The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ view on porn is unequivocal: the Church is against pornography.
A new law in Louisiana may be a way to restrict kids’ viewing porn. The law asks for age verification, and only adults can visit porn websites. These websites are defined as having more than a third of sexual content without “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”
I am against porn, but I am also against censorship, which doesn’t work in the long run. Unfortunately, the widespread viewing of porn is a sign of our times, and getting rid of porn altogether will never work until the Millennium.
But fewer kids viewing porn? Sure, we should all favor that.
The Church web site points out:
Physical intimacy is a sacred part of Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness. However, the adversary tries to thwart the Lord’s plan of happiness by suggesting that physical intimacy is only for personal gratification. Pornography is a tool of the adversary and its use causes the Spirit of the Lord to withdraw from us (see Doctrine and Covenants 63:16).
Potential effects of pornography include isolation, secrecy, and deceit that damage relationships and leave one vulnerable to poor self-esteem, anxiety, and depression; unrealistic expectations and misinformation about sexual intimacy; conditioning us to see people as objects to be used and abused; and the development of obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors.
There are unconfirmed reports that porn sites have stopped offering porn in Louisiana because of this new law, which of course is a sign that the porn promoters were indeed aiming at kids. It also might be that they have no way to verify their users’ ages and are unwilling to do so.
Will kids still be able to see porn in Louisiana? Sure. There are VPNs and other way of getting around this new law. But will fewer kids see porn? I think the answer is yes.