to work together in teaching proper
values to ensure immorality does not flourish in our society. I
prefer personal censorship any day than legislative censorship.
We do have a limited kind of legislative censorship already
through our national film board for movies shown in our
theaters. That is good. But we need to move forward with
caution. Christians, stand up with your godly lifestyle. Its
effects will last through eternity. Its practices will
transcend illicit, immoral, and illegal behavior.
Online Survey on Government Censorship
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Barrington H. Brennen is a marriage and family therapist and a
board certified clinical psychotherapist, USA. Send your
questions or comments to
question@soencouragement.org , or call 242-327-1980 or
305-767-4976 or visit
www.soencouragement.org