This one's a tough one (in more ways than one)

Would love to hear your reaction to this. I have an atheist friend (who is sort of sympathetic to my point, just now sort-of, anyway) who posted the link to his Google + page. He has a friend there who works (has worked?) in the porn industry take me to task for my comments. Do you think I was out of line?

http://geekklesia.blogspot.com/2012/12/if-i-may-be-allowed-to-get-serious-for.html

cleireac wrote:Would love to hear your reaction to this. I have an atheist friend (who is sort of sympathetic to my point, just now sort-of, anyway) who posted the link to his Google + page. He has a friend there who works (has worked?) in the porn industry take me to task for my comments. Do you think I was out of line?

http://geekklesia.blogspot.com/2012/12/if-i-may-be-allowed-to-get-serious-for.html

I think I'd need to know what specific comments of yours he had problems with in order to form an opinion. Can you give more details on his specific complaints or concerns about what you wrote?

Near as I can tell, the main objection was to my linking of porn with human trafficking. The most vocal objector was someone who either is or was involved in the porn industry (from what I can tell he even wrote a book on it). I'm guessing based on what I read that he didn't believe that it undermined my other arguments because the thought that people who are involved in porn were dragged into it against their will, which as I think about it, was something I never said.

As I reflect on it more, the point I made about porn being objectifying and presenting a skewed view of human sexuality went relatively unnoticed. But I'm not convinced that entering into human trafficking willingly does not negate its still being human trafficking.

I don't think of porn as human trafficking. Porn actors get into it knowing full well what it is and what is required. Human trafficking victims are tricked into it. Porn actors can leave when they want, unless they are in an abusive relationship. If you read Linda Lovelace's book Ordeal it gives a great account of that.
Porn is not what sex is about. Porn is a fantasy that can never be achieved in the real world. Sex is about love and the sharing of that love.
In interviews porn women say that they are doing it because they like sex and this is a way to get paid for it. And most of them get paid well. Porn is about money and an unrealistic view of women and sex.

Maybe that's the case for the mainstream, but there's a lot of quickie made porn that would fall in the category of human trafficking. It exists because of the huge amount of money that can be made.

As I was writing this, I think that may have been the disconnect. My critic is coming from the "mainstream" porn world, and refusing to ignore that an even darker side exists.

And, incidentally, Ken, I agree with you: porn is an unrealizable sexual fantasy.