Paul Poulton comments

Paul Poulton

I sometimes enjoy reading what naturalists have to say. They look at humanity and explain to us why we do the things we do. It usually turns out, according to them, to be some underlying instinct deep within society that we hadn't realised was so strong. There is some truth in what they are saying but it seems to me they minimise great swathes of human behaviour like falling in love to the level of animalistic behaviour and we are not animals, we're human.

"Dress it up or call it 'what the butler saw'

It's always been with us but now more than ever before"

These are the first two lines of a song I wrote called "Porn". It's true; porn has been with us for a long time; from ancient Egyptian images that embarrassed the Victorian British explorers who saw them, to the Biblical sisters named Oholah and Oholibah. We are told that Oholibah looked at images portrayed on a wall; she lusted for her paramours whose genitals were like a donkey's and whose issue was like that of a horse. Sometimes I wish the Bible wasn't so graphic and would spare us the details, but I guess God doesn't shy away from telling us what we need to know. (However some vicars on TV got portrayed as sheltered people protected from the roughness of reality I'm not sure, but it certainly wasn't through reading the Bible.)

The reason the Bible wants us to know these things is for our own good, if it can save us from being caught in a snare then it will be in there.

Porn used to be seen in a smallish back street kind of way but now it's quite big. A quick look through Alexa's top internet sites will show you how big.

Let's be sure that God is very interested in human reproduction. God created the universe and life step by step. The pinnacle of all that hard work was Adam. The Hebrew word can mean an individual or mankind; either way, like a wedding cake, a human male and a female stand on the top. Once God had made humans he rested, similar to how we might stand back and admire some hard work we've been engaged in once the job is completed. It's like everything God put into existence in the physical universe is there to help support human beings. God is keen, we might say very keen, to see his crowning work continue to endure throughout the ages he has planned for planet Earth. One of his earliest commands to us was, "Be fruitful and multiply".

We also know that God is concerned that we multiply because of the strong sex-drive he has placed within us. Drive is a good name for it because it pushes us on. For instance, a young man keeps his eyes open for a suitable girl, there are certain qualities that a young man finds attractive in a woman, and it helps if she is slim, has good muscle tone and is intelligent. What the naturalist would say is happening is that the species is choosing the best specimens to ensure its survival. Being overweight is not good for our health and so the sex-drive doesn't immediately make it appealing. As a general rule lad-mags entice young men to their magazine by putting a slim not stout girl on the cover. Similarly when a girl wears a low-cut top a naturalist might again say that what her body language is saying is, "Young men come hither and look at my ample breasts, see how they will provide much milk for fine strong babies to feed on". In some ways the naturalist has a good point, God has placed within each of us instincts that we follow whether we realise it or not.

The sex-drive is a good thing, but with anything that has a drive, it needs to be steered. Some people's sex-drive careers out of control because there's no-one in the driving seat. Who wants to be a passenger in a fast moving vehicle with no-one at the steering wheel?

God has entrusted us with our very own sex-drive and it's important to steer it correctly. When I first passed my driving test and was let out on the roads with a vehicle I took extreme care every journey; I was in charge of a fast moving heap of metal that could cause some damage if not controlled. Nowadays, I may be more relaxed about driving because it's a natural part of my life, but I know that at any moment I could crash my car if I don't steer it according to the rules of the road. The Bible gives us some rules for steering our sex-drive in the route it's meant to go. There are some wrong roads and dead ends we can end up in if we don't take care.

There are a number of sex-drive rules of the road, let me mention three of them.

1) Our sex-drive is not meant for making babies all over the place. Babies need providing for, hence God made 'the family': One man impregnating one woman with offspring ensuing. The man, while not the one screaming giving birth or being able to suckle the infant can be hard at work building a home, gathering food and providing clothing for them all.

2) The sex-drive has a strong engine and doesn't need the help of husband-hunting females revealing their buxom bosom in low-cut dresses. Most young men are keenly aware what is hidden beneath the exterior fabric of a nice dress and don't need any help from young ladies. The same goes for a young man showing off his six-pack at the first excuse. Young girls aren't as oblivious as you suppose. Christians have a thing called 'modesty' and it has an enticing quality all of its own, try it and see.

3) The sex-drive is there for reproduction, the benefits that surround it are many - loving family - security etc. It's not meant for pornography, that's a circular route that keeps going round and round without leading anywhere. Some people, I am told, don't have much of a sex-drive. Okay, I'm prepared to believe that. Paul in the Bible said something about it when he was writing to the Corinthians. But it seems for the rest of us we have been given a task to perform - the matter of continuing the human race. He said some people need to be married. Of course the picture is a lot bigger than just looking at marriage from a reproductive point of view, some couples marry but don't have children, they have done what they could the rest is in God's hands. He gives some people the blessings of marriage without children, and he has his reasons. But we are not now looking at the big map, just a part of it where some people lose their way.

Some vehicles are out of control, they have no-one at the steering wheel. If you are not married but have a big sex-drive it sounds to me like you are getting a hint from God that you should be married. You may have to make an effort to become more attractive to the opposite sex; it usually works if you put in some work. (N.B. Try not to let it slip once you are married, problems could ensue if you do, but that's another story.) If you are already married but still have a runaway vehicle, then you need to get back in the driving seat. Once we let the sex-drive free-wheel it can easily get lost. Humans can get addicted to the chemical reactions in our brains caused by looking at porn.

When I was 16 I went on a five day course in London where I was taught some valuable lessons by an ex-policeman named Barney Coombs. He said, "Job made a covenant with his eyes not to look on a maid, do the same with yours". I understood Barney wasn't saying never look at a girl, which would be impossible, but he was saying don't let your sex-drive free-wheel by ogling, leering or what the American's call rubbernecking. If you are stuck on the circular road of porn, get off it. It's actually quite easy - make a left turn and keep going straight you'll soon hit a normal road called a Dual Marriage Way specially made for two people. Unlike the circular road there are plenty of lay-bys in which to park and switch off your engine. Once the engine is off everything will be back to normal and life will resume its colourful hue.

Part of the power of porn is thinking I know myself and I'll never be able to do without it. But once things are back to normal you'll wonder why it was ever a problem to begin with. Of course every now and again on the Dual Marriage Way (and maybe quite often) you will need to turn the engine on and make a journey because your wife may want you to or you may want her to. But the point is you are now in control of the vehicle and once your journey is completed, you can once again park your car and forget about it until the next time you need it.

The privilege of seeing one woman naked is well worth the price of not looking at any others.