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Utah Governor: 'Porn Is a Public Health Crisis' (cnet.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Utah Governor Gary Herbert said on his Facebook page: "Pornography is a public health crisis. The problem is rampant, yet it thrives in secrecy and silence." He emitted this thought on signing a resolution which says porn is "a public health hazard leading to a broad spectrum of individual and public health impacts and societal harms." In addition, it "perpetuates a sexually toxic environment." The resolution doesn't just stop there. It goes on to say "due to advances in technology and the universal availability of the Internet, young children are exposed to what used to be referred to as hard core, but is now considered mainstream, pornography at an alarming rate." The resolution says pornography "equates violence toward women and children with sex and pain with pleasure, which increases the demand for sex trafficking, prostitution, child sexual abuse images, and child pornography." It requests "the need for education, prevention, research, and policy change at the community and societal level in order to address the pornography epidemic that is harming the people of our state and nation." In the words of Gov. Gary Herbert, "Today's bills will start an open discussion." I couldn't agree more...
This is just the continuation of the "public health crisis" excuse to ban something people don't agree with. Smoking, Sugary drinks, guns, etc. The slippery slope continues.
If only we had a way to instruct these children about responsible sexual practices. If only we could gather children together 5 days a week in public buildings and teach them sexual education along with math, science and history to demystify sex so that porn isn't their only reference.
If only...
Another attempt by the far right to legislate its religious morality. Maybe we should call religion a public health crisis. It damages people's ability to think rationally. Porn is like any other film; it's staged. Of course, the right doesn't call action movies a public health crisis, even though they tend to contain plenty of violence; action movies don't violate their religion's morals.
That's a bold statement... If he's got proof, I'd like to see it (for free, obviously)
Science would be great here, although any limitations are going to be severely limited by both the first amendment.
I remember hearing a few years ago that the effects of internet pornography were difficult to study because it is too difficult to find a control group.
Exposure to politicians and their desires to push their own ideals on others is a public health crisis.
WE should outlaw politicians at once!
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
And not only Porn! Also:
- Videogames
- Role playing games
- Rock
- Divorces
- Sodomy
- Being black
- Heresy
- Witchcraft
- Barbarian..ism?
Utah Governor: 'Porn Is a Public Health Crisis'
Why would porn cause a pubi-
Oh, public. Never mind.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Can't they just let it go
Given their porn usage, the thing they really can't let go is clearly "it". As it were.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
Sexual repression leads to higher porn consumption.
Utah is predominantly Mormon.
Q.E.D.
There is and from multiple sources. The problem is that it says what the prohibitionists are doing is actually quite harmful and increases rape and other problems. In addition, they often think they are on a mission from "God" (or against male dominance) and if they would admit the facts, it would not only look like they are exceptionally stupid, but outright malicious. Hence this evil and harmful crusade continues, like some other ones do.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
He's purdy much right. In fact, one of my wives swears up & down she'll be taking me to porn addicts anonymous meetings. As soon as she's old enough to drive. In about 3 years. Provided she is pregnant. Again.
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
They've all been restricted to some extent, with attempts made to expand the restrictions.
The way you can tell if something is actually a public health issue is to figure out if it is a cause or problems or a symptom.
The problem is that sugar is needleslly subsidized so their economic cost isn't realized in their market price. Some consumption of sugar is fine but as a society we've gone WAY beyond what is demonstrably healthy. So over consumption of sugary drinks is a public health crisis because it is a significant factor in obesity, diabetes and other conditions common in the population. Eat too much sugar and you get fat and/or diabetes and/or other illnesses. Cause and effect.
Smoking IS a genuine public health crisis. There are innumerable diseases with clear causal relationships to smoking. It's not even a debate that it is a public health issue. Smoking clearly causes illnesses
Porn is NOT a genuine health crisis. Arguments to that effect are people looking for an excuse to interject their own morality in most cases. At most it is a symptom of people who have genuine mental health issues but the porn isn't the cause. Porn doesn't cause mental health issues but mental health issue might result in porn. You won't make the mental health issue go away by suppressing or removing access to porn. Even nasty stuff like kiddie-porn does not cause mental health problems - it merely shows us where they already exist.
That is an interesting assumption on your part. On the other hand, from people I know who work at schools, there is an increasing problem of boys who don't seem to realize that girlfriends don't like being treated like porn starts and girls who think it's normal for sex to be all about the man's sexual gratification and not the woman's.
At the very least, we have a problem with porn being the only sexual education some of these kids are getting.
Honestly this is something ISIS would say.
I seem to remember some studies that suggest that porn watching among teenagers *in the US* does in fact tend to bias them towards more extreme activities likely to induce pain, humiliation, etc.
As I recall though, those same studies suggested a much more practical solution - stop treating sexuality as a taboo subject. It's arguably the single most important biological drive, and as that drive gets activated as teenagers hit puberty they're naturally going to seek out information and stimulation. In the US today, that pretty much means pornographic depictions of often dubious activities*, since depictions of healthy, well-adjusted sexuality are banned from general media, and are insufficiently titillating to be the focus of much porn.
*I should clarify that I have nothing against "dubious activities" between consenting adults. But it makes for very poor education of what a healthy baseline sexual relationship looks like.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
most nudity that is porn portrays abusive behavior and feeds a need in the viewer that probably is not healthy.
People are horny whether or not they have access to porn. "Portrays abusive behavior"? In some cases sure but the porn isn't the cause, it is the result.
I've done a lot of counseling sessions with people whose relationships and lives were ruined by the persons addiction to porn.
Addiction is a real problem but it doesn't follow that porn = public health crisis because some people cannot manage their libido effectively. Alcoholism is a disease but that doesn't make alcohol a public health problem. It makes alcoholism a public health problem. See the difference? Alcohol consumed responsibly is a non-problem. Alcohol consumed to excess routinely and/or in an irresponsible manner (i.e. alcoholism) is a problem.
Seriously, this is a Mormon lawmaker trying to legislate his own morality on others. Let's not pretend there is any credibility to calling this a public health crisis because it isn't.
I have yet to do a single one where sugary drinks, for example, caused it.
And exactly how do you get to the conclusion that obesity and diabetes are conditions best treated by counseling?