Marcus Aurelius writes
It was interesting finding this topic on here, as this is something my best friend and I have been discussing. He is a brother, and actually the one who coined the term I use at will, 'whorekind.' I've been urging him to check out this forum.
One might think it totally odd or reprehensible that I, a Christian would support a legalization of prostitution, but in reality, there is a strong case for it, especially in today's western society, and I in fact, support it.
It is a little known fact that two of the churches greatest saints, Augustine and Aquinas...were both in favor of legalized prostitution, not of course, on moral grounds, but rather for the overall good of society. A sort of necessary evil. Saint Augustine once wrote in the De Ordine "If you expel prostitution from society, you will unsettle everything on account of lusts". In his Summa, Saint Thomas Aquinas echoes this, by comparing prostitution to a sewer system, ugly, yet necessary. He then QUOTES Augustine "Accordingly in human government also, those who are in authority rightly
tolerate certain evils, lest certain goods be lost, or certain evils be incurred: thus Augustine says "If you do away with harlots, the world will be convulsed with lust."
No more than in today's sex drenched western culture is this the case. The idea of monogamy, of romance, is a dying one. When one traditionally seeks a mate it is for both companionship and child rearing. But how can a man expect to find a lasting companion in today's American women? They have taken control of the mating dance by picking only the men of the most attractive looks, or the ones of the highest social status. In the reading of their trash romance novels and idolization of portrayal of hollywood men; they have created the fantasy man. A collection of ideals which your average working man can never fit the bill for any sustained period of time. In short, we have let the inmates run the assylum. Add to this no fault divorce, that a woman can back her car out of the driveway without so much as a speed bump to slow her down, we are left with lonely and broken men, who have essentially given up on the idea of a lasting partner. Meanwhile, the harlots run about and pick more attractive and more wealthy men to attain their sense gratifications, be they lust or material gain...and then discard them as well; onto the next.
Next. we must examine the dire consequences pornography has on men; both morally and spiritually. In a society where you cannot walk into a grocery store without the headlines of the magazines splashed all over them, in a society where you cannot flip on the television in prime time without seeing some overt or indirect references to sex, we are drenched enough as it is by the mainstream media on what is truly our most base of instincts. But then factor into the equation of pornography that caters specifically to a male audience..one must ask themselves which men this industry truly caters to. Is it the rougishly handsome man who walks into the nightclub and all the women stare at? Is it the man driving his BMW convertible?
No, it is the average man, the working man who makes just enough to pay his rent or his mortgage, the man who in all likelihood has been lost in the shuffle of today's mating dance, who looks average enough to go unnoticed in the crowd, and who probably has not had actual sexual relations with women in a considerable amount of time, if at all. Spiritually speaking, pornography is one of our societies worst evils, for the simple fact that it weakens an otherwise strong man. Think of a parasite flying through the air. This is the MAINSTREAM culture of sex...its surrounds the man, and with pornography, the parasite attaches itself to the man. He gives into his lust, but gratifies it by staring at a computer screen. It is lust for lust's sake. Lust with no object. It essentially becomes an addiction, and this is where it is wrong...for the soul. God would not have us falling victim to our own base instincts in such a way! But equally as bad for the man, is that this is lust without a true end to satisfy it. He becomes sexually frustrated.
This is where prostitution comes in. It is precisely the necessary evil that both Augustine and Aquinas spoke of. I feel it is more necessary today, even, because a man cannot expect to have his true desires, for lasting companionship and even procreation fullfilled by the women of the west. They are NOT companions, they are glorified house pets, that do not love unconditionally as an animal does. We provide for them, yet they provide nothing in return, even the sex inside of marriage we know deteriorates to abysmal levels. They will leave as soon as a problem arises, and their lunatic and unclear needs are not met.
So when I think of prostitution, I think of, as I told my friend one evening as we discussed the matter at length, the old days of the Greco-Roman philosophers; how women were viewed essentially as they are, useless creatures other than the gratification of this contemptible biological urge. When a philosopher felt the urge of sex playing upon him, he would simply visit a prostitute and be done with the matter. He would then return to his true companions, his brothers, with whom he could discuss the higher, more important matters, philosophy, religion, etc.
In an age where women hold all the cards to the mating dance; this would throw the deck out the window, as it deserves to be thrown. It would, as my friend says, negate all of their power over us. This is precisely why the feminists fight so hard against it, and also try to brainwash men into thinking it is wrong. They try to tout the idea of a mongoamy that is dead and gone.
As a religious man, I can already see that our society is poisoned, almost beyond repair. And in this sense, I see no reason why a bit more of the sewer should not be allowed to spill into the streets...because at least this is a water of which I can direct the flow. I would make the case that a man would be LESS sex obsessed were he given an object with which to satisfy his lusts on occasion, just as the philosophers of old.
