I think addict is the key word. Addiction is really the problem, not
necessarily porn, or gambling, or even drinking. One can be addicted
to religion, even. In battling porn and alcoholism and these other
vices, I think we make a mistake when we convuse the thing to which a
person who is addicted with the real problem. IOW, banishing porn, for
instance (if, in fact, one could ever do that), would do nothing to
cure a person of an addictive personality.
Thom
On 10/26/06, Laura Card <laura_card@???> wrote:
>
>
>
> Excellent insight about not doing what should be done as a form of
> damnation.
>
>
>
> Still, ask anyone who is married to a porn addict or gambling addict or any
> kind of addict and he or she could tell you about harm in relationships or
> financial bankruptcy or physical abuse. That's why people think these things
> are bad. If you add doing nothing to complete the circuit you get a more
> well-rounded view of the type of harm caused by addictions.
>
>
>
> Laura Card
>
>
> ________________________________
>
>
> From: aml-list-bounces+laura_card=byu.edu@???
> [mailto:aml-list-bounces+laura_card=byu.edu@???]
> On Behalf Of Clark Goble
> Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2006 5:08 PM
> To: AML Discussion List
> Subject: Re: [AML] Do Violent Movies Increase Crime?
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Oct 25, 2006, at 6:56 AM, Alan Mitchell wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> I believe our culture has been deceived by the research (?) for the past
>
> half century that pornography is mostly innocuous and a matter of personal
>
> choice. Perhaps not all porn causes rape and homicide, but that doesn't mean
>
> it has any great value to the human race. I take that back, what I meant to
>
> say was that it doesn't have any value at all.
>
>
>
>
> We moved from violence to discussions of pornography pretty fast.
>
>
>
>
>
> I should note that I'm not saying it is valuable or good. Far, far, from it.
> Rather I'm saying that like many other vices some try and portray it as so
> deadly that they misportray it. This may in turn cause a counter-productive
> backlash. There are plenty of demonstrable problems with all vices. We
> needn't create apocalyptic consequences for them.
>
>
>
>
>
> I don't think gambling has any value at all. It's typically a tax on the
> stupid and the poor. But I simultaneously don't think that if some of my
> roommates head over to Wendover to play blackjack that they're going to be
> inexorably addicted and lose their lives in gambling. Rather I think it
> somewhat innocuous but largely a stupid waste of time and money.
>
>
>
>
>
> If you want my opinion, the greatest evil consequence pornography has is
> that it leads people to get their sexual gratification there rather than
> with other people. You have all sorts of young men who, rather than facing
> failure and the like in dating look to gratification in pornography or even
> Sports Illustrated and Victoria's Secret. So they don't have relationships
> and they've lost something precious in life. Same with video games. Rather
> than taking real risks of trying to make friends and learn social queues
> it's easier to play World of Warcraft or XBox Live.
>
>
>
>
>
> Someone else mentioned it but to me one of the best anti-drug ads I've seen
> was that one with the guys using marijuana on the couch. I'm not sure how
> much it'll do to prevent teens or young adults from abusing drugs, given
> their mentality. But it's one of the greatest truths about drugs I've seen.
> The problem wasn't that it led them to become heroin junkies, OD, become
> thieves or all the like. Rather they just sat on their couch and did
> nothing.
>
>
>
>
>
> While I don't dispute there are many other evils associated with all these
> vices, I think the greatest evil Satan is afflicting our culture with is
> apathy. He can keep us sitting around doing nothing - none of the things we
> ought be about in this life. And I can guarantee a lot of people will on the
> other side of the veil look back at a life of drugs, pornography, video
> games, and even TV not because of the evil it made them do but because of
> the good it kept them from doing. If damnation in LDS thought is a lack of
> progression then these habits are the most effective tool of damnation Satan
> has.
>
>
>
>
>
> Clark
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
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>
--
Thom Duncan
