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8/12/2019 1989 Issue 3 - The Politics of Pornography - Counsel of Chalcedon
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The olitics
o
Pornography
by
Rousas ohn
Rushdoony
n
order to understand some of the
n a ~
jor currents of
our
day, it is necessary
to recognize that one
of
the central
u r ~
poses
of
pornography is political.
An
analysis of the politics of pornography
is therefore essential.
Before doing so, it is necessary
to
call attention to a distinction made
b e ~
tween pornography and obscenity. The
novelist,
Henr
y Miller, has said, Ob
scenity is a cleansing process, whereas
pornography only adds
to
the murk .
Wherever a taboo is broken, some
thing good happens, something revital
izing. Miller is by his own statement
a champion of obscenity but hostile
to
pornography.
What
is the distinction, if
there is one? Basical ly, Miller's d i s t i n c ~
tion
is
this: pornography is dirt for
dirt's sake, whereas obscenity has as its
purpose the systematic destruction of
law and moral order, a revolutionary
ordering of society. This distinction is
only partially true. Obscenity does have
this revolutionary purpose, consciously
and
openly. Pornography is more ex
ploitive,
but
it
has nonetheless an
im-
plicit or explicit revolutionary purpose.
It is hostile to morality and law, and
it
encourages and favors rebellion against
morality.
As
a result, it has political
implications no less than Miller's ob
scenity. In discussing the politics of
pornography, we are therefore analyzing
the basic position
of
the whole field,
pornography and obscenity. While there
are differences in emphasis, the essen
tial position is the same.
Now the first thing which is apparent
in pornography is its obvious hatred of
~ i RJ Rushdoony l
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8/12/2019 1989 Issue 3 - The Politics of Pornography - Counsel of Chalcedon
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stated, involves being "exempt from
worship" as well as morality, but man's
freedom also involves a Marxist state
Slavery
is religion and morality, and
freedom is Marxist socialism.
Moral
anarchism
is
the tool
and
instrument of
totalitarianism of socialism
nd
dicta-
torship.
Moral anarchism is used to
destroy every
form of
social stability
and
order in order to pave the way for
totalitarian order. Christianity gives to
man the faith and c h r c ~ for self
government, and morality is the essence
of
self-discipline and self-government.
Dissolve man's self-government, and
you make a totalitarian authority over
him
a social necessity.
I t
becomes ap
parent, therefore, that the link between
pornography and revolutionary totali
tarianism
is
a necessary one. The rise of
totalitarianism has always been preceded
by moral anarchism, and those seeking
tyrannical powers over man have al
ways worked to reduce man to a de
.pendent position by undercutting his
moral self-government and responsibili
ty. The
rise
and triumph
of
pornogra
phy
is
a prelude to totalitarianism.
Moral anarchy is the seed-bed of
tyranny.
This then explains the relationship
between pornography
and totalitarian
ism. The champions of pornography
Continuing the series of
taped messages on
orinthians
.by
Joe Morecraft,
III
The Purity
of
the Church
(I
Cor
5:1-13)
aking eople
to Court
(I Cor. 6:1-9a)
Such ere Some ofYou
(I Cor. 6:9-11)
Christian Liberty
Sexual Purity
I Cor 6: 12-20)
$4.00
a
tape
(cassette)
$14.00
for set of four
Order from:
Specialty Media Services
P.O.
Box
28357
Atlanta,
GA
30358
talk loudly about liberty. Any legisla
tion against pornography is protested as
hostile to freedom of press and civil
rights generally, but
these same people
are curiously silent about protesting the
inroads of totalitarianism, of Marxism,
into the social order. f they
are
in
terested
in
liberty, why
not
defend
it
against Marxism? The answer is that
they are hostile to liberty; hence their
defense ofpornography is an instrument
whereby man's moral liberty can
be
eroded and destroyed.
Our sixth
point is thus an obvious
conclusion: the politics
of
pcimography
is a moral anarchism whose purpose is
revolution, a revolution against Chris
tian civilization. The dean of modem
pornographers and a great revolutionist
was the Marquis de Sade.
The
Marquis
called for total freedom for every kind of
sexual perversion. For Sade, "true wis
dom" meant "not epressing
our vices . . . . since these vices. con
stitute almost the only happiness in our
lives o repress them would be to
become
our
executioners." The Marquis
called. for the abolition of the death
penalty, laws against theft, laws against
murder, prostitution, adultery, incest,
rape, sodomy, and all else. Equality
required that all acts have equal standing
before the law, except, of course, Chris
tian moral laws such as monogamy,
laws protecting property,
and
similar
legislation. For Sade, Christianity and
its moral laws should be abolished by
law; all. things else should
be accepted.
He defended all kinds of crimes and
perversions as natural and good. "Can
we possibly imagine Nature giving us
the possibility
of
committing a crime
which could offend her? The most
independent of men and those closest to
Nature are savages; with impunity they
devqte themselves to murder every day."
The Marquis
de
Sade wrote with
honesty. lit his books, the politics
of
pornography is open and obvious. The
contempoary pornographers are less
open about stating their revolutionary
goals,
but
they are still very obvious.
The politics of pornography is simply
the politics
of
revolution.
The sexual aspect
of
pornography is
P U ~ 6
the .most obvious
aspect. It
is an . ex
cellent come-on for the stupid and im-
mature, but the underlying
pUipOse
is
far more extensive in scope. It is
nothing less than revolution. It
is
the re
ordering of
life and of society
in
terms
of
moral anarchism.
lit
Esquire
June, 1963, Anthony
Lewis wrote
on Sex-Mand
the Supreme
Court," stating that after the Supreme
Court's Roth decision "no serious
literary work can now be termed con
stitutionally obscene."
All
that a
pornographer needs to do, if this be
true, is to call attention to his serious
purpose, namely, his revolutionary pur
pose, to seek an escape from prosecu
tion. The "serious" pUipOse can be
called sexual reform. Thus, in
The New
Leader
for September 2, 1963, Stanley
Edgar Hyman, writing
on
"In Defense
of Pornography;'' wrote, "These books
may teach and encourage a wider range
of
heterosexual activity, oral and anal
as
well as genital, and should be welcomed
if they do." In other words, the in
creasing defense
of
pornography is that
pornography itself is a socially re
deeming activity and is therefore its
own justification.
Jn
short, the
plea
for
pornography is becoming the fact that
it
is pornography.
Many things can be said
at
this
point. Certainly new and clearer legisla
tion is necessary and urgently needed.
Moreover, it is necessary that
we
recog
nize the radical political implications
of
pornography. These things and more
need to be done
But positive action must also accom
pany them--the re-ordering
of
life and
society in terms
of
Biblical faith and
standards. The basic answer to moral.
anarchism is the strengthening of hris-
tian moral discipline. We need and must
have sound legislation, but we must al
so establish the right kind
of theologiM
cal and moral foundations.
If
he founda
tions are destroyed, the structure will
not stand. "Except the LORD build the
house, they labour in vain that build it"
(Ps. 127:1).
[This article is reprinted,.,by pennission,
from Law and Liberty by .1\0Usas J. Rush
doony,
Pres]:lyterian Reformed Publishing
Com
pany, Nutley,
N.J.
I t has recently been
reP.uolisned by Ross House
Books, Vallecito,
California, 19S4.] D
The Counsel of Cbalcedon, AprU, 1989