Skepticum

Via Black Sun Journal I read the Deseret News (official Mormon church newspaper) article on Utah ranking #1 in Google searches in 5 categories: Recreation, Literature, Food, Religion, and Sex.

Utah ranks No. 1 in the nation — and sometimes the world — for using Google to search the Web for such terms as “Jesus,” “family history,” “Harry Potter,” “Mormon,” “Lord of the Rings,” “NBA,” “snowboarding,” “home storage” and “Mitt Romney.”

Utah and/or Salt Lake City also rank tops in the nation in searches for “pornography,” “naked girls,” “striptease,” “topless,” “nude,” “strip poker,” “lingerie,” “blonde” and “brunette.”

The article goes on to quote psychologists, sociologists, religious leaders, etc, all trying to explain why Utah (my former state of residence) would be plagued by such a dichotomy. I will assume that the readers of my blog will not need an explanation for why the forbidden fruit may be so tempting.

It was the comments on the article that blew my mind, made me laugh and made me want to cry, all at the same time. Repression turns people into sick, sick beings, who say things such as:

In order to keep my children safe, I automatically assume that everyone I meet is addicted to porn and is potentially a child molestor. That is why my children are rarely left alone with others, especially men.

In this case I still have some hope the author was being sarcastic, but this next one is for real:

The number one reason male students at BYU go to the counseling center is for sexual compulsion. The number one reason female students at BYU go to the counseling center is for eating disorders. These are real problems that need to be confronted. The findings could be spun as Satan working harder to destroy the church.

And here’s the one that made me cringe:

Pornography is not something to laugh about, it is not harmless, nor is it a natural, uncontrollable desire that people have. It is fake, un-natural, and destructive to everybody that is involved.

The dude who wrote this (by the name it was a guy) needs to go get this balls checked, make sure they’re still hanging between his legs where they belong, and haven’t been hung out to dry by some religious authority figure.

OK, so I’m harsh, but Utah is a harsh place too. After living in Utah I walked (ran, rather) away from the best snow on earth with the realization that sexual oppression can be highly damaging personally and to relationships. There is no perversion in the bedroom of consenting adults, how they do it and where they put it should be left to be their decision-making, not to the judgment of a religious authority or group.

I think it’s time for a new expression: Those who don’t do it, Google it.
TechTags Plugin [ religion | mormonism | sexuality | google trends | sex | atheism ]

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