A Christian Response to Pornography
This book provides a brief introduction to the issue of pornography and then reflecting on the current debates in the world in general and India in particular, it attempts to explore biblical -theological and ethical responses to it. The book also attempts to provide basic pastoral assistance for rehabilitation of porn victims. In doing all these things, the attempt is to provide perspectives to the seriousness of the problem and conscientize the reader that prevention is better than cure. The book does not focus on any case studies or review of the data; rather, it is limited to a general treatment of the issue as a whole from biblical, ethical and pastoral perspectives. The subject matter of this book is generally organized as per the following descriptions. In the first chapter we shall see what pornography is all about. Looking at the various definition of pornography we shall also have a brief note on its origin and development. This chapter will, thus, serve as the stage from where we shall pick up the Indian debate on the issue in the next chapter. The second chapter, after presenting pornography as a global challenge, will focus on the issue with special reference to India. Inviting various celebrities and their opinions we shall see if it is okay for India to say yes to pornography. In the third chapter, taking scriptural support from the while reconstructing a Christian theology of human sexuality. The fourth chapter will concentrate on moral and ethical reflections on the issue of pornography as a whole. Here, select ethical models will be used to critically evaluate the moral and decadent aspects of pornography. Finally in the fifth and last chapter, after discussing the addiction and effects of pornography, we shall attempt to bring some rehabilitation concerns providing possible pastoral assistance towards the freedom from addiction to pornography. This chapter will invite persons to give up their willing-slavery to pornography and stand as the victorious children of a Holy and Righteous God.
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Mr. Shivraj K. Mahendra deserves appreciation for entering into an area of study and discussion that is apparently forbidden for most Christians both of the pew and the pulpit, let alone the seminarians. I say forbidden because, by definition, pornography means any ‘printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings.’ (TNOED). Its origin is from the Greek word ‘pornographos’, which means ‘writing about prostitutes’. ‘What have Christians to do with stuff like these?’ one may ask and quite rightly so, if s/he is an innocent church going Christian. But there is a hidden world, both (perhaps) inside and outside the Christian space, in this day and age, that is oblivious to many who do not belong to, or so heavily dependent upon, the current cyber age. It is to this secret world that Mahendra’s The Issue of Pornography: Theological Response and Ethical Reflections attempts to shed some light. He invites us to see this world and challenge it quite seriously. It is a serious and a bold beginning, a step in the right and perhaps a very needy direction.
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