Carl Trueman has some some thoughts on the economic trouble that Playboy is in and why this might not be the good news you would think it would be. very interesting. here is a tease:
The mainstreaming of pornography, and the rise of amateur web pornography, witnesses not simply to the insatiability of the fallen human appetite for sexual pleasure; it is also an (albeit extreme) piece of evidence that the whole idea of what is public and what is private is being radically reconfigured in our society; indeed, the distinction may, just possibly, be about to be abolished in its entirety. When `reality TV shows’ top the viewing polls, when the internet allows anyone to observe my town, my street, my house, by satellite cam, when anybody can post video of themselves doing anything — from the mundane to the obscene — online, then the distinction of the public and the private — and the concomitant notions of decency and decorum upon which the distinction depends– is rendered meaningless. What is left is little more than a hedonistic wasteland inhabited by exhibitionists and voyeurs, where the tawdry and the trivial must inevitably triumph.
go read the rest. hat tip to vitamin z.
BTW, if you are struggling with pornography, then do yourself a favor and read the free pdf book linked to in this post.