Your thoughts on porn - bad or not?

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

Ok...come now, stop. This is a serious attempt at a topic here.

I used to watch porn...a lot of porn. This was well before I became a Christian and well before I got married.

Now it'd be easy for me to simply say: "I now think porn is wrong because I'm a Christian", that would be oversimplifying things.

You see, even before I became a Christian, I started to think porn had some negative effects on me.

I did some calculations and determined that from age 16 to age 27, I watched an ENTIRE YEAR's worth of porn.

That got me to thinking about all the things I could do in a year besides watch porn and made me kind of feel bad about wasting all that time.

There were nights when I would stay up until 1 or 2 am watching porn when I would have to be up by 7 the next day for classes or work. I constantly told myself to be smart and get to bed earlier, but, almost without fail, I got sidetracked watching porn.

Once I got married, I noticed the effects of my porn use creeping into my marriage as well. I find it has helped me to ditch the porn and focus on my wife.

Now I know not everyone here will think porn is bad (in fact I don't doubt a good majority of you think its fine), but I have to wonder how many of you have thought much about porn use and what effect it may or may not be having on you.

It hasn't been easy to stay porn-free, especially with how easy it is to access these days on smartphones, Ipads, laptops and so forth. I often wonder how much worse my porn issue would have been had this kind of technology been around during my late teenage and young adult years.

I'm not expecting to reach any kind of consensus here, I'd just like to hear some different viewpoints on whether porn is bad or not.

[the_std]

The answer, for me, is the answer to almost all non-essential activities in life: All things in moderation.

As long as you're not letting it have a negative influence over the rest of your life (like you, CrazedClerk, staying up too late watching it) and as long as a person understands the fact that it is not realistic in the slightest and therefore does not try to "learn" from porn, I have zero problems with it.

[Duelist925]

I pretty much agree with std here. (Also: Best name for this thread ever, I think. Props std. )

In moderation, theres little to nothing wrong with it, same as the occasional burger from a fast food joint isn't bad. All things in moderation, at least on a personal viewpoint.

If someone wants to bring up porns effects on society...yeah, I have no idea on that.

[blas87]

I've never watched much of it online, but I've watched it before through DVDs and whatnot. There is a section at the video store, but I'm too embarrassed to check it out.

That's not to say I don't want to. I just don't want people to think I'm a perv.

I know, get over it blas. I still can't buy tampons or condoms without trying to hide it.

[crashhelmet]

In general, there's nothing wrong with it. As the others said, it's all about moderation. Any "bad" that comes out of it lies more on the person than porn itself. Is it to fulfill a fantasy? A fetish? For some, it helps alleviate urges. For others, it may fuel them. Again, it's on the person.

[blas87]

You may find this silly, but I liked it because I ran out of my own ideas to.....imagine. Sorry for the over-share, but that's really my take on it.

[BlaqueKatt]

I did some calculations and determined that from age 16 to age 27, I watched an ENTIRE YEAR's worth of porn.

That got me to thinking about all the things I could do in a year besides watch porn and made me kind of feel bad about wasting all that time.

I did some calculations and determined that from age 16 to age 27, I played an ENTIRE YEAR's worth of games online.

That got me to thinking about all the things I could do in a year besides play games and made me kind of feel bad about wasting all that time.

I did some calculations and determined that from age 16 to age 27, I watched an ENTIRE YEAR's worth of television.

That got me to thinking about all the things I could do in a year besides watch television and made me kind of feel bad about wasting all that time.

this was done to illustrate the everything in moderation, it didn't have to be porn it could have been any number of things....

[MadMike]

I did some calculations and determined that from age 16 to age 27, I watched an ENTIRE YEAR's worth of porn.

Only a year? Pfft... amateur!

But seriously, this:

The answer, for me, is the answer to almost all non-essential activities in life: All things in moderation.

I did some calculations and determined that from age 16 to age 27, I played an ENTIRE YEAR's worth of games online.

Just the point I was going to make, and you beat me to it. I remember getting so into the original Doom, that I would stay up way too late playing it. "OK, I'm gonna finish this level and go to bed. OK, I'll explore this level for a bit and then go to bed. OK, I'm gonna finish THIS level and go to bed..." lather, rinse, repeat.

[Andara Bledin]

Re: wasted time. If you weren't watching porn, what else would you have been doing with it? There obviously wasn't enough motivation to do anything else that it overrode the desire to watch porn, so I'm not sure that it's actually time that was wasted.

I have an obsessive personality, which I strongly suspect is the same for the OP. The porn is a symptom, not a cause. It just happened to be the thing that you focused on at that time. But, being a responsible individual, you realized that you couldn't keep up the porn habits and the marriage at the same time, so you shifted your focus. That's the way it's supposed to work.

Porn, in and of itself, is just a thing. It isn't good or bad, but neutral. Any positive or negative attributes should be attached to the creators and consumers.

^-.-^

[Rageaholic]

I'm with the others who say moderation.

Me? I don't like it. I find it too degrading and disgusting overall. I'm not asexual, porn just doesn't do it for me.

[Greenday]

I know, get over it blas. I still can't buy tampons or condoms without trying to hide it.

I feel like this could be you...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGuxnbh0ig4

I never just sit around porn. Couldn't imagine just sitting around, watching porn for hours. Watch it, spank to it, and done with it.

Just don't let it get in the way of having a life and there's nothing with it.

[Nyoibo]

I never just sit around porn. Couldn't imagine just sitting around, watching porn for hours. Watch it, spank to it, and done with it.

That, I've got about 80-100 gb of porn on an external HD , but I don't spend ages watching it, because lets face it, after a while it gets boring, it's like watching a less than b grade movie but with more tits, it's useful for its purpose then it goes away again until it's needed.

[bex1218]

I watch it every once in a while. I have a couple of movies. I do a good hr or so every couple of months.

[telecom_goddess]

I agree with the moderation. No problem with watching it once in a while. Just don't let it overtake your life.

With that said anyone have a particular genre they prefer

I'm just kidding.

[Nyoibo]

With that said anyone have a particular genre they prefer

Yeah, you really don't want to go down that road.