Porn and Christians

[Kingpin]

Porn to me is just not appealing.  Watching other people do it does not get me in the mood.  Sex is about being personal and intimate with one person and one person that you care deeply about.  A person that knows the real you.  That you can be who you are around, who lifts you up, cares for you, will do anything for you.  I may be a hopeless romantic and extremely sappy, but sex is about love.  Like I said I know it can be enjoyed from a physical aspect, but there is more to it than that, at least for me.  So while porn can certainly provide a fulfillment for the base urges, I think it falls desperately short on the overall experience.  

Everyone has their own opinions on it and I'm sure you all know me by now that I have no problem with that, but I wanted to start this thread and give my personal Christian perspective on the topic.

I think you are conflating porn and sex, when in reality they are very different. Porn is not a replacement for actual sex, nor should it be, but rather it's a form of entertainment. The goal of watching porn is more often than not, self pleasure, whereas the goal of sex is about pleasuring your partner (and being pleasured in return).

I know you say that watching other people doesn't get you in the mood, but in the call you also said that you'd never watched porn before, so I find this doubtful. There's an instinctual level that comes into play when watching sex, and I think if you watched the more artful kinds of porn (rather than anything "hardcore") you'd find yourself being turned on by it.

Quick question as a follow up: have you ever looked through a series of nude photographs (of just women)? If so, did you get turned on by those?

I suppose I can see the delineation you are making there.  I equate porn with the hardcore stuff.  Though I guess an R rated movie with a racy sex scene can equally be described as porn and would fall under that "entertainment" as you say.  So I guess the hardcore porn or purpose of watching two people just having sex to be entertained is not appealing to me.   In the context of a movie with a story and a clear emotional attachment, yes that certainly can get me in the mood, but it's more because of the passion and connectedness of the actors in the scene and not the physical act itself.  Sure I've seen porn but never by my own conscious decision.  Im in IT, so the number of infected computers I've seen with porn on it is innumerable but there is big difference in seeing it and making a decision to watch it, so I should have clarified. 

I've seen nude photographs of women sure.  I've been to museums where the human body is proudly displayed as art and I've not been turned on by it.  For me it's the connection and passion.