An Empire Fallen

Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things"

Hugh Heffner, the founder of Playboy Magazine, passed away at the age of 91 and although he is gone, his impact on the culture and sexuality is one that will far outlive him. Some may say that he built an empire and affected the world at large for the better which he would agree with. Heffner is quoted in his magazine as saying,

"If you don't encourage healthy sexual expression in public, you get unhealthy sexual expression in private. If you attempt to suppress sex in books, magazines, movies and even everyday conversation, you aren't helping to make sex more private, just more hidden. You're keeping sex in the dark. What we've tried to do is turn on the lights,”

But was his influence for the better? Did it really create a space and environment in which men and women could more freely and safely express their sexual desires? I would argue that he did something much more drastic and lead more towards the dark, than the light. You see his objectification of women not only converted real women into paper or digital prostitutes, but brought about a hedonistic movement among men, and women, all the while making a profit by tapping into our fallen and corrupted nature.

Since the fall of Adam (see Genesis 3), humanity has had a bent towards sin. Hugh Heffner capitalized on this and made it grow in a way which cannot be measured. The Bible classifies three categories for sin in 1 John 2:16 and pornography definitely would fall under the category of the lust of the flesh, as well as the lust of the eyes. I seriously doubt that any man can look at pornographic materials and not have a lusting after that which is not theirs. In fact, Jesus spoke directly about this sort of lust when he spoke on the Sermon on the Mount on how this lusting after another in our minds is a great offense to God (Matthew 5:28).

What we lose in this exchange is that people are not fantasies, but real people. They are souls that will eventually spend an eternity in Heaven with God or Hell. The woman you are viewing is not a person to be cast in the fantasy in your mind’s eye, but a creation of God. And we are called to abstain from the passions of the flesh (1 Peter 2:11).

In reality, sex has gotten cheaper over the ages, not fully the consequence of Hugh Heffner, but also because of the pill and online dating/meeting services (You can read more about this in Cheap Sex by Mark Regenerus). It has cheapened sex, which God had ordained to be between one man and woman in the lifelong union of marriage. But the sexual revolution has brought us to view sex as a mere pleasure to be indulged in that is part of nature and not inherently sinful. It is more readily accessible and the consequences of premarital sex has become less of a concern for those engaging in it because of the pill, abortions, or hookup services.

Hugh Heffner also said “Life is too short to be living somebody else’s dream." Well, he lived his dream, and only God knows the damage that was caused because he sought to rebel against God and fulfill his own desires. May God have mercy on those who have been damaged.