The percentage of Americans who say pornography is morally acceptable increased more over the past year than in all other years this decade combined.
While the acceptability of pornography still holds minority status in the United States, it has climbed to 43 per cent, according to Gallup Poll figures released June 5. The number increased by 7 per cent from last year’s figure.
In 2011, when Gallup first started asking this question, only 30 per cent said pornography was morally acceptable. As of last year, that figure had climbed to 36 per cent, a rise of 6 per cent.
While acceptance of pornography had trailed other social issues earlier this decade, such as doctor-assisted suicide, same-sex relations, sex between unmarried people and out-of-wedlock childbirth, the 2017-18 surge means that porn has eclipsed all other social issues in their growing acceptance by Americans this decade, according to Gallup.
A report on the poll’s findings by Gallup analyst Andrew Dugan said that while Americans had grown more “tolerant” on social norms over the decade, the reason behind the steep climb on pornography is “less clear.”
One theory Dugan offered is that adult film actress Stormy Daniels, a “fierce critic of President Donald Trump, has given pornography a sense of moral credibility that it previously lacked.”
Among the demographic groups broken out in Gallup’s survey, only married people held pornography less acceptable than the year before, from 37 per cent last year to 35 per cent this year, a drop of 2 per cent.
Two groups for whom a majority now believe pornography is morally acceptable are people ages 18-34, up from 48 per cent last year to 59 per cent this year, a hike of 11 per cent, and men in general, from 45 per cent in 2017 to 53 per cent in 2018, a rise of 8 per cent.
One of the biggest spikes was among men aged 18-49. Already a majority last year at 53per cent, the number soared 14 percentage points to 67 per cent this year.
Fifty per cent each of unmarried respondents and those who hold religion to be “fairly important” said they found pornography to be morally acceptable. The unmarrieds’ spike of 15 per cent from year-before numbers was the highest recorded by Gallup.
I understand that this article is morally neutral and that the information is just a survey. However, a person who uses pornography or who is trying to convince themselves or others that it is ok to use pornography will find support for their immorality in this article.
Neutrality of the article does makes sense, but the bottom line are the figures. No wonder there are many single parents today sex is triggered by lust not out of love, compared before which and there are lot of children affected by it. Hope that there is still a lot of time left to church people to help others in this area.
Judge not, lest you may be judged.
We have a duty to remind ourselves and others that this is a grave sin that can lead one to spend eternity in hell. This is a common sin so we are grateful for the opportunity for sacramental confession.
It is hard to avoid pornography today if you use the internet or watch TV. If you do not consent to it (you click it off or change channels as soon as you see it) you are not committing a sin.
If you are tempted to linger on it, you should avoid whatever site or channel you run into the problem on.
I recently heard of a Catholic man in his 80s that was sharing nude pictures with his adult grandchild. He went to confession often. He died suddenly with no time for Viaticum. Please pray for the repose of his soul.
Mike M. that is a cop out. You need to read the rest of the passage you quoted — Matthew 7:1.- 5.
The same Christ Jesus also said in John 7:24, “Do not judge by appearances but judge with right judgement.”
Buying such materials is like paying someone to expose his body for our lustful looks, to fornicate or commit adultery. It stuns me that many people who would not want their sons or daughters to be corrupted this way, will pay to corrupt someone else’s. It is a breakage of the Golden Rule.
St. Nicholas pray for an end to this.
By the way, St. Nicholas of Myra was that wealthy bishop who used some of his gold to provide dowries for three young women, so they could get married and not end up in brothels. He was one wealthy man who used his wealthy right instead of using it to hire “call girls” or “male escorts”.
The Anonymous posts June 9 at 8:00 pm and on the same day at 8:27 pm are mine — Anne T.
I am old enough to remember when pornography was “smut” and it was sold in out of the way book stores. Now it is nearly everywhere and has gained legitimacy by its association with highly visible celebrities and leaders, including our current president. What a disgrace! Pray for our country.
Even the “conservative” panel member on The View was extolling the virtues of sex workers.
Save your brain & turn off The View. What good could it possibly add to your life?
Using pornography is a grave sin. It is a mortal sin if done knowing it is a sin and with full consent of the will. It must be confessed.
How can we, as a society, see pornography as more acceptable, yet, lament the fact that women are more and more viewed as sex objects and are sexually exploited?! Even apart from our sacred Faith, what happened to an understanding of human nature and common sense?
A little good news: the Miss America pageant removed the “swim suit” competition portion of their contest.
Woman look far more beautiful and queenly in lovely but modest clothing. Even the actresses in “The Lord of the Rings” mentioned how much they enjoyed wearing all those gorgeous dresses in that movie. After all, we are supposed to be the daughters of a King, the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Judge not, lest you may be judged.”
…edgy…bold…dangerous…and taken out of context on a breathtaking scale…