Angelic Animalism

Whither a 'Catholic Pron' Blog?

I know what a lot of you guys are thinking-- "WTF is this? Did this guy actually make a blog to promote porn, while announcing to everyone he's Catholic? I better subscribe to this blog to see how dumb he is...."

Although I appreciate your reaction to my obvious hook-of-a title, I sadly have to disappoint you all and say that isn't the purpose of this blog. When I was in 2nd grade, my best friend and I decided to look up porn together for the first time. Ironically, it was a cartoon that gave us the idea. From that moment I became severely addicted to porn until the end of my college years (which isn't to imply it's a temptation that's long past me.)

I decided in the waning years of my addiction to do something constructive. I attempted to learn as much as I could about the Porn Industry, the people in it, and most of all, the people that view it. My 'addiction' if you wish to call it that (some don't like to use that word in this context, which is understandable--don't mind my use of it; saying the word addict is more exciting IMO) was caused in some part to my having OCD and Tourettes Syndrome. Lucky me, my OCD allowed me to pay damn good attention to what I was seeing. So, if you will let me, I'd like to problematize Pornography in its entirety, as it is seen from a Catholic perspective.

Now That the Boring Crap is Over....

Before I dive into the good stuff, I wanted to talk about something that's been coming up a lot lately. I was watching American Dad a couple nights ago with my brother--the show may be really bad (and funny), but if God has ever used it as a blessing it was to give my brother and I something to bond over--and the episode happened to be about masturbation.

Stan, the main character had a talk with his son about not masturbating (how it's evil and bad and will make your eyes fall out and bleed--typical stuff). Through the shenanigans of the show, Stan ends up accidentally masturbating. He becomes addicted and to conquer his problem, he takes over TV and tries to basically "Christianize" everything. In the end, the moral is apparently to get out your urges early, explore your body or else you'll repress them and end up in San Diego, naked, touching yourself in public (or something).

People seem to think we have only two options.

You can be an animal (Disclaimer: this video says the word "sex" at least once. Hide your kids, hide your wife, and/or hide your husband before viewing).

You and Me Baby....

Or you can be an angel (Disclaimer: Enya).

Who Can Say, Anyway?

These two things, and I know you're gonna be so surprised, are called Animalism and Angelism, respectively. Angelism is a very Puritan-esque viewpoint, and where we get this idea of repression. Whereas when we see Animalism, we can think of the 1960s Sexual Revolution, Woodstock...ask your parents (or grandparents).

Animalism says, "We're mammmals, damnit. We have needs, urges. If a monkey wants to screw, it screws. If a dog's in heat, it's not gonna stop itself from getting it on."

Angelism says, "We are not our bodies. We are spirits, even angels. Our bodies needs are not as important as those of the soul and must be relegated to the bottom rungs of importance to achieve true Enlightenment.

Angelism, if I may be so bold as to discuss it's roots, is similar to the early Gnostic Heresies, which apparently are still prevalent today:

Article on Gnosticism

Our material bodies, and also sex, is evil. Urges are to be condemned. Sex may happen for reasons of procreation and survival, but we should not enjoy it.

Animalism comes from the direct opposite side. We all know it; the song made it clear. We can see animals out there; we are clearly animals. Why should we reject our natural urges when all that does is psychologically eff us up?

I hear it said, often, that Catholic sex is the best sex ever invented. As I am not married, yet, I cannot confirm this fact (check this blog in October--I may be able to confirm it for you all). My point in bringing this all up is that in the debate of Pornography we basically see the issues of Angelism and Animalism. But what I hope to make clear in this blog is that these two extremes are not your only choices.

In fact, I'd wager the middle choice will make you the happiest. But, for now, let me set this as my baseline. Next blog, I'll dive right in to the nitty gritty, give you some things to think about (hopefully). As I sign off, I ask that you remember in your prayers or thoughts all the girls when you were in High School who people called whores and sluts. Maybe just this once, think a little about one or two and see if you ever noticed anything off about their situation. See if you can make an argument that that girl, the alleged slut, really just liked whoring around, simple as that. We'll talk about these sorts of things next post.