On Human Love

There is no end in sight to the controversy about obscenity and pornography. Every attempt to formulate a practical norm for use in law courts—one that would be acceptable to all concerned in public life—runs into sizable opposition. For, in reality, this controversy concerns a problem much deeper than, say, the allowable quantum of nudity in public. This problem is: In our evolving American democracy, can we find a norm for obscenity not dictated by religious belief —Christian belief?

In the Christian view, human love is an ideal. It is not a fixed condition to which we can attain once and for all; we must continue to strive for it. Obscenity is that which endangers one’s intention to strive for that ideal. And, in this context, pornography is defined as the portrayal of the obscene in written or spoken word, in gesture or in image.

MM

About the Author

Malachi B. Martin

There is no end in sight to the controversy about obscenity and pornography. Every attempt to formulate a practical norm for use in law courts—one that would be acceptable to all concerned in public life—runs into sizable opposition. For, in reality, this controversy concerns a problem much deeper than, say, the allowable quantum of nudity in public. This problem is: In our evolving American democracy, can we find a norm for obscenity not dictated by religious belief —Christian belief?

In the Christian view, human love is an ideal. It is not a fixed condition to which we can attain once and for all; we must continue to strive for it. Obscenity is that which endangers one’s intention to strive for that ideal. And, in this context, pornography is defined as the portrayal of the obscene in written or spoken word, in gesture or in image.