Pornography and Censorship
Barrington H. Brennen, January 23, 2012, 2021
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Survey on Government Censorship
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 and a board certified clinical
psychotherapist, USA. Send your questions or
comments to question@soencouragement.org ,
or call 242-327-1980 or visit www.soencouragement.org
