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Originally Posted by Aladdin Sane
Can I be a Christian and look at porn?
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Maybe that is the question I am getting down to... I guess for me, porn was such a HUUUUGE no-no in my church and university (the university actually tried to ban all on-campus computers from accessing any porn sites), that I have a hard time knowing how I, if I was still a Christian, would have reconciled my viewing of porn and other sexually-explicit topics with my faith.
I think that is actually one part of why I left the church... because I felt that to continue calling myself an evangelical without walking the walk, would be a sham and give a bad name to those who *do* walk the walk. And, let's be honest, I just wanted to have more fun.
But as I said, I am honestly curious about how others have managed the reconciliation, and I figure the TFP is as good a place as any to ask that question.
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Originally Posted by Aladdin Sane
One thing I know, God does not want me to have a life that is dominated by guilt and self-loathing. What purpose would that serve?
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I think you're right on that point, Aladdin (yes, we agree!!)
.. does guilt serve a purpose? I think for me, it was another reason why I got tired of churchly rhetoric. I didn't feel guilty as long as I repressed everything inside me, confessed every tiny sin, prayed for sinners (including myself) and whatnot... but damn, when I started opening up to "corruptive" influences (bless them, hehe), I had to deal with the guilt. And after a long wrestle with those consequences, I decided that it was lame that I had been programmed to feel guilty for things that were quite natural and healthy. My "morality" shifted... and my friends prayed for me... heck, my 10-years-ago self would think that my today's self would be burning in hell... but I'm doin' alright.
I guess my question was more along the lines of: Christians, do you ever feel threatened by the topics on some explicit threads? Do you ever avoid them, not out of guilt but out of a desire for purity? For me, I decided purity wasn't the big deal it was cracked up to be... I wanted to be more human. TFP is a great place for that!
Maybe I am just curious about the *kinds* of Christians we have as members... I'm getting the idea that they are, on a whole, more liberal (at least sexually, though perhaps not politically) than most of Christian America. Otherwise, why would they be here?