The Christian Anti-Porn Movement: Conservative Research Tools
Dr. J. Reisman
It is no secret that many Christians view pornography as being sinful despite the irony that millions of us utilize adult images every day. But some conservative Christian researchers assert that viewing pornography can also be physically and mentally harmful, is as addictive as crack and heroin, and can cause an ordinary man to rape women and molest children. With the advent of ubiquitous pornography online, has viewing it become our biggest health concern, or is the anti-porn movement just another tool from the conservative right to further dismantle personal freedoms and women’s rights? There are many vocal and well-respected researchers who analyze pornography and its effects, such as Dr. Mary Anne Layden, Dr. Judith Reisman, and Dr. Jeffrey B Satinover. They are not only researchers, but are also the forces behind the anti-pornography movement. Reisman and Satinover are also involved in the anti-homosexuality movement. They are all vocally conservative, and when it comes to researching the effects of pornography they always arrive at the same time-worn, black-and-white conclusion. Their tactics and analyses reek of Reefer Madness.
Dr. Mary Anne Layden
Layden is the Director of Education of the Sexual Trauma and Psychopathology Program, Center for Cognitive Therapy at the University of Pennsylvania, and is maybe most famous for stating before a Senate Committee that internet pornography is a drug which permanently implants itself into the mind of the viewer.
“The internet is a perfect drug delivery system,” Layden said. “To have drug pumped into your house 24/7, free, and children know how to use it better than grown-ups know how to use it — it’s a perfect delivery system if we want to have a whole generation of young addicts who will never have the drug out of their mind. This material is potent, addictive and permanently implanted in the brain.”
She is not alone in her extreme view of pornography’s effects. Satinover likened pornography to heroin before the same Senate Committee. “Pornography really does, unlike other addictions, biologically cause direct release of the most perfect addictive substance,” Satinover said. “That is, it causes masturbation, which causes release of the naturally occurring opioids. It does what heroin can’t do, in effect.”
Santinover is a well respected anti-homosexual leader, authoring the work “Homosexuality & The Politics of Truth” and is involved with the organization P.A.T.H., Positive Alternative to Homosexuality. Reismann is the world’s most vocal activists against the book “The Kinsey Report” and authored the work “Kinsey, Sex and Fraud.” She is also a vocal anti-homosexual, and was a prosecution witness for the state of Ohio when it attempted to remove photos by Robert Mapplethorpe from Cincinnati’s Contemporary Arts Center. Reismann coined the term “erototoxins,” a made-up word describing a made-up chemical produced by the brain while viewing pornography, which she claims could be the key to showing how pornography is not speech-protected under the First Amendment.
Another made-up element these researchers use to bolster claims is linking pornography to child molestation. Unable to claim pornography is harmful because it goes against their conservative views, they instead use the protection of children as the main argument in their anti-porn defense. Layden went so far as to claim that the federal government should fund “health campaigns” to educate the public on the dangers of pornography, by putting signs on busses that say “Sex with children is not ok.”
But in reality, innocent children and outlandish claims are a way to push the conservative agenda of crushing First Amendment and women’s rights.
The anti-porn battle began over a thousand years ago, with patriarchal leaders outlawing goddess worship that revered the nude female form–symbolized in the vagina, breasts, and swollen womb–to promote male-centered rule and divinity. It was only much later and with much difficulty that a female presence emerged into the Christian patriarchy, which was known during the middle ages as “the cult of the virgin Mary.”
These ancient leaders manipulated Christianity in order to designate themselves as divinely chosen emperors or church leaders in order to legitimize their elite power. They openly extracted enormous wealth from subjects rendered ineffectual by legislative schemes, similar efforts being carried to this day by the conservative right, using puppets like Layden, Satinover, and Reismann.
The ubiquity of pornography today, with the advent of the Internet, threatens to normalize sexuality, set the nude female form in a position of reverence, and lead us away from not the teachings of Christ, but the political institution of Christianity–the fear-based apparatus designed to control the populace and assure the power and wealth of an elite male oligarchy who have existed unmolested for millennia and who are responsible for moving our planet toward the brink of ruin. And thanks to the biased research published, and movements organized, by these respected researchers, we’re just one step closer to the end.
Tags: Anti-Porn Movement
Anti-Porn Movement, Dangers of Pornography, Dr. Judith Reisman, Jeffrey Burke Satinover, Mary Anne Layden | admin November 16, 2009
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By A Thought, November 16, 2009 @ 3:28 pm
So, in essence, you are saying your not a Christian site anymore, as the paragraph says that Porn is going to lead us away from the teachings of Christ? And even if that is not meant, the article does call Christianity the fear based apparatus designed to control the populace and assure the power and wealth of an elite male oligarchy…..
Really, did you read this? Think it through? Or are you just coming out of your closet to say surprise we are NOT Christian?
By admin, November 17, 2009 @ 1:00 am
By A Thought, we thank you for writing in regards to the above article. If you also re-read the paragraph in question more carefully, I think you will discover that it actually states what you don’t think it is asserting.
By St. Peter, February 26, 2010 @ 4:40 am
A Thought, must be a fat overweight woman, who is threatened by the beauty of pretty women and Dr. Mary Anne Layden (who I guess has trouble getting laid) I am guessing is the same
Eagerly waiting for sweetchristians.com to start proper!! God bless you girls and guys!
By Another Thought, March 1, 2010 @ 8:12 pm
I agree with the author. The cultural shift from “pagan” belief systems into christianity really messed with the moral standards of that time. It hasnt really stabilized since, due to a lack of truly (and intellectually) effective moral leadership. People (particularly males) are still abusing the honest beliefs of christians for personal gain. Its a great modern tragedy.
By Greg, March 11, 2010 @ 6:43 am
HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHHA. This is the stupidest thing I have ever read including children’s posts on youtube, and this has got to be the most religious based slippery slope argument known to man. LEARN FALSIES YOU FUCKING IDIOTS or does that steer to far away from belief.
By OpenUrEyes, March 21, 2010 @ 2:57 pm
Are you saying the people of this website stand behind these Doctors that support an anti-homosexuality movement? I’m not a homosexual, but are you serious you can call yourself Christian and support anti-homosexuality? God created homosexuals too. Most are born with their sexuality – it is not a choice. They are continuously prosecuted and it’s people like these that make Christianity look bad. Instead, people should be promoting safe, healthy, Christian lifestyles for homosexuals. You are going in the wrong direction with this anti-homosexuality movement.
By Jeff Zink, April 6, 2010 @ 7:47 am
My only concern (or, the only concern of which I am presently going to confront you) is this: what does making Christian erotic material do to draw us close to God, and to mature as children of the Him? Does it convince us of our need for a Savior? Does it make us more humble? Does it increase our belief, trust, and/or reliance on God (aka, does it increase our faith)? Does it increase our hunger and thirst for righteousness? Does it increase the purity of our hearts? Does it teach us self-control? Does it teach us how to love the soul? Does it bring glory to God Himself rather than only to something God has created? Would it inspire people to praise and worship God?
Do I believe erotic material is unavoidably, inherently sinful? No. If I did, I would be saying that the Song of Songs (or, Solomon) is evil. I do very much believe that you believe you’re doing a good thing, but… I think you’re deceived. Seven years ago, perhaps, I would have joined you in your efforts. But now, three years of a 12-step program, an eight-month live-in recovery program, and about three miscellaneous years of misery later, I think you’re deeply, profoundly deceived and that you’re going to hurt a lot of people.
Look, I’m not judging you. I’ve done things that are so evil, so wicked, and so depraved that there are those who would believe that I need to be behind bars. If God can love and die for even me, then I have no right to hate or condemn anyone. But I have been around the block enough times to know something very dangerous when I see it. I see “red flags” all over your site and in your words. You’re playing with fire. And “Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?” (Proverbs 6:28, KJV)
By ted, April 17, 2010 @ 7:52 pm
Matthew 5:27-29 (King James Version)
27Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
28But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
29And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
By Craig, June 7, 2010 @ 4:40 pm
So pornography, which is the epitome of female objectification, is actually in favor of women’s rights? I would really like to see how you work that out in a little more detail.
Additionally, you mentioned that porn doesn’t lead us away from the teachings of Christ… Could you elaborate, because there are some pretty plainly-stated quotations from Christ and other prominent people in scripture which seem to indicate otherwise…