As the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains:Pornography consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parties.
It does grave injury to the dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the public), since each one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others.
[16] In a series of lectures called the Theology of the Body, Pope John Paul II argues that some works of art depict naked individuals without evoking lust, but "makes it possible to concentrate, in a way, on the whole truth of man, and the dignity and beauty—also the 'suprasensual' beauty—of his masculinity and feminity", and that such works "bear within them, almost hidden, an element of sublimation".
[18][19][20] Harry Reid notes that, during the Reformation, "Calvin's aim was straightforward, if ambitious; he wanted to create a perfect Christian community where everyone looked after everyone else...
"[21] According to Manetsch, the Genevan Consistory regularly censured literature they deemed dangerous for public morals, including pornography.
"[24] According to Addicted to Lust: Pornography in the Lives of Conservative Protestants (2019) written by Samuel L. Perry, professor of Sociology and Religious studies at the University of Oklahoma, Conservative Protestants in the United States are characterized by a "sexual exceptionalism" related to their consumption of pornography due to certain pervasive beliefs within the Conservative Protestant subculture, which entails cognitive dissonance associated with the unfounded conviction to be addicted to pornography, psychological distress, and intense feelings of guilt, shame, self-loathing, depression, and sometimes withdrawal from faith altogether.
[25][26] Perry's book received widespread media coverage[26][27] and his findings were criticized by Lyman Stone of the Evangelical magazine Christianity Today, which asserted that both the quantitative and qualitative statistical data collected by Perry demonstrate that the consumption of pornography in the United States is significantly lower among church-attending Protestant Christians compared to other religious groups, and declared that "Protestant men today who attend church regularly are basically the only men in America still resisting the cultural norm of regularized pornography use".
[28] Doctor John Kleinig, Lecturer Emeritus at the Australian Lutheran College, argues that, "The regular use of pornography for masturbation is a kind of sexual addiction.
The Church refuses to invest in any company producing pornography, stating that, "Human dignity is based on the belief that women and men are created in God's image.
"[38] In the 1980s, the liberal Presbyterian Church (USA) produced a report entitled, Pornography: Far from the Song of Songs, which states, "Through words and images, pornography debases God’s intended gifts of love and dignity in human sexuality... we live in an age also marked by the shattering of many norms of behavior and the subsequent loss of moral restraints.
It defines pornography as "sexually explicit material that portrays violence, abuse, coercion, domination, humiliation, or degradation for the purpose of arousal.
Because of our responsibility as Christian citizens (Matthew 5:13; Proverbs 14:34) and in view of the evil, exploitative, and destructive effects of pornography on individuals, families, and our society, Friends are encouraged to prayerfully and boldly oppose the production and distribution of pornographic materials in their local communities, as well as at the state and national levels (Ephesians 5:11).
In a major report, the Mennonite Central Committee notes, "One misconception is that adult pornography has no victims: it’s a harmless, pleasurable activity which damages no one.
[45] In 2002, researcher Martin E. Marty noted that, "... most of the anti-porn activity is indeed from fundamentalist and evangelical groups... What keeps [American] mainstream Protestants from being consistently up front on an issue that... quite possibly leads to rape and other crimes, demeans the "user," and benefits the billions-per-year exploiter, has little to do with pornography.
Instead it connects with their heavy commitment to free speech, their fear lest countering pornography in communications might erode the defenses against intrusions on precious liberties.
"[24] Two other American researchers, Sherkat and Ellison, produced a study which shows, "that Conservative Protestant opposition to pornography is rooted in commitments to Biblical inerrancy and solidified by high rates of religious participation.
Inerrancy serves as a cognitive resource informing two separate paths to pornography opposition: moral absolutism and beliefs in the threat of social contamination.
"[46] Jerry Falwell has criticized pornography, saying sex is reserved for heterosexual married couples, to be used only in accordance with God's will (more specifically, to both solidify the emotional bonds between the man and his lawfully wedded wife, and to help propagate the human race ["Be fruitful, and multiply.
"]), and asserts that use of pornography involves indulgence in lust towards people other than one's spouse (which in Christianity is a sin)[47] and leads to an overall increase in sexually immoral behavior (including, for example, adultery, rape, and/or even child molestation).
We are particularly concerned about the pressures on young people to engage in sexual activity at an early age, and we urge our Churches to teach the virtue of abstinence.
"[49] The Anglican Diocese of Melbourne published an article which noted that, "Pornography is prostitution, as men pay money, time and dignity for gratification.
This payment might not be direct, but the support of pornography feeds the human trafficking industry, in which some 27 million women and children are trapped worldwide.
"[53] As part of teaching the law of chastity, LDS Church leaders have repeatedly condemned the use of sexually arousing literature[54] and visual material for decades.
[55][56] Maimonides, in his Mishneh Torah, writes, based on the Talmud,[57] that "A person who stares at even a small finger of a woman with the intent of deriving pleasure is considered as if he looked at her genitalia.
[66] In the 151st verse of the chapter Al-An'am in the Qur'an, among the five chief commandments of Allah, the fourth states: "do not even draw to things shameful - be they open or secret."
"[68] The Qur'an 24:31 states: "And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and keep covered their private parts, and that they should not show-off their beauty except what is apparent, and let them cast their shawls over their cleavage.
[70][71] Ibn Abidin, a Hanafi jurist, wrote: "I couldn't find anything about the disadvantage of looking at pictured private parts, let them be investigated.
[73] Although there is no direct prohibition of pornography in Sikhism, Sikhs argue that pornographic books and films, prostitution, and lust leads to adultery.
[78] The Dhammika Sutta (Sn 2.14) includes a precept in which the Buddha enjoins a follower to "observe celibacy"[79] One of the central concepts of Hinduism is that of Purushartha, which is understood as the meaning or purpose of human existence.
It essentially advocates the pursuit of the four main proper goals for a happy life, namely: Dharma (righteous living, performance of ones duty), Artha (money, wealth), Kama (sensual delight, sensory pleasures) and Moksha (spiritual knowledge, self-actualization).