Balancing Porn Between Morality, Crime and Religion
08/10/2019
There has always been a battle that has been raging between religious people and non religious people on pornography.This perennial battle is still raging across the world and some religious groups have pushed for a legislation to stop the viewing of porn. Take for an example in the state of Utah in the US, porn was declared as a public health hazard and you can understand the stupidity of declaring pron as a health hazard by just looking who is pushing such ludicrous agendas. It is obviously the conservatives and the the largely Christian and Mormon groups that have been calling porn as a health hazard in Utah. The arguments they have stated why it is a health hazard is even more ludicrous. They argue that porn is a health because,
1.It causes dissatisfaction in marriage
2.Causes marital problems between spouses
3.It destroys society
4. women are portrayed as sex objects
5.It is one of the causes of sexual crimes against women etc...
Now, this is what these so called religious Christians would say and the list is endless. Now, if you ask them what evidence do they have to back up their claim, they will just beat the bush and try to straw man you and fool you. The truth is, none of this has any evidence to back it up. The main Christian group who are at the forefront in bringing laws and legislations against porn are the Mormons (Mormons are considered non Christians and heretic by orthodox Christians because the Mormons follow the teachings of the so called prophet, Joseph Smith), have even an anti porn group called "Utah Coalition Against Pornography". but nothing helpful has happened with this so called anti porn propaganda. According to a 2009 study by Harvard Business School professor Benjamin Edelman, it showed that Utah had the highest per-capita rate of pron subscriptions in the United States. This is what happens when you start repressing sexuality in an authoritarian manner and it will in most cases manifest in more bizarre ways you can't ever imagine. There has been a big argument put forward by religious group and that is the argument that watching porn can lead to committing heinous crime like rape and murder. It won't be a surprise that if every social ill is pinned with pornography by conservative people. This argument is pushed by bringing in anecdotal evidence to prove it. One example is the example of the serial rapist and killer, Ted Bundy giving his final interview before execution stating that the reason for him to become such a ruthless killer was because he watched pornography. We should understand that Ted Bundy was a pathological liar and his view is just his personal anecdote and you cannot prove a point using an anecdote. There is not scientific evidence to prove that porn will people become serial killers of rapists. This is how far certain groups are pushing to prove their point by taking anyone's opinion with out fact checking. There are stories of people who were brought up in a religious background been berated by their parents after they were caught watching porn or were masturbating. This culture of shame induced with fear causes more damage to the individual psychologically than doing good.
Porn Restriction
Porn is mostly criticized for either being immoral or being an outlet for sexual crimes such as rape. Many stories have circulated in the mainstream and social media about how some individuals have gone on to rape women after watching porn. There is a video of the serial killer Ted Bundy in his supposedly last video before execution, stating that the reason he became such a sadistic serial killer was because he had started to watch porn at a young age. Such stories appear frequently and is being used by groups that are against pornography. What needs to be understood is that such stories are not at all true because all of these stories are based on the personal opinions and confessions of individuals who have a history of lying. Take Ted Bundy as mentioned earlier, He had lied multiple times of not sexually assaulting and killing young women and accepting the opinion of such a pathological liar is unacceptable. Allah (Swt) says in the Quran:
“O you who believe! If a Fasiq (liar — evil person) comes to you with any news, verify it”
(49:6)
The story of a young boy raping his little sister after watching porn are also stories that cannot be taken as evidence to prove that porn contributes to crime because porn is just one scenario of the case and if porn was a real factor that contributes to crime then all the men who watch porn would become rapists and bloodthirsty killers.
It’s like saying that the killer killed the man because he found a knife in the table. There are so many factors that leads to a crime being committed and maybe there could be individuals who could get triggered by watching erotic movies.
It’s a matter of how you use porn is what’s important. Most men view porn to masturbate and some could use for something else. We must remember that porn is for many purposes like the knife. The knife can be used for cutting an apple or to harm an individual.
There is no evidence to link watching porn with crime and sexual assault has been taking place for thousands of years before the advent of porn movies.
There are certain statistics that are used to link watching porn with crime.
Let’s take the example of a news article that appeared in Telegraph dated 29/01/ 2015 where the so called Lord Thomas, who was the chief justice gave evidence to MPs, looking back on his conviction of “pervert” Jamie Reynolds, who murdered Georgia Williams, 17. The 23-year-old had been watching extreme pornography immediately before Georgia arrived at his home, where he proceeded to hang her in May 2013.
What needs to be understood is that the above anecdotal evidence presented Mr Thomas is just his assumption. He is just the chief justice and not a doctor or researcher who published a study proving the connection between porn and crime.
It is easy to come to assumptions based on anecdotal evidence, but mere statistics cannot be taken as evidence due to the fact that what has been collected as statistical evidence are mere confessions of criminals who are pathological liars and what is needed is scientific research evidence. As far as science is concerned, there is no evidence to prove the connection between porn and crime.
Unfortunately, we are living in a culture of puritanism where personal opinions as in the case of the chief justice mentioned above are more important than religious scriptural or scientific evidence, hence a new culture of ignorant people have been born for easy manipulation and structural indoctrination. The Barbie doll has been banned in Saudi Arabia and banning toys won’t help at all in preventing vice.
In China and Saudi Arabia, where internet censorship is enforced stringently we haven’t been able to find any use or benefit of such censorship and with the help of proxy websites and VPN services it has become even more easier to unblock porn websites. In Saudi Arabia for an example, among the top ranking sites in Alexa will be a blocked porn website. China on the other hand has blocked VPN servers and proxy websites only to see another Chinese built VPN server or proxy website to pop up in its place. The UK is another country that has made certain legislations on porn and the most famous is the 'Digital economy act" passed in the year 2017 but it has been delayed due to technical reasons. Now the question is, whether such laws will actually help solve anything is a big question mark.One thing is sure, and that is none of these laws would prevent people from watching porn and implimenting such laws are doomed to fail because it is near impossible to filter or ban porn completely from the internet. What needs to be done is to educate rather than police people. Islam in general forbids pornography but there is a thing called necessity in Islam and this is what Allah(Swt) says in the Quran.
"Forbidden to you for food are carrion, blood, swine-flesh, and that which has been dedicated to any other than Allah; that which was strangled; that which was beaten to death by a blunt instrument; that which fell a long fall; that which was gored by horns; that of which predators have eaten - saving that which you make lawful by slaughtering before they die; and that which has been sacrificed to idols. And forbidden also is settling matters with gambling-arrows. That is corruption. This day, those who disbelieve are in despair of ever stifling your religion; so fear them not, and fear Me! This day I have perfected your religion for you, and completed My favour upon you, and chosen Islam for you as religion. Whomever is forced by hunger, not by will, to sin, for him Allah is Forgiving, Compassionate."
(Al-Quran-5:3)
And in another place, Allah(Swt) says,
"He has only forbidden you carrion, blood, and swine, and that which has been consecrated to any other than Allah. But who is driven by necessity, neither craving nor transgressing, it is no sin for him. For Allah is Forgiving, Compassionate."
(Al-Quran-2:173)
The above verses prove that necessity dictates exceptions and the reason for this is because to make the life of Muslims easy and less oppressive. If you ask a Muslim whether eating pork is allowed for a necessity, he or she would say in most cases "Yes" but if You ask them if watching porn is halal if it is for a necessity, then the probable answer would be"No'. Same law but two standards. this double standards is due to the religious upbringing and has nothing to due with Islam. There is a huge difference between having a religious upbringing and an Islamic upbringing. The so called religious upbringing is a combination of blind acceptance of what a sect or sheikh says and also some the following of certain known things in Islam like fasting .going to Jummah etc. An Islamic upbringing the upbringing based on the teachings of the Quran and the authentic sunnah of the prophet(Sal) which is easy and tolerant. Islam never suppressed sexuality. Islam encouraged healthy sex and restrictiveness is only going to worsen any given situation. Allah(Swt) says in the Quran,
"Allah would make the burden light for you, for man was created weak."
(Al-Quran-4:28)
if a Muslim who knows that if he does not masturbate and ejaculate, or if a Muslim who is finding hard to protect his gaze in public transport or he cannot reach his wife to have intercourse, if he knows that he could definitely fall in to zina porn can be viewed for the sake of a quick erection in aiding masturbation and hence this will help in the Muslim protecting him/herself from falling in to zina. According to the shariah even the forbidden becomes halal due to necessity and if there is no transgression.
A woman was brought to ‘Umar bin al Khattab May Allah be pleased with him who had been extremely thirsty, and had passed by a shepherd and asked him to give her something to drink; he had refused to give her something to drink unless she let him have his way with her. (Umar) consulted with the people as to whether he should have her stoned. ‘Ali May Allah be pleased with him said, ‘She was forced to do it, you should let her go.’ So he did so'
(Sunan Baihaqi-Authenticated by Albani in Irwa al Ghaleel 7/341)
All of the above evidence prove beyond doubt that Islam allows something forbidden to be made lawful if it is for a necessity. The Christian groups that are against pornography should understand that even the bible is explicit on sexuality. One example is as follows,
"I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me.
Come, my lover, let us go to the countryside, let us spend the night in the villages.
Let us go early to the vineyards to see if the vines have budded, if their blossoms have opened, and if the pomegranates are in bloom— there I will give you my love."
(Song of Songs 7:10-12)
There are many things I could write from other religious scriptures from various religions as well but it would takes pages and pages to write if I were to do so. In conclusion, there needs to be a balance when arguing against porn because proven evidence is what matters at the end of the day.
C.J.Ahmed