Fifty Shades of Black

“But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints.” (Eph. 5:3)

         In the spirit of Titus 2:3-5, which I consider to be my (primary) biblical mandate for writing these devotional/exhortational pieces for women, I feel a need to comment briefly on something I read online at Foxnews.com on September 15, 2012.

“Porn is becoming a new ideal and value for young girls. And women are responsible. Women are consuming and endorsing porn such as ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ — a book recognized as ‘mommy porn.’ Poorly written, it is not a how-to-manual and it’s not poetic erotica. Pulp/romance novels transformed into a new genre embracing porn as literature—explicitly sexual scenes…More than 20 million copies have sold in the US (40 million worldwide), and it is yet another example of the way porn is becoming more than socially acceptable amongst women. Moreover, it is becoming an aspirational [sought after] target for women.”

         First, let me say that as a woman and a reader, I consider any kind of reading like this to be both morally depraved and intellectually infantile. And I assure you, I only know what has been said about this book and others like it.

         Second, lest you think I’m addressing a subject completely foreign to my readers, I’ll tell you that I hardly know anyone who is not aware of this book, and as a volunteer librarian, I know that our public libraries are full of such trash. And it is regularly consumed…mostly by women.

         Third, I am not naïve enough to think that married women, even Christian ones, are not tempted to add a little “spice” to their marriage by substituting demeaning “role-playing” practices in place of loving passion. And I would remind us that none of these meet Paul’s admonition that we “each esteem other better than themselves” (Philip. 2:3).

         I once made the observation that initially, foolish women who had no real sense of who they are, insisted, “We’re as good as men!” Now it seems they want to be able to say, “We’re as bad.” But, surely, you and I are not fooled by such immaturity and immorality. God still holds purity at high premium, and Philippians 4:8 is still in the Bible:

“Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true…honest…just…pure…lovely…of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think [and read!] on these things.”