# Do you believe in demons and is pornography sinful? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 22, 2025, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184 "2025-07-22T16:27:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 26
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184/504 "2025-10-15T14:39:08Z")
I would say that if you are going to present evidence that something is real, try using evidence that is real. You cannot use stories from the Bible to prove the stories in the Bible are real. ---
**Author:** ![a\_dudes\_thought\_s](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@a\_dudes\_thought\_s](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a_dudes_thought_s)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184/505 "2025-10-15T15:20:27Z")
I was not attempting to prove any thing my friend. I was asked what a cosmic air burst was. I was simply posting what information I could find on it. I was not claiming that this proves the bible is accurate. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184/506 "2025-10-15T15:25:55Z")
> [@a\_dudes\_thought\_s](#): > > In addition if its just mental illness then why does the mental illness respond to being cast out? Because it’s a mythological tale? If you believe (as you seem to) that the stories in the Bible are accurate depictions of actual events, and you’re trying to convince a bunch of atheists and non-believers that they are valid evidence for your arguments, you aren’t going to get very far. ---
**Author:** ![a\_dudes\_thought\_s](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@a\_dudes\_thought\_s](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a_dudes_thought_s)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184/507 "2025-10-15T15:28:55Z")
Lol the bible says they drowned. Its is possible to be able to swim and down in water. Humans beings do it all the time. I always assumed based on the verses in the bible that they willingly drowned themselves rather that be possessed by the demonic entities. ---
**Author:** ![a\_dudes\_thought\_s](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@a\_dudes\_thought\_s](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a_dudes_thought_s)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184/508 "2025-10-15T15:34:48Z")
I am just here chopping it up bro. I am not trying to convince any one. With that being said I do appreciate every one in this thread discussing these topics with me, but I have no illusion of trying to convince any one. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184/509 "2025-10-15T15:44:12Z")
The problem seems to be that you constantly mistake fable for fact. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184/510 "2025-10-15T16:23:34Z")
> [@a\_dudes\_thought\_s](#): > > In addition if its just mental illness then why does the mental illness respond to being cast out? You need a big fat cite that that is the usual, or you are just being a false witness. > **[The Perils of Faith-Healing](https://stephenjgraham.wordpress.com/2018/02/18/the-perils-of-faith-healing/)** > > This article, “The Peril of Faith Healing,” was first published by On Religion Magazine. In this article I respond to the claims of Gloria Copeland that Christians can and should refuse… > 1. Stopping Medication > > People sometimes stop their medication after visiting a faith-healer. This might even be by the command of the faith-healer. Throwing away medication can be seen as a sign of faith. Sometimes people are so assured of their cure that they cease their medication in a bout of holy excitement. Lamentably, some have paid with their lives for doing so. In a BBC programme called “Heart of the Matter,” (first aired in 1992), we see the case of a woman called Audrey Reynolds who suffered an ankle injury, epilepsy, and learning difficulties. After visiting the faith-healer Morris Cerullo, she stopped her medication. As a result, she took a fit and drowned in her bath. > > 1. Mistaken Healings > > In these cases, the person is harmed by behaving a certain way rather than by stopping medication. People are often asked to run around the stage, touch their toes, or walk without their crutches. However, an unhealed person can end up exacerbating their condition, sometimes with lethal effects. Katherine Kuhlman once declared a woman healed of spine cancer, and had her perform on stage. Sadly, the woman’s spine subsequently collapsed and she died a few months later. Justin Peters reports a case he witnessed at a Benny Hinn rally in Birmingham, Alabama in 2002. Beside Peters sat a woman with an oxygen tank and tubes up her nose. Suffering from severe emphysema she hadn’t walked in years. In the euphoria of the service she pulled out the tubes, stood up, and began to walk. As Hinn’s assistants were walking her to the stage she got slower and slower until she collapsed into a chair, absolutely exhausted. She hadn’t been healed at all. Like thousands of others she had experienced merely temporary euphoria that caused an illusion of healing, and a rush of pain-reducing endorphins which can make humans achieve feats they might not normally be capable of. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2025, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184/511 "2025-10-17T22:25:52Z")
> [@a\_dudes\_thought\_s](#): > > Lol the bible says they drowned. Its is possible to be able to swim and down in water. Humans beings do it all the time. I always assumed based on the verses in the bible that they willingly drowned themselves rather that be possessed by the demonic entities. Actually it does seem the case: > Mark 9:22, the father describes his son’s demon as being violent, saying “it often throws him into the fire or into the water, trying to kill him”. And it does speak to the resiliency of humanity to endure such torment yet not give into it. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184/512 "2025-10-19T01:48:00Z")
> [@a\_dudes\_thought\_s](#): > > In addition if its just mental illness then why does the mental illness respond to being cast out? When my daughter was very young–three or four–she was prone to nightmares. So I explained to her about the subconscious, and about neurons firing randomly and the subconscious trying to make sense of these firings, and about underlying anxieties that could lead to nightmares. Of course not! She was in no way ready for that. She couldn’t distinguish between nightmares and reality at that age. Instead, I told her that I could magically craft a special dream for her, and then I told her that her dream would involve something delightful–usually something like landing on a planet where everything was made out of lasagna, or some other food she liked. Then, I explained, I would seal the dream into her head with a kiss on her forehead. She would smile sleepily and fall right asleep, and report the next morning that she’d dreamed about Planet Lasagna. Her nightmares responded to my magical dream-preparation because they were a psychological issue, and my response fed into that psychology. Spoiler: I did not have magical dream powers. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184/513 "2025-10-19T03:00:06Z")
God, to have pleasant dreams like that! ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184/514 "2025-10-19T03:24:21Z")
I wrote a published essay about sexual objectification, feminism, and the concern that there’s something wrong with consuming prurient / sexually provocative visual images. I didn’t entirely agree with those who regard porn (and related matters) as sinful or politically harmful to women, but I also didn’t dismiss those concerns. It’s not a simple question. [Paper here](https://www.genderkitten.com/WS1/VisAspectSex/lusting_1.html). (It’s a two-part essay, link to part two at the end of part one) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184/515 "2025-10-19T14:24:11Z")
This. Having a powerful healer cast out your demon is a powerful psychological event, and of course that can have an influence on a mental illness. In fact, there’s lots of evidence that having a powerful healer paying attention to you helps physical illness, too. The placebo effect is real and quite potent. ---
**Author:** ![a\_dudes\_thought\_s](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@a\_dudes\_thought\_s](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a_dudes_thought_s)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2025, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184/516 "2025-10-21T15:47:16Z")
I don’t know some would say that a father showing love and guidance to his children could be considered a powerful force. Perhaps magical in a way. ---
**Author:** ![a\_dudes\_thought\_s](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@a\_dudes\_thought\_s](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a_dudes_thought_s)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2025, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184/517 "2025-10-21T15:47:48Z")
I am going to check this out. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2025, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184/518 "2025-10-21T16:25:03Z")
> [@a\_dudes\_thought\_s](#): > > I don’t know some would say that a father showing love and guidance to his children could be considered a powerful force. Perhaps magical in a way. Of course love is a powerful force! But if it’s magic, I don’t know what’s not magic. It’s something that is explicable via what we know about the laws of the universe and requires no supernatural speculation. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2025, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184/519 "2025-10-21T16:27:57Z")
It’s not so much magic as hormones. Hormones can definitely _feel_ magical, but there’s no supernatural element required. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2025, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184/520 "2025-10-21T16:30:01Z")
So, this bottle of unicorn testosterone I bought doesn’t do _anything_? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2025, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184/521 "2025-10-21T16:45:26Z")
It enriched the seller of the unicorn testosterone, at least. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2025, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184/522 "2025-10-21T22:05:01Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > So, this bottle of unicorn testosterone I bought doesn’t do _anything_? It’s good at increasing horniness; just look at the unicorn! ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2025, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184/523 "2025-10-22T14:35:21Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > She would smile sleepily and fall right asleep, and report the next morning that she’d dreamed about Planet Lasagna. Most wholesome uplifting thing I’ve read on this Board in ages! > [@AHunter3](#): > > I didn’t entirely agree with those who regard porn (and related matters) as sinful or politically harmful to women, but I also didn’t dismiss those concerns. It’s not a simple question. Yes, this is one of those areas where “it’s complicated” IS a valid observation even if each of us winds up concluding for or against the premise. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184.md?page=25) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-demons-and-is-pornography-sinful/1021184.md?page=27)