Pornography and Censorship
Barrington H. Brennen, January 23,
2012, 2021
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This article was written in January 23, 2012 in
response to the public discussion in
The Bahamas about censoring pornography on the
cable station.
However, the principles presented can apply to
other practices Christians consider wrong.
The
subject of censoring pornography in the public
media is a very sensitive one and challenging to
write about. But is has been on my mind a lot
and I know some might misunderstand my views or
deliberately twist them to suit their own
purposes. First of all, I am not in support of
pornographic movies, magazines, games, photos,
or literature. As a Christian, I wish it never
existed or we had no pornography on our
television channels or satellites dishes. On the
other hand, we are not in a utopia and this is a
pluralistic society where all beliefs, opinions
and values are protected by our nation’s
constitution. In addition, not everyone is a
Christian or even a believer in God. Even that
is protected by our constitution. I am happy for
that.
The challenge I have is when individuals
pressure the Church or an association of
churches to force the government to require all
citizens to have the same values and practices.
While some may not want to put pornography in
this category, I cannot but logically admit that
although porn can be considered evil by some,
government cannot legislate moral and individual
values. These are personal decisions. This is a
very important point to understand.
It is my view that the larger the number of
volunteers viewing of pornography, the greater
is the evidence of the weakness of the church,
at least in a so-called Christian community.
Wow! That might be too strong a statement. That
is not a sign of a weak government but it is a
sign of a weak church. The following questions
may explain that statement. If the church
believes that pornography is evil, why are so
many church goers watching it? Is it because the
church is not really preaching about the real,
Biblical, social gospel? This is the gospel that
impacts every-day living—the mental, spiritual,
physical, and social. This is the gospel that
motivates not just extrinsic behavior but also
intrinsic values that transcend the immoral and
social pressures in society. This is the gospel
that teaches how to recognize the stupidity of
immorality so that the learners can apply it to
their lives. This gospel does not teach
arrogance and pride where its followers believe
that their righteous behavior automatically
gives them brownie points for the kingdom.
THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH
What then should be the church’s approach
when it comes to what it called moral issues in
society—pornography, gambling, legalizing of
marijuana, drug addiction, alcoholism,
prostitution, nude clubs, etc? It is my view
that the church must first make sure its members
are practicing pure Biblical living standards
and that they are living that way simply because
it is a result of a loving relationship with
Jesus, and nothing more. The wise Christian
knows, that in this sinful world, the bottom
line is that Jesus saves and not the absence of
pornography or gambling in one’s life. In
addition, the wise Christian knows that Jesus,
through the power of the Holy Spirit, gives the
power to avoid pornography, gambling, etc. Good
church leaders do not simply tell their
congregants that pornography or gambling is
wrong, but teach them how to know for themselves
the dangers or risk factors. When Jesus says do
not do something there is usually a real
practical reason behind it. Hence members are
better equipped to withstand the onslaught of
immorality in society.
Here is what some may call a liberal view on
censorship published in 2004 in an article
“Censorship and Pornography.” I present it here
for your thinking: “Many liberal objections to
censorship of pornography point to the practical
costs and dangers of censorship, arguing that
even if pornography does cause some harm to
others, the risks involved in censoring it are
too great. They point to the difficulties
involved in formulating a legal definition of
pornography that will be sufficiently precise to
minimize the danger that censorship laws
targeting pornography will be used
(intentionally or unintentionally) to censor
other unpopular material, including valuable
literary, artistic and political works.
Censoring pornography may thus place us on a
dangerous "slippery slope" to further censorship
of other material; and may have a general
"chilling effect" on expression, making people
reluctant to say or publish things that might be
construed as pornography and for which they
could be prosecuted.”
If more of our people, who say they are
Christians, were truly living Christian lives,
we would have fewer problems in our country. The
second thing a church can do is to encourage the
government to have a referendum for such issues
to give an opportunity to all citizens to
express their opinion with a vote. This, in my
view, is good leadership. It is my view that it
is not the church’s role to force government
leadership to pass laws pertaining to its own
views, practices, and values. Perhaps this is
difficult for some Christians to understand. The
Bible says in Matthew 5:13 and 14 that followers
of Jesus are to be “salt” and “light” of the
world. Salt is used for flavoring. Light is used
to dispel darkness and for healing. These two
words suggest influence, not coercion. The
lifestyle and attitude of the Christian will
provide a positive influence in the society.
Jesus said himself, “By this all men will know
that you are my disciples, if you love one
another." John 15:35.
The only role of the church as an organization
is to ensure fair play and religious liberty for
all. The Christian Church is to ensure that all
faiths/religions, including those that are
non-Christian, have the freedom to grow, and
proclaim their teachings without fear,
intimidation, or ridicule. No government should
make laws to prevent that. It is not the
governments role to have laws to prevent or
punish sin. Should it be the same with
pornography and gambling? Or at least shouldn’t
the government allow the people to speak on
these matters? It is my view, and mine alone,
that the church should have a loud voice on
moral issues or immoral living but first through
the loud “voices” of the holy lifestyles of
their followers and not through forced
legislation. Many Christian churches want the
government to ban gambling and pornography, but
some of the pastors are known to have extra
marital affairs, abuse women and children, and
are disingenuous with money. What hypocrisy!
Maybe that’s our problem in the society. Far too
many Christians are duplicitous and the world
knows that they are. Never forget this point:
The role of the Christian is to EXPOSE and not
IMPOSE the Gospel--Jesus, Christian principles
and living standards.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN?
While I am against pornography, I am still
forced to ask the question: What will happen if
the government without a national referendum
enforces laws that many think restrict personal
expressions and freedoms they believe are
protected under the constitution? Imagine with
me for a moment. If a referendum to ban
pornography or gambling is passed by a great
majority of voters, it may suggest that the
majority of residents in the country truly will
not be using porn or gambling and very few will
go under ground to access it. On the other hand,
if the law against porn or gambling is passed
without a referendum, when the leadership is not
aware of the real voice of the people, it is
more likely that thousands will continue these
behaviors.
As stated earlier, the best solution is personal
censorship. Parents and churches are to work
together in teaching proper values to ensure
immorality does not flourish in our society. I
prefer personal censorship any day than
legislative censorship. We do have a limited
kind of legislative censorship already through
our national film board for movies shown in our
theaters. That is good. But we need to move
forward with caution. Christians, stand up with
your godly lifestyle. Its effects will last
through eternity. Its practices will transcend
illicit, immoral, and illegal behavior. Online
Survey on Government Censorship
Barrington H. Brennen is a marriage and family
therapist. Send your questions or comments to
question@soencouragement.org , or call
242-327-1980 or visit
www.soencouragement.org
