Pray for me as I’m working hard on a on and off from looking at this human degrading ##& . I have had years of staying away than years back then away I’m now 64 and saving to join covenant eyes
Fren. I stopped watching porn after hanging out with a porn girl. I just imagined her son watching it by accident and I stopped for years. Even if I mess up I'll be better off for any day I didn't watch it.
Empty words though. It's like protecting yourself from cold by putting on metal armour. If he knows sh_t about the system, he won't help it no matter how hard he tries. His ignorance might be rather destructive.
Porn destroyed so many years of my life that I’ll never get back. The enemy made me believe I was in control and that I was happy, but in reality, I was extremely depressed and lacked all purpose and control. It ruined relationships, how I viewed women, and intimacy for me. Had I not dedicated my life to Christ I would have never stopped. Even motivational speakers and other religions failed me, but Christ never did. All praise goes to Father YAHWEH, Son Yeshua, and the Holy Spirit Ruach for saving my life.🙏
Porn was a major factor in driving my "transtrender journey". If it hadn't been present, I wouldn't have wasted almost 20 years of my life on that nonsense
As a single father that desperately desires a wife & more children, Seamus hit the nail on the head about the feeling that we won't even be able to get married & have a family these days.
@@mcdoubler it's the degradation of our sexuality in general. People who don't value the intimacy, and sacredness of sex will not value relationships, nor will they wait even for something less than marriage. Many of them want to have sex before even being willing to date exclusively. There's no common ground to even start from.
@@robynbeach3198 And if you talk like this, there won't be. Porn isn't the reason why relationships and marriages break all the time. Being ignorant about the true problems and stupidly blaming the first thing that comes to mind won't change anything about the current state. It's like you're cursing the road when your car breaks down. When women come to me with this amount of ignorance, I prefer to be alone.
@@nightmareTomek then be left alone, it's your choice. If the feelings of women can be blown off by you that easily because apparently only YOUR feelings, from YOUR point of view matter, then maybe you're just not relationship material.
This is so absolutely true. I'm 23, making good money, have managed to quit porn and am getting really good at dealing with the lustful thoughts that come. I am quite involved in my church and chant for every high mass. Half the time I get home from church in tears because all I see are beautiful Catholic families and wonderful fathers that I look up to and want to be like someday, but it's incredibly hard to hang on to hope that I may someday have a family. Despite having finally gotten onto a couple dates, I still find it incredibly difficult to interact with women after spending so many of my development years addicted to porn with absolutely zero IRL female interaction (studied engineering...) Probably so doesn't help that I don't really have any siblings to speak of.
1. The struggle is real brother. Bring this up in your prayers of course and trust in God's timings. 2 If not already, maybe start that daily rosaries, interacting with the most perfect woman ever walked the Earth might help you with interacting with women overall. 3. Lastly, is God calling you to be a father to many, like many many? Talk to your local vocation director lately? My current bishop used to be an electrical engineer. Love Totus tuus
The Good Lord has you exactly where you need to be. We all struggle over our lives with thoughts of doubt but trust in God. Pray, hope and don’t worry as Padre Pio would say. You are young - all will be okay.
Maybe getting engaged in some church committees / activities can be a good way for you to have more interactions with other females, not necessarily with females you are interested in. Just have a friendly interaction 🙂 God bless you, brother in Christ. 🙏
I think you hit the nail on its head with this remark: "incredibly difficult to interact with women after spending so many of my development years addicted to porn with absolutely zero IRL female interaction" From my observation, I've heard similar stories from so many young men. The sad thing is, they often don't even realize, that that's the issue, which you have put into words here: lack of real life interaction coupled with distorted vision from pornography. I see so many of these young men instead all caught up in resentment towards themselves, life, and towards the women. The women, with whom they rarely interact irl, they take their primary knowledge from the social media or other digital means. To be honest, I was at first very shook, how is that possible to have so little cross-sex interaction. I'm a millennial, so I'm no stranger to social media, but the way I grew up was different. I see many young people nowadays less interacting even when they are physically together, such as at schools, university, etc. It's almost all through social media. And adding the pornography to it, it paints a really grim picture. Great that you have been dealing with it and are able to see it. Awareness is the first step to change. I can only imagine it's not easy. We often tend to say 'just go out and talk to people, what's the problem', not realizing that for some/many people it's not that of an obvious thing anymore. Good luck, or rather: God's blessings to you.👍
"2 If not already, maybe start that daily rosaries, might help you with interacting with women overall." I SECOND THAT!! It's and excellent advice. I also encourage you to look up the novena to the Mary Undoer of Knots, it's a rosary novena where you lay your problem problem ('knot') in the hands of Mary, I can I can tell you from experience, it may brings wonders. Just pray the rosary consequently, and you'll see how God can positively change your life. Another point I have, I develop the devotion to St. Joseph. He's a great model of manhood. And he's is amazing. He's a great example of what a man and a father should be. Noble/honorable, courageous, hard-working, chaste (in control of one's sexuality in the accordance to the God's word and one's the state of life), decisive, humble, devoted to his family, and charitable at heart. Just pray for his intercession for you, and for his help and guidance.
I am married with no children, and can relate to the comment on the feeling of hopelessness. I was diagnosed with a rare form of male infertility called globozoospermia a few years ago. There are 0 confirmed cases of natural pregnancy with this form of infertility. My wife and I were devastated when we found out. We've shed many tears, and spent lots of money on stupid things, but after attempting to foster to adopt and having our hearts crushed when the children went back with their mother, we have found comfort in realizing we are blessed to be able to suffer, and to place that suffering on the cross with our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
I too am involuntarily childless. Infertility is way harder as a Catholic too as we are not allowed to pursue the most effective fertility treatments. Naprotechology is pushed as a panacea, but it actually has a much lower success rate than IVF. And IVF already has a low success rate anyway. Also, the Catholic church never acknowledges or thanks the tiny percentage of us who don't use ART either. Adoption is not available in my country or continent so that isn't even an option. I am glad you have faith. I go to mass but have lost the deep faith I used to have. Why? Well God is the one who creates us in the womb. Therefore, it's not a free will issue. He actually creates all humans. So why does he create children who will grow up in abusive households when he could instead create a human that will grow up in a healthy family? My life feels pretty meaningless a lot of the time now. What will I do when I am old with no children or grandchildren to care about me?
@lynncrf this is definitely a topic that is not discussed much in Catholic circles. The lack of understanding most certainly adds to the pain. The fact that we were made in the image and likeness of God, and the fruit of the love between a husband and a wife is a child, reflecting the love that proceeds between the father and the son, the fruit of which is the holy spirit. I understand your confusion and pain, I feel it also, but its important for us to understand that God didn't do this to us and we are made in his image and likeness. God in his permissive will has allowed this evil to happen to us to bring about a greater good. What that greater good is, I dont know if I'll ever know until God willing I am in his presence someday, then I will see clearly as he sees. Until then, we must take up our cross and follow him, and submit our deepest desire for a family to his holy will.
@@lynncrf ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.' ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments.' 'They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.’ Hang in there sister. This is your cross, nothing happens outside of the Lord's Divine Providence and Plan. Trust in Him and He will deliver you.
@@lynncrf I can't speak for the entire church, but personally, I do admire those who struggle with infertility that treat children as a gift and blessing (not so much those that use IVF and treat them as a thing/object they are owed). Within Catholic circles I see such a spectrum of struggles-- single ppl who cannot find a spouse and have passed the childbearing years, ppl who struggle with infertility, women who get pregnant and then lose every baby, couples with multiple children that have rare disorders that require lifelong care, including help being fed and diapers as adults, and expensive therapies and those who are extremely fertile but don't have the means to support more children so can only be intimate with their spouse a couple of days a month... In some ways I feel like our communities have become so isolated we aren't close enough to know the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ are carrying, let alone support one another.
@@lynncrf So the church is forbidding you medical treatment? Do they want you to stay unhappy? Is that the will of God? I'm not sure if I should find this disturbing or comical.
First of all, sex trafficking is already criminal, write your congressman. Second, pornography is clearly protected by the First Amendment. If you want to fight porn you need to fight the demand, not the supllier.
We should also jail everyone involved in the fast-food and processed food industries. Why stop there? Jail everyone involved in the smartphone industry. Also, jail everyone involved in the alcohol and cigarette industries and so on. And, of course, emprison everyone who doesn't follow roman catechism, because what could be a worse habit than not obeying the Catholic Church? Only stop when everyone only has perfect habits and we have attained Heaven on Earth.
As a woman who had a husband with this addiction... (he did come a long way in our 20 years together but so sadly he died 12 years ago from an unknown heart defect at the young age of 45) Our 3 kids are adults now..... but.... I have some insight for men who struggle with this.... The lure of pornography is a strong one because of how men are wired, but it comes with an EMPTINESS at the end. I think we ALL want to be loved, (both men AND women) and have our needs met, but we need HUMAN CONNECTION and porn isn't that. Even if you are with live women who get paid for it, they aren't REAL in one's life. So it's like always being hungry, eating a huge feast but realizing at the end that you are still starving. I'm NOT saying that it is easy to find a good relationship. It takes wisdom and knowledge of one's self to make wise decisions about the person you choose, and COMMUNICATION with each other and the WILLINGNESS to communicate about everything... Even about sex, (especially about sex) even about ALL the difficult things that come up in life. NO ONE can read your mind, so it needs to be talked about if it's something that is a problem. That involves some vulnerability, but the other person should be doing the same. There is a joy in a REAL RELATIONSHIP that can never be had from any false promise that is what the entire $€x industry is. False promises that can never live up. In the end, it is cheating yourself AND your wife/girlfriend if you keep consuming the false, empty promise of a product that can never give a person what they think they will get. And, if I can mention God, He loves us all and will help us to be who He wants us to be IF WE ASK HIM FOR HELP. I wish everyone (who read this far) to have FREEDOM and peace and happiness in their lives and to get to an END to being slaves to this addiction. AMEN.
So happy to hear this conversation. God bless you both for the bold proclamation of truth. In response to the commenters below who want to ignore the supply side of the equation, I want to remind you of the argument from authority Seamus makes at 0:26. If you're a Catholic, then the question of whether to impose *prohibitive* legal restrictions has already been settled. The Catechism has lots of content to deal with the demand side of the equation as well. This is not an 'either/or' matter. We can -- and should -- deal with both the supply and the demand. Also, when talking about addictive materials, it's just cruel to think that we should only care about decreasing demand. Those who struggle with this issue deserve better support through legal remedies.
Not to mention that the reason they considered banning porn from the site was because they were being sued for hosting illegal pornographic content involving (but not limited to) minors and animals.
I love how Matt has changed over the years (for the better) How it started: "Here's my presentation on why you maybe should think on giving up porn" How it's going: "We should put pornographers in jail"
So you think that radicalization to the point where someone goes from engaging in civil discussion to advocating that people he disagrees with should be imprisoned is a good thing?
Take personal accountability bro. Learn self control. Stop asking and begging for the government to save you. If you can't control yourself, you don't deserve to be a member of society. Either watch porn and stick to your guns or f off.
@Russell Phelan You have no idea what my personal journey has been like. It's easy for you to summarize simplistically, but your advice is given in ignorance.
@savesilence Except soda isn't objectively evil, pornography is. It's not even depicting conjugal union, but always is about a message of sexual exploitation of women, their degradation and violence, not love towards them. It's also uncovering (and degrading as well) people's nakedness and intimacy, which goes against human dignity. Soda,in contrast, is just a sugary drink.
@@joane24 it's a reach in comparison for sure but soda is absolutely bad too. It provides no nutritional benefit and yet is so addictive. Can cause diabetes and kidney stones.
@@letriciabrowder2942 Soda isn't objectively intrinsically wrong. It's a sugary drink. Using it in moderation is up to the consumer. Of course when used in excess it will be harmful, even water in excess is harmful. White sugar or coffeine are unhealthy when used in excess, but absolutely nothing wrong with them in moderation, there's nothing wrong in their very nature. With porn, in contrast, any even miniscule amount of it it's poisonous. It's not a matter of a dose, it's a matter of its existence. It's intrinsically disordered. It's very nature is wrong, it's contrary to God's design for human sexuality.
Thanks Matt for what you said at 6:08. Been struggling a lot with feeling like a hypocrite for years because I struggled with forms of it while advocating in my personal and public life against it. I needed to hear that.
Pornography does more harm to our society than rifles do? Nearly every mass shooter uses a semi-automatic rifle, usually an AR-15. The U.S. had 647 mass shootings in 2022. There have already been more than 330 mass shootings this year. Say what you want about porn, but no one’s killed in the process.
You should listen to the Huberman Podcast bro. He has some good videos and the science behind dopamine and how to “reset” if you feel your system. He also talks about addiction to some degree!
And whose fault is that? Did anyone force you to watch porn? You’re blaming a temptation for existing, but YOU are the one who chose it. Stop blaming others for your actions and take accountability.
A big thing we as Catholics should keep in mind is that porn’s popularity is fueled by broader trends in modern society, those keeping of social isolation and ostracism, especially of young men. Rising costs of childcare, stagnant wages, and increasing social resentment of men (especially white men) have combined with older issues of court-bias against men to create an environment where young men are not only discouraged from, but in some cases punished, for engaging in wider society, relationships, and social interactions. And no, the solution isn’t to shake yee fist at them there vidyer games and internets - it’s to create a socio-economic environment where families can actively flourish, not just scrape by.
yes which is why it is so stupid to demonize porn it really just shows the laziness of these two individuals talking on a nuanced topic in a way that totally ignores why its even popular in the first place
@@zachmoyer1849 hardly. Men are not capable of being husbands or fathers if they consume sexual slavery content. A man is to be the leader of his home but a man enslaved is not even capable of leading his own life let alone a family.
@@zachmoyer1849 Porn still deserves to be demonized. It's a very grave and degenerate mortal sin that offends God and has horrible consequences. People can still condemn abortion and other forms of murder, even if there are still root causes that could be addressed.
@@sebwisegamgee4215 Do people go around demonizing murder? No, because it is pointless. The laws are in place, and beyond that, the root causes are the only thing that can be addressed. Demonizing things is honestly pointless for anything. Laws are all that matter, and if done safely within the rules, there is nothing illegal about porn.
Thank you for that comment on hypocrisy. A lot of why I'm not as vocal as I want to be is that I feel like a hypocrite but that explanation really clears it up. Thank you.
I don't think pornographers should be locked up, except when it can be proven that they're trafficking humans or similar As damaging as it can be for people, it can be produced voluntarily, and the people who consume it do so voluntarily. the other pragmatic question is, would it actually make society any better to jail people for it, and I'm not sure that it would, because of black markets. God willing we can have a moral society where people don't want to produce or consume it
Porn was the worst thing to ever happen to me. All the corners of really bizzare and perverted porn are numerous and extremy damaging. I belive that it can lead people to trangerdarism, homosexuality or the lgbt cult in general. I have been off of porn for over about a year and i still feel broken. Sometimes strange and bizzare things, related to the porn I used to watch, will arouse me and its repulsive and makes me disgusted.
Agreed buddy. I'm 2 and a half years free of porn but the struggle is there. It's unavoidable at times. I can't scroll through Twitter anymore without seeing a nude picture (even though i don't follow any of these accounts wtf?) and I can't scroll through RUclips without seeing ads about "girls in my area". When you get over porn, you realize just how much work is being put in to ruin lives like ours. I think we should be praying every night for addicts that they may overcome it
@@MikeyJMJ prayer really is soo powerful. I quit porn around the same time I started praying the rosary every night, and begging God for help and strength. And I don't think that's just a coincidence.
I've been hypothesizing that viewing porn in the prepubescent years can trigger autogynephilia or autoandrophelia. I don't think the meteoric rise of "transgenderism" (which isn't a real thing) is independent of porn.
@@hunterbidensaidslesion1356 most certainly, how would people find themselves with such a perverse "fetish" outside of porn? I think people who experience that make up the vast majority of claimed trans people today. As well I know many people from high school who now claim to be "bisexual" and use "they/them" who gave off no indication of that when I was friends with them in HS; I can only assume the reason why but I doubt it was natural.
Good points being made here. It sucks to feel like I'm powerless to do anything about such an important part of my life. I want to have a family someday, but I don't even know where to go to find a girlfriend. also, this is a confusing opinion coming from someone who I thought was a libertarian
@Russell Phelan I wasn't talking about porn. I'm not addicted to anything. Except, maybe, cat videos. But it's impossible to make progress towards starting a family (which is what I wrote, and I don't appreciate your assumption). I actually agree that the law should do more, because I think libertarianism is stupid at best and satanic at worst. But I think you'd have to be really, really careful with the law to make sure that it only affects "professional" productions and maybe large-scale hosting sites. I don't want anyone going to jail for using or for filming their own activities for personal reasons (even if I disagree with that).
@@julieoelker1865 see, now i think you're overreaching. The customers? Would you like to see most of the men you know and a third of the women you know in legal trouble over a behavior that probably troubles them as much as it gives them pleasure? If you write the wrong law, every hard drive and server in America becomes an opportunity for the police-state. They already have enough dumb reasons to prosecute at will. I don't want them to have one more. Which reminds me- g9 and look up what they did to the guy who said his brother wasn't really the LV shooter. When he disagreed with the CIA narrative, they planted evidence on him and got rid of him. Perhaps i'm overreacting but you have to be careful with laws that affect a very common behavior.
Porn is sad, even very liberal people like Bill Maher hate it and think it gives a skewed view of woman and sex (and that's something from him!) I just wish for centuries women who had little of no voice were blamed for lust and porn and temptation. Men were never trained to be masters of their own desires and not act on them. I even had someone tell me years ago, "you shouldn't have sex before marriage but for men, there are women for them that are different". What? This kind of thinking has to change.
@@Xymage Yes, I agree, but women never had the power really, and for a very long time men used it many times at work, etc. which made it very uncomfortable. That said, I remember a woman, flirting heavily with the guy that she thought she could get , even know he was married, and he just kept deflecting and not feeding her and I was very proud of him. I have heard way too many men today day how the temptation is just too great for people in sports and music and acting and that’s crap. They sincerely have more temptation for sure on both sides, but that doesn’t mean that no is still not a full sentence.
I wanted to share this video with a buddy, but I didn’t. Why?because my buddy has problem with alcohol, and he’s a Christian. Is alcohol permissible, depends who you ask. I’ve heard both sides of the argument, the issue isn’t settled for everyone. What is settled is that you should cause your brother to stumble. I respect that alcohol is not consumed to excess on your show, but I would still say you are a stumbling block. Many Christian’s are too liberal with alcohol these days and most don’t appreciate how many people struggle with alcohol, even out brothers and sisters in Christ. There’s a lot more that could be said here, but I won’t go on any further. I’d say that alcohol has done more harm than good in this world. As it is stated in the AA literature…Alcohol is cunning, baffling and powerful. I’m a Protestant and I love your show. I love the thoughtful discussions, I’ve learned a lot, and look forward to future episodes. Much love to you and your family and your team at PWA
If someone needs to cut out alcohol entirely for the purpose of conquering their vice, that’s fine and actually commendable. But saying that any alcohol consumption is problematic is wrong in itself. Half the point of the show being called “Pints With Aquinas” and drinking a little on there is to show a rightly-ordered attitude towards alcohol, which the Lord Himself drank and even made the Sacrament of His Blood. If someone can’t even watch others sip a drink, maybe he could just listen to the audio.
God bless you for your efforts to cast light on the web of evil that spreads from the disaster of pornography. So many young people are wrestling with this. It’s become an epidemic and it’s numbing and disintegrating our precious young people. We pray in battle against this!!! Thank you for this great segment after the troubling Prager interview.
I hate porn and think that you are right, in principle. But, man, as a Colombian, I said this to ye, Oh, Americans: If the War on Drugs has gone really really bad -and we Colombians sure know it-, imagine what would happen if you criminalize porn…
Matt, you neeeeed to try to get Peter D. Williams on your show. A rare example of an English Catholic apologist. I stumbled across his work via a debate he did teaming up with Joe Heschmeyer against two Protestants on sola scriptura. I'm English and it was so good to find a real good all round Catholic apologist from England. I think people would absolutely love a long form discussion interview with him, English apologists bring a different flavour and style 😆😆😆 It was nice to see someone who reflects my style who is so well established and with so much content, I think you'd enjoy a binge of it too.
then all that would do is cause people who are struggling with porn addiction to not seek help dumbass what your proposing would cause a skyrocket in suicide rates
If you jailed consumers you'd be jailing most of the human population. I agree with you that it's a mortal sin but that simply wouldn't be practical. 99% of men have a pornography addiction and 75% of women. There wouldn't be enough jailers.
A) is this a parody? B) Give me 5 mins with these guys computers and phones. We'll see if they have the same opinion after. Also, I see they're both drinking alcohol, which kills more people than just about anything. Maybe we should jail people who drink beer?!
Lol you really don’t think it’s possible for a man to not have an embarrassing history of porn consumption in their search history, do you? You told me a lot about yourself that I had no desire to know
I was exposed to porn since the age of maybe 6. By the time I understood the evil of it I was too addicted. Promised God many times through the years to stop but couldn't. Thank be to God I had a special encounter with Jesus during 2020 and I surrendered to the Lord, and he gave me the grace to overcome the addiction.
The best thing you can do is write a letter to a porn actress after watching it. With your name, through your email, whatever. If a man can't face the consequences of something as little as watching, little girls will never be able to face their own battle for redemption.
I know how bad porn is and by the grace of God i was able to let that go . But its not over i destroyed my heart, my memory and it puverts the way you see the world. The devil keeps dropping the same snare , that porn in my mind from time to time and keeps playing that same card so you always gotta be on guard. I was also and ex alcoholic I was also steep into dark things . 🔎The last snare of the devil is porn because its and easy catch .
It's time for the civil authorities to start enforcing the moral law. They divorced the moral law from the civil law in the 1960s, and look where that has got us. A feeling that we have the freedom to sin with wanton abandon.
Yep, nail on the head. 29 year old guy here and I'm pretty much on the verge of giving up the idea of ever having a family at this point. With the absurd state of the dating market it's incredibly difficult to date as a man even with an average girl these days, much less a really high quality girl. I've basically already decided that after years of trying this is the last year I'm putting in any effort. When I hit 30 next year I'm just going to build a tiny house on a trailer, have it paid for in full, and then keep it as a home base while I enjoy myself by traveling a lot and investing in my hobbies and interests. Hope you guys in your early 20's have better fortune than I have.
Don't put that limitation on yourself, brother. I met my wife when I was 33, got marrived at 37, and have two kids now. I know it seems daunting, as I was once there. But don't despair. Be at peace with the possibility that it may not happen for you, but don't lose the desire for the good, beautiful thing that your nature leads you to seek.
@@reinedire7872 Why is it hard to find someone? What do they not have that you want? If you want a religious woman many churches have activities for young people.
Porn is something I think we have to learn to adapt around, because quite frankly it isn't going anywhere. Now I know me saying that is coming at this from a pragmatic view, but even in principle, I would find it appalling to lock people up for creating porn. But I also find it appalling to lock people up for mos things, even most drugs. I believe I freedom for pragmatic and principled purposes. Porn is a lot like alcohol in my view. I do genuinely believe that outlawing Porn would be for the worse, not for the better. But maybe a good middle ground would be to find a way to make porn less accessible or less intense.
I’m a Protestant though I’m curious what Catholics might say in regards to their strongest justifications / arguments for why the Catholic Church is the ‘correct’ church? As I understand it, the biggest reservation is perhaps the additional hoops and religiosity constructed to block matters of relationship and grace; adding artificial qualification to the grace God offers and communion with Him. The veneration of saints seems redundant. Is not Jesus’s name enough? Hail Marys are curious and odd. Why not speak with the Lord earnestly? Regarding the saints with a kind of fondness is one thing, but the distinction between veneration and worship is a mystery to me. What fruit has been born by the church that actually addressed real issues within the communities they reside in modern times? Do priests confront politicians on matters of corruption? That last item is an issue I see on both sides of the aisle. The Protestants have ram away from the hotel design of what I believe the church is meant to be (supporting the brethren, widows, orphans). This is mainly from an American perspective - where govt has now been operating like a church with its ‘social programs ‘. I am impressed with the daily prayers and discipline I have heard of at least with one priest - waking up in the early morning performing rites / meditation. There is a kind of seriousness Catholics have that I admire with some things that I wish more Protestants emulated. God bless
The simplest answer is that we believe the Catholic Church is the "correct" Church because it was founded by Jesus Christ. We know the name of the founder of each and every other variant of Christianity and the date they were founded, and all of them were started by human beings after and apart from the Church Christ founded. But Jesus promised He would build a Church; that said Church would last until the end of the age; and that the gates of hell would not prevail against that Church. So, as St. Jerome once said, we ought to remain in that Church, whose practices we see attested to by the first 200 years of Christian writings and beyond. 1.) We don't add any extra hoops or religiosity to block relationship with Christ or His grace. Those things come from the Church and sacraments He established. Jesus said, for example, to be baptized. If we want to have a relationship with Him and receive His grace, then we should do that! 2.) The difference between veneration and worship is degree. Worship is sacrifice, and the purest form of that is the Holy Eucharist offered at Mass, in which the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ, the one sacrifice to end all sacrifice, is offered to God. We don't offer ourselves or anything else to the saints. 3.) We do speak to the Lord earnestly, and more directly than any other Christian can via adoration of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. But we also trust that the Bible is correct when it tells us the saints are praying for us in heaven, and that intercessory prayer is good and pleasing to God; so we pray for others and ask them to pray for us. That includes the saints. 4.) The Church is the largest charitable institution on Earth by a country mile, and has contributed more to the poor and the common good than any other organization in history. It continues to bear this fruit today. And that's not even speaking of the hospitals, schools, political wins (consider Dobbs), and scientific achievements that were fostered by the Church or Catholics. Lastly, I just want to say I'm not here to try and convert you, but to just offer you any insight I can in the spirit of Christian fraternity. I'm friends with countless Protestants and love them and respect their love for Christ. It's just awesome you're here looking.
@@bigfootapologetics Greetings and thank you for your response. I have some further questions, which hopefully you don't find quarrelsome, but rather testing what you are saying. 1. I don't think salvation hinges on baptism of water, but is a symbol, yes? 2. I've heard a bit about the sacraments. I believe i vaguely remember that the sacrament (maybe during mass) is essentially a re sacrifice, in that you are crucifying the Lord again (words i remember through a protestant POV). 3. I guess i don't know enough to dispute the nature of intercession and saints praying. Those saints who are already in heaven though, I'm confused how we can speak to them and where that is in scripture? 4. Catholics are serious and organized, which i admire. However, from what i remember concerning nations that give the most, America is outrageously ahead of all nations, and America is primarily protestant. Catholicism (just looked) composes only ~23% now. This number may have been much different in previous years too (i dare say favoring more protestantism). Just saying. On your last comment: I think for the longest time I had a kind of veil pulled over my senses about Catholics, and any denomination counter to mine (non-denominational). Over time, I began to see certain things though, including God seeing past doctrine and His focus on someone's faith (barring outright heresy). Thanks again for your response. God bless you friend!
From what I recall there are only three states in America where producing porn is legal, California, New York, and Florida. This doesn't stop millions of people from producing their own porn in their bedrooms to be streamed over the myriad "services." They don't enforce the laws that are already in place in most of the states. I might have been 8 yo the first time I seen porn. The kid across the street stole some of his Dad's hardcore magazines and set up a peep show in the space between their garage and the neighbor's, through a knothole in the alley fence, and tried to get me to be his partner. That was back in about 1970, and I got scared of that older kid and quit hanging out with him. These were Catholic people too, buddy. Nowadays you can get anything just by typing whatever dirty words you think up into a search engine. The answer to this problem is not to try to cut off the source, but to cut off the demand. If people woke up and realized how utterly stupid it is to play with yourself when you want a human relationship, the supply would dry up. Modern people are lazy though, and want everything on demand.
They did a real good job of limmiting access to pirated video games. If they took the same amount of time trying to block access to pornography it would definently help the addicts who want to quit.
Every time I hear Seamus it’s as if he’s been in his prayer closet for the last 10 years slaying dragons and overcoming strongholds and is ready to spit hard truths.
I’m a Roman Catholic but a libertarian. I will advocate against porn usage staunchly, but jailing pornstars? Nah, this isn’t a theocracy and it shouldn’t be. This is a constitutional republic. Watching/filming/acting in adult films isn’t against your right in US law. In God’s eyes? Sure. In US law? Definitely not.
Using Catholicism to legislate is the definition of uniting church and state. This is absurd. I don’t like porn and don’t partake, but I also don’t smoke cigarettes. You’re fighting a losing battle in defining pornography; not gonna happen in America or any free market.
@@healthfadsfade It's yikes to you because you've been indoctrinated by a public education system that teaches you the constitution is divinely inspired.
@@AmaDominiCanes oh wow says the guy indoctrinated by the Catholic Church you aren’t serious? I respect your right to have faith. Enlightenment values bud, NOT “Judeo-Christian”. We can go down the list..
porn when i was young was women getting their boobs out in a magizine, not millions of extremely graphic videos of every twisted thing you can think of only ever 2 clicks of a mouse away.
Agree, but first we should ban pornography, then those people who are involved in production or promotion of pornographic materials will be criminalized automatically, and it's important to make a solid distinction between actual pornography and between adult entertainment or modelling which doesn't include pornography.
I genuinely think you are asking the wrong question not because you are not right about it but because every person that consumes porn will be a producer in 50 years (estimate time might be of does not change my point). I really hope I'm wrong. But ai is a game changer for better or for worse.
Man, it’s so funny how everyone is always in favor of Free Speech until others start saying things that they don’t like. I hate to break it to you, but Freedom of Speech applies as much to things you disagree with, as it does to things that you do agree with. The problem with making pornography illegal (other than the fact that it would be a blatant act of paternalism) is that it is far too difficult to actually pin down what defines pornography. Is it just nudity? The depiction of sexual acts? Perhaps you may argue that it’s primarily to stimulate erotic sensations rather than aesthetic or emotional, and that’s fine, but then who decides that? I’m no fan of pornography, but I’m also not a fan of giving the government more authority. As much as you or I may disagree with pornography, it is protected under Free Speech. Moreover, the United States is supposed to be the land of the free. Does “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” sound familiar? If a group of consenting adults film pornography, on what possible grounds can you imprison them? What harm was done? Nobody forced you to watch it. In fact, you might even have to pay them to view it. The idea of jailing pornographers is as ridiculous as jailing someone for making a movie that you didn’t like.
Unfortunately, I feel pornography is the very bottom of concerns for anyone seeking a relationship. What the real damaging elements are chiefly the laws that favor women over men, in all aspects of divorce - money, children, property, etc. Child support and custody laws that support women over men, in all aspects. Alimony laws. And lastly, the rise in women treating men like dirt, their complete lack of morality, their complete lack of faithfulness/fidelity, and basically anything else you can think of. Oh and lets not forget, a woman can claim a man raped her with zero proof and the man is automatically guilty in the minds of everyone. Even if proven innocent beyond doubt, a man's reputation is still tarnished because people will still stubbornly believe the man is evil. Society has programmed everyone to assume the man is bad. And not just in relationships. Pornography doesn't have anything on any of that. Not even close. Not by a light year. Men are, by the droves, throwing relationships to the curb because its a horrific nightmare right now. A woman can ruin a man's reputation and his financial stability, for the rest of his life, with a single word and the government on all levels is complicit. Sorry, but the thought that porn is a major player in dysfunctional relationships is way off the mark. Maybe it was a major player many decades ago, but now women and government have enthusiastically pushed it off a cliff and are merrily destroying relationships/the family themselves. Porn can be overcome, but to stop the government will take either a fight (in some form) and or a massive social shift that forces change through voting. The woman issue, will require a whole new generation of women to be raised up properly to supplant the prior generations. However, none of these solutions will help the current generations of men forced to go it single. Many of those men will live a lonely life. Longing for companionship, but unable or unwilling to find it because of the insanity that is the modern woman.
Would you call someone like me who wrote words like Shakespeare and knew what body parts were before the age of 10. I watched Baywatch and Who Framed Roger Rabbit I could tell Jessica Rabbit was a seducer before the age of 7. I wanted to be like her then. So should I go to jail for this kind of imagination? I didn't touch adults until adult age. And I do not touch anyone who is not an adult. I try to be with one person and thankfully have been away from sin since my best friend's death. I will wait until Jesus my best friend finds a suitor for me again.
Should we jail pornographers?
Absolutely.
I would argue the one's who produce it but not the ones who perform in it. Same way I think pimps but not the prostitutes should be jailed.
yes
Yep. With castration u-u
Absolutely not.
My prayers go out to everyone fighting this horrific addiction. You're not alone ❤✝️
I can't tell you how many times I've deleted the bookmarks... I wish I could "clear history" from my mind
Pray for me brother!
Pray for me as I’m working hard on a on and off from looking at this human degrading ##& . I have had years of staying away than years back then away I’m now 64 and saving to join covenant eyes
From one Pepe to another Pepe… pray the rosary, flee from temptation and take control of your thoughts. I will pray for you brothers.
Fren. I stopped watching porn after hanging out with a porn girl. I just imagined her son watching it by accident and I stopped for years. Even if I mess up I'll be better off for any day I didn't watch it.
"We should be as protective of marriage and the family as we are of banks."
Gem.
Empty words though.
It's like protecting yourself from cold by putting on metal armour. If he knows sh_t about the system, he won't help it no matter how hard he tries. His ignorance might be rather destructive.
@@nightmareTomek stop babbling
@@zeenuf00 stop telling people how to comment.
I'm all for being as NON-protective of banks as we are of marriage lol
@@nightmareTomekpeople are the system, maybe just do your part
Porn destroyed so many years of my life that I’ll never get back. The enemy made me believe I was in control and that I was happy, but in reality, I was extremely depressed and lacked all purpose and control. It ruined relationships, how I viewed women, and intimacy for me. Had I not dedicated my life to Christ I would have never stopped. Even motivational speakers and other religions failed me, but Christ never did. All praise goes to Father YAHWEH, Son Yeshua, and the Holy Spirit Ruach for saving my life.🙏
Porn was a major factor in driving my "transtrender journey". If it hadn't been present, I wouldn't have wasted almost 20 years of my life on that nonsense
Praise God! Thank you Jesus and his mercy: ruclips.net/video/hyLpP5ZjWCw/видео.html
@MarvAlice thanks for sharing alex
As a single father that desperately desires a wife & more children, Seamus hit the nail on the head about the feeling that we won't even be able to get married & have a family these days.
As a single mother that desperately desires a husband and more children, that hit deep...
Unfortunately there are a lot more reasons that's the case, let alone porn. Tinder has the biggest affect on the dating market for staters.
@@mcdoubler it's the degradation of our sexuality in general. People who don't value the intimacy, and sacredness of sex will not value relationships, nor will they wait even for something less than marriage. Many of them want to have sex before even being willing to date exclusively. There's no common ground to even start from.
@@robynbeach3198 And if you talk like this, there won't be. Porn isn't the reason why relationships and marriages break all the time. Being ignorant about the true problems and stupidly blaming the first thing that comes to mind won't change anything about the current state. It's like you're cursing the road when your car breaks down.
When women come to me with this amount of ignorance, I prefer to be alone.
@@nightmareTomek then be left alone, it's your choice. If the feelings of women can be blown off by you that easily because apparently only YOUR feelings, from YOUR point of view matter, then maybe you're just not relationship material.
This is so absolutely true.
I'm 23, making good money, have managed to quit porn and am getting really good at dealing with the lustful thoughts that come. I am quite involved in my church and chant for every high mass.
Half the time I get home from church in tears because all I see are beautiful Catholic families and wonderful fathers that I look up to and want to be like someday, but it's incredibly hard to hang on to hope that I may someday have a family.
Despite having finally gotten onto a couple dates, I still find it incredibly difficult to interact with women after spending so many of my development years addicted to porn with absolutely zero IRL female interaction (studied engineering...) Probably so doesn't help that I don't really have any siblings to speak of.
1. The struggle is real brother. Bring this up in your prayers of course and trust in God's timings.
2 If not already, maybe start that daily rosaries, interacting with the most perfect woman ever walked the Earth might help you with interacting with women overall.
3. Lastly, is God calling you to be a father to many, like many many? Talk to your local vocation director lately? My current bishop used to be an electrical engineer.
Love
Totus tuus
The Good Lord has you exactly where you need to be. We all struggle over our lives with thoughts of doubt but trust in God. Pray, hope and don’t worry as Padre Pio would say. You are young - all will be okay.
Maybe getting engaged in some church committees / activities can be a good way for you to have more interactions with other females, not necessarily with females you are interested in. Just have a friendly interaction 🙂 God bless you, brother in Christ. 🙏
I think you hit the nail on its head with this remark:
"incredibly difficult to interact with women after spending so many of my development years addicted to porn with absolutely zero IRL female interaction"
From my observation, I've heard similar stories from so many young men. The sad thing is, they often don't even realize, that that's the issue, which you have put into words here: lack of real life interaction coupled with distorted vision from pornography.
I see so many of these young men instead all caught up in resentment towards themselves, life, and towards the women. The women, with whom they rarely interact irl, they take their primary knowledge from the social media or other digital means.
To be honest, I was at first very shook, how is that possible to have so little cross-sex interaction. I'm a millennial, so I'm no stranger to social media, but the way I grew up was different. I see many young people nowadays less interacting even when they are physically together, such as at schools, university, etc. It's almost all through social media.
And adding the pornography to it, it paints a really grim picture.
Great that you have been dealing with it and are able to see it. Awareness is the first step to change.
I can only imagine it's not easy. We often tend to say 'just go out and talk to people, what's the problem', not realizing that for some/many people it's not that of an obvious thing anymore.
Good luck, or rather: God's blessings to you.👍
"2 If not already, maybe start that daily rosaries, might help you with interacting with women overall."
I SECOND THAT!! It's and excellent advice. I also encourage you to look up the novena to the Mary Undoer of Knots, it's a rosary novena where you lay your problem problem ('knot') in the hands of Mary, I can I can tell you from experience, it may brings wonders.
Just pray the rosary consequently, and you'll see how God can positively change your life.
Another point I have, I develop the devotion to St. Joseph. He's a great model of manhood. And he's is amazing.
He's a great example of what a man and a father should be. Noble/honorable, courageous, hard-working, chaste (in control of one's sexuality in the accordance to the God's word and one's the state of life), decisive, humble, devoted to his family, and charitable at heart.
Just pray for his intercession for you, and for his help and guidance.
ABSOLUTELY BASED!
I am married with no children, and can relate to the comment on the feeling of hopelessness. I was diagnosed with a rare form of male infertility called globozoospermia a few years ago. There are 0 confirmed cases of natural pregnancy with this form of infertility. My wife and I were devastated when we found out. We've shed many tears, and spent lots of money on stupid things, but after attempting to foster to adopt and having our hearts crushed when the children went back with their mother, we have found comfort in realizing we are blessed to be able to suffer, and to place that suffering on the cross with our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
I too am involuntarily childless. Infertility is way harder as a Catholic too as we are not allowed to pursue the most effective fertility treatments. Naprotechology is pushed as a panacea, but it actually has a much lower success rate than IVF. And IVF already has a low success rate anyway. Also, the Catholic church never acknowledges or thanks the tiny percentage of us who don't use ART either. Adoption is not available in my country or continent so that isn't even an option.
I am glad you have faith. I go to mass but have lost the deep faith I used to have. Why? Well God is the one who creates us in the womb. Therefore, it's not a free will issue. He actually creates all humans. So why does he create children who will grow up in abusive households when he could instead create a human that will grow up in a healthy family?
My life feels pretty meaningless a lot of the time now. What will I do when I am old with no children or grandchildren to care about me?
@lynncrf this is definitely a topic that is not discussed much in Catholic circles. The lack of understanding most certainly adds to the pain. The fact that we were made in the image and likeness of God, and the fruit of the love between a husband and a wife is a child, reflecting the love that proceeds between the father and the son, the fruit of which is the holy spirit. I understand your confusion and pain, I feel it also, but its important for us to understand that God didn't do this to us and we are made in his image and likeness. God in his permissive will has allowed this evil to happen to us to bring about a greater good. What that greater good is, I dont know if I'll ever know until God willing I am in his presence someday, then I will see clearly as he sees. Until then, we must take up our cross and follow him, and submit our deepest desire for a family to his holy will.
@@lynncrf ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.'
‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments.'
'They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.’
Hang in there sister. This is your cross, nothing happens outside of the Lord's Divine Providence and Plan. Trust in Him and He will deliver you.
@@lynncrf I can't speak for the entire church, but personally, I do admire those who struggle with infertility that treat children as a gift and blessing (not so much those that use IVF and treat them as a thing/object they are owed).
Within Catholic circles I see such a spectrum of struggles-- single ppl who cannot find a spouse and have passed the childbearing years, ppl who struggle with infertility, women who get pregnant and then lose every baby, couples with multiple children that have rare disorders that require lifelong care, including help being fed and diapers as adults, and expensive therapies and those who are extremely fertile but don't have the means to support more children so can only be intimate with their spouse a couple of days a month... In some ways I feel like our communities have become so isolated we aren't close enough to know the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ are carrying, let alone support one another.
@@lynncrf So the church is forbidding you medical treatment? Do they want you to stay unhappy? Is that the will of God?
I'm not sure if I should find this disturbing or comical.
Pornography, prostitution,strip clubs, and slavery is attach to these evils .
Common dinominator
First of all, sex trafficking is already criminal, write your congressman. Second, pornography is clearly protected by the First Amendment. If you want to fight porn you need to fight the demand, not the supllier.
we can fight the demand by eliminating the supplier.
@@seanmurphy7011 this dude constantly screams about freedom of speech and freedom of expression.
We should also jail everyone involved in the fast-food and processed food industries.
Why stop there? Jail everyone involved in the smartphone industry.
Also, jail everyone involved in the alcohol and cigarette industries and so on.
And, of course, emprison everyone who doesn't follow roman catechism, because what could be a worse habit than not obeying the Catholic Church?
Only stop when everyone only has perfect habits and we have attained Heaven on Earth.
As a woman who had a husband with this addiction... (he did come a long way in our 20 years together but so sadly he died 12 years ago from an unknown heart defect at the young age of 45)
Our 3 kids are adults now..... but....
I have some insight for men who struggle with this....
The lure of pornography is a strong one because of how men are wired, but it comes with an EMPTINESS at the end.
I think we ALL want to be loved, (both men AND women) and have our needs met, but we need HUMAN CONNECTION and porn isn't that. Even if you are with live women who get paid for it, they aren't REAL in one's life.
So it's like always being hungry, eating a huge feast but realizing at the end that you are still starving.
I'm NOT saying that it is easy to find a good relationship. It takes wisdom and knowledge of one's self to make wise decisions about the person you choose, and COMMUNICATION with each other and the WILLINGNESS to communicate about everything... Even about sex, (especially about sex) even about ALL the difficult things that come up in life.
NO ONE can read your mind, so it needs to be talked about if it's something that is a problem. That involves some vulnerability, but the other person should be doing the same. There is a joy in a REAL RELATIONSHIP that can never be had from any false promise that is what the entire $€x industry is. False promises that can never live up.
In the end, it is cheating yourself AND your wife/girlfriend if you keep consuming the false, empty promise of a product that can never give a person what they think they will get.
And, if I can mention God, He loves us all and will help us to be who He wants us to be IF WE ASK HIM FOR HELP.
I wish everyone (who read this far) to have FREEDOM and peace and happiness in their lives and to get to an END to being slaves to this addiction. AMEN.
So happy to hear this conversation. God bless you both for the bold proclamation of truth.
In response to the commenters below who want to ignore the supply side of the equation, I want to remind you of the argument from authority Seamus makes at 0:26. If you're a Catholic, then the question of whether to impose *prohibitive* legal restrictions has already been settled. The Catechism has lots of content to deal with the demand side of the equation as well. This is not an 'either/or' matter. We can -- and should -- deal with both the supply and the demand. Also, when talking about addictive materials, it's just cruel to think that we should only care about decreasing demand. Those who struggle with this issue deserve better support through legal remedies.
Porno is super bad for society yes. Onlyfans should at least be adressed legally because it's pornographic extortion. It's like legal drug dealing.
Not to mention that the reason they considered banning porn from the site was because they were being sued for hosting illegal pornographic content involving (but not limited to) minors and animals.
I'm 17 i know for a fact just out of my own experience that only fan girls purposely Target teenage boys.
The nanny state must be beaten down.
I love how Matt has changed over the years (for the better)
How it started: "Here's my presentation on why you maybe should think on giving up porn"
How it's going: "We should put pornographers in jail"
Both are contextually appropriate
So you think that radicalization to the point where someone goes from engaging in civil discussion to advocating that people he disagrees with should be imprisoned is a good thing?
Pornography has ruined my life and has twisted my soul since I was 11 years old, I'm now 37. I agree with this. Lock them up!
Take personal accountability bro. Learn self control. Stop asking and begging for the government to save you. If you can't control yourself, you don't deserve to be a member of society. Either watch porn and stick to your guns or f off.
@Russell Phelan You have no idea what my personal journey has been like. It's easy for you to summarize simplistically, but your advice is given in ignorance.
@savesilence Except soda isn't objectively evil, pornography is. It's not even depicting conjugal union, but always is about a message of sexual exploitation of women, their degradation and violence, not love towards them. It's also uncovering (and degrading as well) people's nakedness and intimacy, which goes against human dignity.
Soda,in contrast, is just a sugary drink.
@@joane24 it's a reach in comparison for sure but soda is absolutely bad too. It provides no nutritional benefit and yet is so addictive. Can cause diabetes and kidney stones.
@@letriciabrowder2942 Soda isn't objectively intrinsically wrong. It's a sugary drink. Using it in moderation is up to the consumer. Of course when used in excess it will be harmful, even water in excess is harmful. White sugar or coffeine are unhealthy when used in excess, but absolutely nothing wrong with them in moderation, there's nothing wrong in their very nature.
With porn, in contrast, any even miniscule amount of it it's poisonous. It's not a matter of a dose, it's a matter of its existence. It's intrinsically disordered. It's very nature is wrong, it's contrary to God's design for human sexuality.
Spot on, bubbe. Lock up pornographers.
Quite extreme, in my estimation.
@@veraleighton1530 found the pornographer.
@@veraleighton1530 ok. We lock up other criminals. Whose daughter are you comfortable with people objectifying? Yours?
@@veraleighton1530
Extremism in the pursuit of Justice is no vice, and moderation in the pursuit of Justice is no virtue.
So like D&D from Game of Thrones?
"Instead of bread and circuses, it's Uber Eats and porn" 🔥 🔥 🔥
Thanks Matt for what you said at 6:08. Been struggling a lot with feeling like a hypocrite for years because I struggled with forms of it while advocating in my personal and public life against it. I needed to hear that.
So glad Matt interviewed Seamus. These are two of the best cultural figures now days, and their conversation overflows with truth.
Said no one of sound mind.
Pornography does more harm to our society than rifles do? Nearly every mass shooter uses a semi-automatic rifle, usually an AR-15. The U.S. had 647 mass shootings in 2022. There have already been more than 330 mass shootings this year. Say what you want about porn, but no one’s killed in the process.
Neither should be banned
They deserve much worse. I’m 32 and my brain/dopamine system feels destroyed
Learn self control. Wtf.
You should listen to the Huberman Podcast bro. He has some good videos and the science behind dopamine and how to “reset” if you feel your system. He also talks about addiction to some degree!
And whose fault is that? Did anyone force you to watch porn? You’re blaming a temptation for existing, but YOU are the one who chose it. Stop blaming others for your actions and take accountability.
A big thing we as Catholics should keep in mind is that porn’s popularity is fueled by broader trends in modern society, those keeping of social isolation and ostracism, especially of young men.
Rising costs of childcare, stagnant wages, and increasing social resentment of men (especially white men) have combined with older issues of court-bias against men to create an environment where young men are not only discouraged from, but in some cases punished, for engaging in wider society, relationships, and social interactions.
And no, the solution isn’t to shake yee fist at them there vidyer games and internets - it’s to create a socio-economic environment where families can actively flourish, not just scrape by.
yes which is why it is so stupid to demonize porn it really just shows the laziness of these two individuals talking on a nuanced topic in a way that totally ignores why its even popular in the first place
🎯🎯🎯
@@zachmoyer1849 hardly. Men are not capable of being husbands or fathers if they consume sexual slavery content. A man is to be the leader of his home but a man enslaved is not even capable of leading his own life let alone a family.
@@zachmoyer1849 Porn still deserves to be demonized. It's a very grave and degenerate mortal sin that offends God and has horrible consequences. People can still condemn abortion and other forms of murder, even if there are still root causes that could be addressed.
@@sebwisegamgee4215 Do people go around demonizing murder? No, because it is pointless. The laws are in place, and beyond that, the root causes are the only thing that can be addressed. Demonizing things is honestly pointless for anything. Laws are all that matter, and if done safely within the rules, there is nothing illegal about porn.
Absolutely we should. This rhetoric is so needed, thank you Matt and Seamus!
Or maaybe you shouldn't advocate for violence against people just because they do things you disapprove of.
“People living in despair are perfect consumers.”
Wow that’s so true
NOICE. I needed a palate cleanser from the Prager interview.
If you want to destroy a nation without war, make adultery or nudity common amongst the younger generation.” - Sultan Saladin
Matt talked about poisoning ourselves while he smokes a cigar.
Thank you for that comment on hypocrisy. A lot of why I'm not as vocal as I want to be is that I feel like a hypocrite but that explanation really clears it up. Thank you.
"oh yeah pornographers should be imprisoned and..." *sips beer*
Chad intro.
AMEN! I love Christians that are not cowards! GOD BLESS YOU!
I imagine half of Seamus’s libertarian fans just had a stroke
I mean youd have to overturn the FA and create a huge Chinese-like police state that will open the pandoras box to worse abuse.
Seamus advocating this would mean being against the social freedoms of people.
Holiness>freedom
@@AmaDominiCanes Wow.
Way to argue against a basic fundamental human right.
@@Xanthos307 We have a basic fundamental human right to porn? Ok my guy. Whatever you say.
@@AmaDominiCanes Sounds good to me. ☺️
I don't think pornographers should be locked up, except when it can be proven that they're trafficking humans or similar
As damaging as it can be for people, it can be produced voluntarily, and the people who consume it do so voluntarily.
the other pragmatic question is, would it actually make society any better to jail people for it, and I'm not sure that it would, because of black markets. God willing we can have a moral society where people don't want to produce or consume it
Not everything that is voluntary is permissible
@@bennyv4444 everything is permitted, but not everything is beneficial.
Porn was the worst thing to ever happen to me. All the corners of really bizzare and perverted porn are numerous and extremy damaging. I belive that it can lead people to trangerdarism, homosexuality or the lgbt cult in general. I have been off of porn for over about a year and i still feel broken. Sometimes strange and bizzare things, related to the porn I used to watch, will arouse me and its repulsive and makes me disgusted.
Agreed buddy. I'm 2 and a half years free of porn but the struggle is there. It's unavoidable at times. I can't scroll through Twitter anymore without seeing a nude picture (even though i don't follow any of these accounts wtf?) and I can't scroll through RUclips without seeing ads about "girls in my area". When you get over porn, you realize just how much work is being put in to ruin lives like ours. I think we should be praying every night for addicts that they may overcome it
@@MikeyJMJ prayer really is soo powerful. I quit porn around the same time I started praying the rosary every night, and begging God for help and strength. And I don't think that's just a coincidence.
@@MikeyJMJ Perhaps an ad blocker would be helpful? I've never tried one though, so I don't know how they work.
I've been hypothesizing that viewing porn in the prepubescent years can trigger autogynephilia or autoandrophelia. I don't think the meteoric rise of "transgenderism" (which isn't a real thing) is independent of porn.
@@hunterbidensaidslesion1356 most certainly, how would people find themselves with such a perverse "fetish" outside of porn? I think people who experience that make up the vast majority of claimed trans people today. As well I know many people from high school who now claim to be "bisexual" and use "they/them" who gave off no indication of that when I was friends with them in HS; I can only assume the reason why but I doubt it was natural.
Good points being made here. It sucks to feel like I'm powerless to do anything about such an important part of my life. I want to have a family someday, but I don't even know where to go to find a girlfriend.
also, this is a confusing opinion coming from someone who I thought was a libertarian
Definitely an overreach here.
Beware the leaven of Herod AND the leaven of the Pharisees.
As recently as the 1940s, pornography was illegal. It was rightly considered obscene. Both the porn purveyors and the customers must be stopped.
Libertarianism is a perfect ideology if you’d like to commit societal suicide.
The “live and let live” mentality is why we’re here.
@Russell Phelan I wasn't talking about porn. I'm not addicted to anything. Except, maybe, cat videos. But it's impossible to make progress towards starting a family (which is what I wrote, and I don't appreciate your assumption).
I actually agree that the law should do more, because I think libertarianism is stupid at best and satanic at worst. But I think you'd have to be really, really careful with the law to make sure that it only affects "professional" productions and maybe large-scale hosting sites. I don't want anyone going to jail for using or for filming their own activities for personal reasons (even if I disagree with that).
@@julieoelker1865 see, now i think you're overreaching. The customers? Would you like to see most of the men you know and a third of the women you know in legal trouble over a behavior that probably troubles them as much as it gives them pleasure?
If you write the wrong law, every hard drive and server in America becomes an opportunity for the police-state. They already have enough dumb reasons to prosecute at will. I don't want them to have one more. Which reminds me- g9 and look up what they did to the guy who said his brother wasn't really the LV shooter. When he disagreed with the CIA narrative, they planted evidence on him and got rid of him.
Perhaps i'm overreacting but you have to be careful with laws that affect a very common behavior.
You run a channel called “Freedom Toons”, yet you want to legally enforce the values of your religion. The cognitive dissonance is admirable.
Dude, we know that's a bottle of Yuengling...
Porn is sad, even very liberal people like Bill Maher hate it and think it gives a skewed view of woman and sex (and that's something from him!) I just wish for centuries women who had little of no voice were blamed for lust and porn and temptation. Men were never trained to be masters of their own desires and not act on them. I even had someone tell me years ago, "you shouldn't have sex before marriage but for men, there are women for them that are different". What? This kind of thinking has to change.
@@Xymage Yes, I agree, but women never had the power really, and for a very long time men used it many times at work, etc. which made it very uncomfortable. That said, I remember a woman, flirting heavily with the guy that she thought she could get , even know he was married, and he just kept deflecting and not feeding her and I was very proud of him. I have heard way too many men today day how the temptation is just too great for people in sports and music and acting and that’s crap. They sincerely have more temptation for sure on both sides, but that doesn’t mean that no is still not a full sentence.
Men who "protect" women from their husband should be locked up.
Jail the pornographers, protect the family harder than we protect banks. God bless.
The weak pathetic family can perish, dude. Not worth defending if it's so piteously fragile
I wanted to share this video with a buddy, but I didn’t. Why?because my buddy has problem with alcohol, and he’s a Christian. Is alcohol permissible, depends who you ask. I’ve heard both sides of the argument, the issue isn’t settled for everyone.
What is settled is that you should cause your brother to stumble. I respect that alcohol is not consumed to excess on your show, but I would still say you are a stumbling block. Many Christian’s are too liberal with alcohol these days and most don’t appreciate how many people struggle with alcohol, even out brothers and sisters in Christ. There’s a lot more that could be said here, but I won’t go on any further.
I’d say that alcohol has done more harm than good in this world. As it is stated in the AA literature…Alcohol is cunning, baffling and powerful.
I’m a Protestant and I love your show. I love the thoughtful discussions, I’ve learned a lot, and look forward to future episodes.
Much love to you and your family and your team at PWA
If someone needs to cut out alcohol entirely for the purpose of conquering their vice, that’s fine and actually commendable. But saying that any alcohol consumption is problematic is wrong in itself. Half the point of the show being called “Pints With Aquinas” and drinking a little on there is to show a rightly-ordered attitude towards alcohol, which the Lord Himself drank and even made the Sacrament of His Blood. If someone can’t even watch others sip a drink, maybe he could just listen to the audio.
Bring back the prohibition as well. Look at how harmful alcohol is for society.
Yeah…A lot of good that did the first time we tried it…
God bless you for your efforts to cast light on the web of evil that spreads from the disaster of pornography. So many young people are wrestling with this. It’s become an epidemic and it’s numbing and disintegrating our precious young people. We pray in battle against this!!! Thank you for this great segment after the troubling Prager interview.
Can you fill me in on what went down with the Prager interview that has people upset, please?
Quitting pornography is like poking the the devil in the eye i.e. always good.
I hate porn and think that you are right, in principle.
But, man, as a Colombian, I said this to ye, Oh, Americans: If the War on Drugs has gone really really bad -and we Colombians sure know it-, imagine what would happen if you criminalize porn…
Matt, you neeeeed to try to get Peter D. Williams on your show. A rare example of an English Catholic apologist. I stumbled across his work via a debate he did teaming up with Joe Heschmeyer against two Protestants on sola scriptura. I'm English and it was so good to find a real good all round Catholic apologist from England. I think people would absolutely love a long form discussion interview with him, English apologists bring a different flavour and style 😆😆😆 It was nice to see someone who reflects my style who is so well established and with so much content, I think you'd enjoy a binge of it too.
Why not jail everyone involved? Producer, actresses\actors, and consumers. That could really change our MO in our world.
then all that would do is cause people who are struggling with porn addiction to not seek help dumbass what your proposing would cause a skyrocket in suicide rates
If you jailed consumers you'd be jailing most of the human population. I agree with you that it's a mortal sin but that simply wouldn't be practical. 99% of men have a pornography addiction and 75% of women. There wouldn't be enough jailers.
@@ridingdeathstail You think these people are thinking rationally? They are just self-righteous control freaks.
A) is this a parody? B) Give me 5 mins with these guys computers and phones. We'll see if they have the same opinion after. Also, I see they're both drinking alcohol, which kills more people than just about anything. Maybe we should jail people who drink beer?!
Lol you really don’t think it’s possible for a man to not have an embarrassing history of porn consumption in their search history, do you? You told me a lot about yourself that I had no desire to know
@@bennyv4444 Ok
@@ridingdeathstail
Your lack of shame doesn’t make what you just said less pathetic
I like how this is the follow up of the recent videos released debating how evil pornography is.
So what does Seamus mean when he says he’s a libertarian? He’s a textbook tradcon if I’ve ever seen one.
In a goofy silly world sometimes the realest words must come from the cartoonist
I was exposed to porn since the age of maybe 6. By the time I understood the evil of it I was too addicted. Promised God many times through the years to stop but couldn't. Thank be to God I had a special encounter with Jesus during 2020 and I surrendered to the Lord, and he gave me the grace to overcome the addiction.
I preferred Seamus when he had messier hair. I like the extra fieriness but it would be even better with those wild locks.
Based and truthpilled
Thank you.
This was a great video!
Amazing convo
I appreciate you saying this, Matt. 5:41 - 6:15
The best thing you can do is write a letter to a porn actress after watching it. With your name, through your email, whatever. If a man can't face the consequences of something as little as watching, little girls will never be able to face their own battle for redemption.
Did anyone else read that title like the video was goin to give reasons as to why Seamus and the pornographers should be jailed together? 😂
Could not agree more. They are virtual pimps.
I'm an Anarcho-Monarchist and I approve this message.
I know how bad porn is and by the grace of God i was able to let that go .
But its not over i destroyed my heart, my memory and it puverts the way you see the world.
The devil keeps dropping the same snare , that porn in my mind from time to time and keeps playing that same card so you always gotta be on guard.
I was also and ex alcoholic
I was also steep into dark things .
🔎The last snare of the devil is porn because its and easy catch .
Destroyed families forever
It's time for the civil authorities to start enforcing the moral law. They divorced the moral law from the civil law in the 1960s, and look where that has got us. A feeling that we have the freedom to sin with wanton abandon.
But sinning is fun, cuz.
Seamus hits the nail so hard on the head, it shoots out the other side of the wood.
What does he mean by statement:”Family is a competing authority structure to the state”?
Yep, nail on the head. 29 year old guy here and I'm pretty much on the verge of giving up the idea of ever having a family at this point. With the absurd state of the dating market it's incredibly difficult to date as a man even with an average girl these days, much less a really high quality girl. I've basically already decided that after years of trying this is the last year I'm putting in any effort. When I hit 30 next year I'm just going to build a tiny house on a trailer, have it paid for in full, and then keep it as a home base while I enjoy myself by traveling a lot and investing in my hobbies and interests. Hope you guys in your early 20's have better fortune than I have.
Don't put that limitation on yourself, brother. I met my wife when I was 33, got marrived at 37, and have two kids now. I know it seems daunting, as I was once there. But don't despair. Be at peace with the possibility that it may not happen for you, but don't lose the desire for the good, beautiful thing that your nature leads you to seek.
I don’t understand this, knowing that there are wonderful, Catholic women in their late 20s and 30s who want to marry and have children.
@@reinedire7872 Why is it hard to find someone? What do they not have that you want? If you want a religious woman many churches have activities for young people.
@@reinedire7872Wow, what a comment. Amen. "God whatever you have planned for me, I trust in You."
@@patriciaeb1320It's a barren tundra out there now, sister. I know it from my brother's perspective.
We could at least imprison them
The link doesn't work for me for some reason. Its says cannot open link. In the UK. Thought provoking video. Very good. 💐
Porn is something I think we have to learn to adapt around, because quite frankly it isn't going anywhere. Now I know me saying that is coming at this from a pragmatic view, but even in principle, I would find it appalling to lock people up for creating porn. But I also find it appalling to lock people up for mos things, even most drugs. I believe I freedom for pragmatic and principled purposes. Porn is a lot like alcohol in my view. I do genuinely believe that outlawing Porn would be for the worse, not for the better. But maybe a good middle ground would be to find a way to make porn less accessible or less intense.
I’m a Protestant though I’m curious what Catholics might say in regards to their strongest justifications / arguments for why the Catholic Church is the ‘correct’ church?
As I understand it, the biggest reservation is perhaps the additional hoops and religiosity constructed to block matters of relationship and grace; adding artificial qualification to the grace God offers and communion with Him.
The veneration of saints seems redundant. Is not Jesus’s name enough?
Hail Marys are curious and odd. Why not speak with the Lord earnestly? Regarding the saints with a kind of fondness is one thing, but the distinction between veneration and worship is a mystery to me.
What fruit has been born by the church that actually addressed real issues within the communities they reside in modern times? Do priests confront politicians on matters of corruption?
That last item is an issue I see on both sides of the aisle. The Protestants have ram away from the hotel design of what I believe the church is meant to be (supporting the brethren, widows, orphans). This is mainly from an American perspective - where govt has now been operating like a church with its ‘social programs ‘.
I am impressed with the daily prayers and discipline I have heard of at least with one priest - waking up in the early morning performing rites / meditation. There is a kind of seriousness Catholics have that I admire with some things that I wish more Protestants emulated.
God bless
The simplest answer is that we believe the Catholic Church is the "correct" Church because it was founded by Jesus Christ.
We know the name of the founder of each and every other variant of Christianity and the date they were founded, and all of them were started by human beings after and apart from the Church Christ founded. But Jesus promised He would build a Church; that said Church would last until the end of the age; and that the gates of hell would not prevail against that Church. So, as St. Jerome once said, we ought to remain in that Church, whose practices we see attested to by the first 200 years of Christian writings and beyond.
1.) We don't add any extra hoops or religiosity to block relationship with Christ or His grace. Those things come from the Church and sacraments He established. Jesus said, for example, to be baptized. If we want to have a relationship with Him and receive His grace, then we should do that!
2.) The difference between veneration and worship is degree. Worship is sacrifice, and the purest form of that is the Holy Eucharist offered at Mass, in which the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ, the one sacrifice to end all sacrifice, is offered to God. We don't offer ourselves or anything else to the saints.
3.) We do speak to the Lord earnestly, and more directly than any other Christian can via adoration of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. But we also trust that the Bible is correct when it tells us the saints are praying for us in heaven, and that intercessory prayer is good and pleasing to God; so we pray for others and ask them to pray for us. That includes the saints.
4.) The Church is the largest charitable institution on Earth by a country mile, and has contributed more to the poor and the common good than any other organization in history. It continues to bear this fruit today. And that's not even speaking of the hospitals, schools, political wins (consider Dobbs), and scientific achievements that were fostered by the Church or Catholics.
Lastly, I just want to say I'm not here to try and convert you, but to just offer you any insight I can in the spirit of Christian fraternity. I'm friends with countless Protestants and love them and respect their love for Christ. It's just awesome you're here looking.
@@bigfootapologetics Greetings and thank you for your response. I have some further questions, which hopefully you don't find quarrelsome, but rather testing what you are saying.
1. I don't think salvation hinges on baptism of water, but is a symbol, yes?
2. I've heard a bit about the sacraments. I believe i vaguely remember that the sacrament (maybe during mass) is essentially a re sacrifice, in that you are crucifying the Lord again (words i remember through a protestant POV).
3. I guess i don't know enough to dispute the nature of intercession and saints praying. Those saints who are already in heaven though, I'm confused how we can speak to them and where that is in scripture?
4. Catholics are serious and organized, which i admire. However, from what i remember concerning nations that give the most, America is outrageously ahead of all nations, and America is primarily protestant. Catholicism (just looked) composes only ~23% now. This number may have been much different in previous years too (i dare say favoring more protestantism). Just saying.
On your last comment: I think for the longest time I had a kind of veil pulled over my senses about Catholics, and any denomination counter to mine (non-denominational). Over time, I began to see certain things though, including God seeing past doctrine and His focus on someone's faith (barring outright heresy).
Thanks again for your response. God bless you friend!
From what I recall there are only three states in America where producing porn is legal, California, New York, and Florida. This doesn't stop millions of people from producing their own porn in their bedrooms to be streamed over the myriad "services." They don't enforce the laws that are already in place in most of the states.
I might have been 8 yo the first time I seen porn. The kid across the street stole some of his Dad's hardcore magazines and set up a peep show in the space between their garage and the neighbor's, through a knothole in the alley fence, and tried to get me to be his partner. That was back in about 1970, and I got scared of that older kid and quit hanging out with him. These were Catholic people too, buddy.
Nowadays you can get anything just by typing whatever dirty words you think up into a search engine. The answer to this problem is not to try to cut off the source, but to cut off the demand. If people woke up and realized how utterly stupid it is to play with yourself when you want a human relationship, the supply would dry up. Modern people are lazy though, and want everything on demand.
They did a real good job of limmiting access to pirated video games. If they took the same amount of time trying to block access to pornography it would definently help the addicts who want to quit.
This is why I'm afraid of marrying a porn user. Don't want the kids finding that
I was like 5 or 6 the first time I saw a pornographic image.
It captivated me, and what's really disturbing is that I remember liking it and wanting to see it again.
In Nevada, filming porn is illegal but prostitution is legal lol
Seamus Coughlin for president 2024 👆
theoretical oughts are pointless, they don't have ends. Good luck implementing this, even if it is the 'right' thing to do.
I would like to talk to you about Thomas aquinas
Condemning porn is one thing, but Americans should know that prohibition is a bad idea, doesn't work and causes more problems.
Ridiculous
"Look at guns and banks..."
In your face George. Yes I watched the 5 hour live
Every time I hear Seamus it’s as if he’s been in his prayer closet for the last 10 years slaying dragons and overcoming strongholds and is ready to spit hard truths.
I’m a Roman Catholic but a libertarian. I will advocate against porn usage staunchly, but jailing pornstars? Nah, this isn’t a theocracy and it shouldn’t be. This is a constitutional republic. Watching/filming/acting in adult films isn’t against your right in US law. In God’s eyes? Sure. In US law? Definitely not.
6:01 You can call it for what it is, Matt.
Jail is too lenient, against the wall fellas.
Using Catholicism to legislate is the definition of uniting church and state. This is absurd. I don’t like porn and don’t partake, but I also don’t smoke cigarettes. You’re fighting a losing battle in defining pornography; not gonna happen in America or any free market.
First smart thoughts in the comments!
We should unite Church and state
Church fathers > prot founding fathers
@@AmaDominiCanes Yikes.
@@healthfadsfade It's yikes to you because you've been indoctrinated by a public education system that teaches you the constitution is divinely inspired.
@@AmaDominiCanes oh wow says the guy indoctrinated by the Catholic Church you aren’t serious? I respect your right to have faith. Enlightenment values bud, NOT “Judeo-Christian”. We can go down the list..
porn when i was young was women getting their boobs out in a magizine, not millions of extremely graphic videos of every twisted thing you can think of only ever 2 clicks of a mouse away.
100% agree
The real-estate is reason enough for many people to put off children.
Imma sound like a 14 year old zoomed but…….. Based!
Agree, but first we should ban pornography, then those people who are involved in production or promotion of pornographic materials will be criminalized automatically, and it's important to make a solid distinction between actual pornography and between adult entertainment or modelling which doesn't include pornography.
@@ridingdeathstail No, only in cases when the video includes a sexual intercourse, and when such a couple shares their video in the public.
@@ridingdeathstailI don't care what people are doing in their private spaces, but a video is no longer private when it's accessible for the public.
I genuinely think you are asking the wrong question not because you are not right about it but because every person that consumes porn will be a producer in 50 years (estimate time might be of does not change my point). I really hope I'm wrong. But ai is a game changer for better or for worse.
Man, it’s so funny how everyone is always in favor of Free Speech until others start saying things that they don’t like. I hate to break it to you, but Freedom of Speech applies as much to things you disagree with, as it does to things that you do agree with.
The problem with making pornography illegal (other than the fact that it would be a blatant act of paternalism) is that it is far too difficult to actually pin down what defines pornography. Is it just nudity? The depiction of sexual acts? Perhaps you may argue that it’s primarily to stimulate erotic sensations rather than aesthetic or emotional, and that’s fine, but then who decides that?
I’m no fan of pornography, but I’m also not a fan of giving the government more authority. As much as you or I may disagree with pornography, it is protected under Free Speech.
Moreover, the United States is supposed to be the land of the free. Does “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” sound familiar? If a group of consenting adults film pornography, on what possible grounds can you imprison them? What harm was done? Nobody forced you to watch it. In fact, you might even have to pay them to view it.
The idea of jailing pornographers is as ridiculous as jailing someone for making a movie that you didn’t like.
Seamus for president.
Wise, Seamus.
The coomers are going to come out in force on this one
Unfortunately, I feel pornography is the very bottom of concerns for anyone seeking a relationship. What the real damaging elements are chiefly the laws that favor women over men, in all aspects of divorce - money, children, property, etc. Child support and custody laws that support women over men, in all aspects. Alimony laws. And lastly, the rise in women treating men like dirt, their complete lack of morality, their complete lack of faithfulness/fidelity, and basically anything else you can think of. Oh and lets not forget, a woman can claim a man raped her with zero proof and the man is automatically guilty in the minds of everyone. Even if proven innocent beyond doubt, a man's reputation is still tarnished because people will still stubbornly believe the man is evil. Society has programmed everyone to assume the man is bad. And not just in relationships.
Pornography doesn't have anything on any of that. Not even close. Not by a light year. Men are, by the droves, throwing relationships to the curb because its a horrific nightmare right now. A woman can ruin a man's reputation and his financial stability, for the rest of his life, with a single word and the government on all levels is complicit. Sorry, but the thought that porn is a major player in dysfunctional relationships is way off the mark. Maybe it was a major player many decades ago, but now women and government have enthusiastically pushed it off a cliff and are merrily destroying relationships/the family themselves.
Porn can be overcome, but to stop the government will take either a fight (in some form) and or a massive social shift that forces change through voting. The woman issue, will require a whole new generation of women to be raised up properly to supplant the prior generations. However, none of these solutions will help the current generations of men forced to go it single. Many of those men will live a lonely life. Longing for companionship, but unable or unwilling to find it because of the insanity that is the modern woman.
Based
Would you call someone like me who wrote words like Shakespeare and knew what body parts were before the age of 10. I watched Baywatch and Who Framed Roger Rabbit I could tell Jessica Rabbit was a seducer before the age of 7. I wanted to be like her then. So should I go to jail for this kind of imagination? I didn't touch adults until adult age. And I do not touch anyone who is not an adult. I try to be with one person and thankfully have been away from sin since my best friend's death. I will wait until Jesus my best friend finds a suitor for me again.
Woah, cool it with the antisemitism!