Faith Dilemmas for Marketplace Christians
The Great Porn Debate
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
—2 Corinthians 6:14-15, NIV
CHRISTIANS have long debated whether it is right to be involved with questionable enterprises in an effort to influence change from within. Scripture seems to give varied signals on the distance we are to maintain from unsavory enterprises.
More clarity is offered on whether the health of a business takes precedence over other moral considerations. When Paul and Silas cast out a demon (Acts 16:16ff.), the formerly possessed woman could no longer make money for her owners. In Acts 19:23ff. the silversmiths complained that Paul was ruining their trade. Perhaps staying in business is not of utmost importance to the biblical writers.
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Some people say he’s a pornography peddler. Others say he’s an outspoken Christian and active church member. Between those diverse poles lies a large patch of ethical gray.
Rudy talks openly about his faith. He says it “remains an important part of my life today.” Some fellow believers were dismayed to learn that his vast business holdings included a magazine distribution company which handles Playboy and Penthouse. The company distributes thousands of different titles a year, including popular consumer magazines. The adult men’s magazines account for one percent of total unit sales.
Some of Rudy’s detractors say that since he profits from the offensive magazines, he shares the blame for “this pernicious influence in our midst.” Others say his involvement “gives a signal to the rest of society that pornography is acceptable.” They don’t see how he can be a Christian and distribute obscenity.
Rudy offers his defense.
* It would be difficult selectively to weed out particular periodicals because they come as part of a larger package along with wholesome magazines. Moreover, if he stopped handling the sexually offensive magazines, he would lose business to competitors. “I might as well sell the company and get out of the business.”
* Refusing to distribute certain periodicals would be a form of censorship. To discriminate against a sexually offensive magazine, he argues, is to impose his personal views on the public. He points out that he also distributes literature for radical environmentalists and antinuclear extremists, even though he disagrees with their views.
“Once you start discriminating, where do you stop?” By selling all kinds of material, he believes, he is helping preserve freedom of expression.
* He is only one link in a distribution network that includes advertisers, publishers, international distributors, customs officials who let the material into the country, trucking firms, wholesalers, retailers, and customers. No matter what he does, the other links will continue to operate.
* By working within the system, he can help improve it. Selling the company is no solution, he says. “What we need are responsible distributors who care about the community and are prepared to balance freedom of speech with community standards and good taste.”
How, his critics ask, is he influencing the magazine distribution business for the good?
Rudy responds that amid a lack of clear government guidelines on what constitutes obscenity, he helped his province set up a review agency. “My reviewers,” he explains, “screen the so-called adult magazines. They keep the worst of them off the racks.”
One local pastor has said, “Rudy couldn’t criticize the business if he weren’t in it. He has to take the harder road. If he just opts out, he will lose the ability to help bring about change.”
Questions to ponder and discuss
1. Does Rudy seem to be separating his business and his faith into separate compartments? Where else do Christians exhibit the same tendency? What has the church done to help Christians integrate work and faith?
2. Rudy says that if he stopped handling some magazines, he might have to get out of the business altogether. Is this an unacceptable alternative? Why or why not?
3. How valid is the defense that “Rudy couldn’t criticize the business if he weren’t in it”? In what other kinds of work are we likely to hear the same argument?
Additional Scripture
See also 1 Corinthians 5:9-11; Matthew 9:9-13; Romans 14:1-13.