Heated Debate on Pornography w/ Dennis Prager  

If you're a RU-vidr, make a response video to this one. Critique what I did poorly, articulate what I could have articulated better. Pornography is evil and never acceptable. Let's shout that from the mountain tops while showing kindness and compassion to those who are currently ensnared in it. Freedom is possible.

One of the worst things that has ever happened to society, specially for men, is pornography.

“What we once called hardcore we now call softcore; what we once called softcore we now call Netflix.” Straight facts.

The line, "if adulte adultery is the shot in the head to marriage, then pornagrphy is the slow poison..." really got me

Having lived the life of a sexual deviant, I can promise you “it’s okay to make lust” is not a phrase I would tolerate in any church I’d be seen in.

This really opened my eyes to how conservativism, without the light of Christ, cannot be the solution to our problems.

"If adultery is the shooting of a marriage in the head, then pornography is the slow poisoning of it" 🙌

I can assure you even 80-90% of men who watch pornography acknowledge it’s evil and feel ashamed afterwards. It’s why they hide it. Defending pornography as “not evil” is absurd. Seriously. Pray for those who are tempted.

Pornography has ruined men and women. It's ruined society.

This discussion is a great example of why I'm moving from Judaism to Christianity.

I think his dad looking at porn shows how you can desensitize your children to sex. This is exactly why parents are concerned about sexual books in the schools and libraries.

We need much more of these conversations highlighting the MAJOR differences between Judaism and Christianity.

Love the distinction Matt made between sexual desire and lust. This is why I believe Christianity is superior to Judaism. Christianity looks at the essence and roots of sin to destroy it while Judaism only looks at sin's fruits. This will inevitably leave someone struggling with evil their whole life. Oh, and did anyone else think that Dennis constantly interrupting Matt while he was trying to explain was very rude? Seemed like it was constant.

Thanks for loving me Matt & not lusting after me!! 😊

"...pornography trains us in selfishness" Spot on Matt. Thats truly at the heart of the matter

Dennis told a story on his radio show a few years ago, about how his father joked about wanting his casket open at his funeral so he could peek down the blouses of the women passing by. Dennis thought it was cute and funny, and played it down like he does here. I thought it was a bizarre thing to say and share.

The difference between lust and sexual desire is this: Lust controls you and can't be satisfied. Sexual desire doesn't control you and can be satisfied.

Now I see the difference between true Christianity and so called American conservativism. Well spoken Matt.

As a man who has struggled with pornography in the past, the ever so slight justification of that addiction and those purely evil chains is, without a doubt, disgusting.

Goodness, I’m 21 minutes in and I’ve lost so much respect for Dennis 😢 his ideas about lust made me so sad. He’s lost his way on this. It’s also clear he doesn’t understand female feelings. I don’t understand how his mother could have been ok with having to view playboy with his father. I grew up hearing my father constantly comment on other women to my mother and be very open about his appreciation of them. All the while he constantly professed his fidelity and threw it up to her as a virtue she should be grateful for. It was sad to watch my mother pretend to be ok with this just to keep the peace in our home.

With one word (No) Dennis Prager outed himself as a porn user, destroyed his career, reputation and brand. "There is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be made known and brought to light."- Luke 8:17

Prager seems to think the pornification of culture is evil, but doesn’t mind men indulging in porography… seems like cognitive dissonance. Terrific job Matt 🙏🏼 glory to Jesus Christ

The problem with Dennis' ideology here is that he's preoccupied with what he would consider evil and not what God considers evil.

Speaking as a Protestant I have never encountered ANYONE who would say stealing a stapler is the same as child molestation. Clearly the Old Testament teaches us that different sin results in different punishments. What I hope those people were trying to say is that ALL sin separate us from God and we ALL need a saviour, regardless of nature or frequency of sin

I'm shocked! I didn't realize Dennis held such beliefs.

I’ve never been more proud of Matt Fradd than right here in this interview. He didn’t soft-pedal. He grew such a pair and stood up for the faith so strongly. Most masculine I’ve ever seen him.

Matt, thank you for having the courage to stand up for the truth.

After seeing this interview all the way through, I have developed a profound disrespect for Dennis. Particularly because of his views on animated child porn. I'd like to see him say that to the face of Tim Ballard. The man who has to deal with the results of crap like that on the Internet. The next step after animated child porn is REAL child porn. It creates pedophiles and for Dennis not to acknowledge this makes him a fool.

“I think that pornography trains us in selfishness“ bravo, Matt!!! 👏👏👏

I am a marriage and family therapist and the damage of porn on marriages can not be overstated!

It wasn't ok with his mother. She felt forced to accept it

When he cannot call pornography or worse "animated child pornography" evil, and uses all his intellect to negotiate this pure evil, that's when I look in his eyes and tell him his father is the devil and end the interview.

Prager: "Here's an emotional example." Also Prager: "Don't bring up emotional examples."

Thanks to Dennis for coming on the show! But Matt, thank you for defending the truth that porn is sinful and harmful to our souls and it’s perpetuation of evil beyond ourselves

The boldness and the bravery of the interviewer is convicting to me and I’m grateful for a wonderful example of it. It’s easy to stand against those who vehemently oppose it. I find it difficult to be bold against those we consider friends.

Wow, this is an amazing discussion. So interesting. I don't consider myself religious, but I find these discussions very enlightening. Just subscribed.

My husband was addicted to porn and I tried to justify it because it was hurting me and I didn’t know why. Now I understand why. When he looked at porn my thought were “How can he be attracted to me when I don’t look anything like the women in porn that arouse him?” “Why doesn’t he pursue me for sex? Why does he always go to porn before even asking if I’m in the mood too?” “I’m not enough. He wants these other woman and I will never be able to look like them.” “How can I compete with a buffet of women? If he wants a blonde, Boom there she is. If he wants big breasts, Boom there she is. I can’t be all of those things when ever he wants. I’m not a shapeshifter.” Now as follows of Jesus Christ we understand why porn is wrong and he has taken steps to deal with his addiction. Our sex life is so much better now because he is treating me like his wife and not as an object for his sexual pleasure. We are satisfied with each others pleasure instead of just our own. I no longer feel like I have to compete with other women.

Phenomenal performance by Matt, this entire conversation felt like Dennis trying to distance himself from positions that he does hold, and Matt not letting him get away with it. Well done

Prager clearly doesn’t understand the issue. He doesn’t understand sin. He doesn’t understand the definition of objectification.

Bingo! And there it is. He's justifying Playboy because his dad subscribed to it, and he viewed it as a teen. Hefner was a despicable man and by buying it, subscribing to it, viewing it, you are supporting it.

This was like reading the dialogue between Christ and the Pharisees. Christ taught us that sin is more than the physical action it is also intent. Prager even goes as far to say that the intent is not sin. This conversation has shown me that a life lived without belief in the Incarnation is depressing because a man will spend his days justifying the evil he holds within. Your work fighting pornography has led me to confronting addiction. Thank you very much Amazing job Matt.

This interview makes me so grateful for Catholic teaching, especially regarding the dignity of man. Great job Matt!

Matt crushed this - great job, very impressed with how articulate Matt is.

This completely changed my view on Dennis Praeger. Wow.

So Prager is basically saying he's primarily concerned with maintaining a nebulous, mediocre, and relatively neutral sense of "good". This is why I'm so glad to be Catholic, because we aim to be with the highest of highs, never satisfied with the neutral "good" of this world. And while some might say that is unattainable, we have clear examples of the contrary. Never settle, my friends!

12 quotes from my book, The Porn Myth: 1. “This book rests on one fundamental presupposition: if you want something to flourish, you need to use it in accordance with its nature. Don’t plant tomatoes in a dark closet and water them with soda and expect to have vibrant tomato plants. To do so would be to act contrary to the nature of tomatoes. Similarly, don’t rip sex out of its obvious relational context, turn it into a commodity, and then expect individuals, families, and society to flourish.” 2. “Which activity sounds more ‘mature’ and grown-up: making love for a lifetime to one real flesh-and-blood woman whom you are eagerly serving and cherishing, despite all her faults and blemishes (and despite your own), or sneaking away at night to troll the Internet, flipping from image to image, from one thirty-second teaser to another, for hours on end, pleasuring yourself as you bond to pixels on a screen?” 3. “In a letter to a friend, Oxford scholar C.S. Lewis offered some insights about masturbation. He said that a man’s sexual appetite is meant to lead him out of himself, to lead him into being a self-gift that both completes and corrects his personality-first by sharing whole-life oneness with a lover and second by procreating children. With masturbation, however, the appetite is turned in on itself and ‘sends the man back into the prison of himself, there to keep a harem of imaginary brides’.” 4. “Whatever we might say about the exact relationship of porn to sexual violence, it should be clear that in order for men to violate a woman’s body, some part of them must first believe she is an object to be used rather than a person to be respected-and porn is quite possibly the most powerful means of delivering that belief.” 5. “Sex and porn addictions are realities, and just as with alcoholism or drug addiction, the label ‘addict’ does not excuse a person for his actions. Addiction is slavery, to be sure, but it is a chosen slavery. Addicts find freedom not by denying the power that porn has over them, not by denying that their addiction is real, but by admitting it to others and asking for help.” 6. “With the increasing availability of pornography has come an increase in the number of cases of sexual performance issues, such as erectile dysfunction (ED), among young men…A 2012 Swiss study found that 30 percent of males ages eighteen to twenty-four have some form of ED, and a Canadian study published a couple of years later reported that 27 percent of sixteen- to twenty-one-year-olds have this problem.” 7. “Married life no more cures a porn addiction than winning the lottery cures a gambling addiction. A person so trained on the pornographic experience isn’t merely after a good orgasm. He is hooked on the anticipation of what comes next, the rush of moving from one object of desire to the next, one body to the next, always looking to trade the one in front of his eyes for what he hopes will be the ultimate sexual experience.…In gambling, the addiction is not to the money but to the high that results from chasing the money. Giving a gambling addict money only fuels the habit, because he is addicted to the feeling that gambling gives him…Porn addicts are hooked on the high they get from chasing after sexual fantasies. The unrealistic expectations that are fed by porn are what carry over into and destroy relationships, because no person can live up to the on-demand, anything-goes sex depicted in movies. When faced with the inevitable difficulties of establishing and maintaining a human relationship, it is much easier for a porn addict to opt for the instant relief of virtual sex. Marriage will not fix a pornography habit, but a pornography habit will likely destroy a marriage.” 8. “Izabella St. James, one of [Hugh Hefner’s] former girlfriends, lived with him in the [Playboy] mansion for two years and shares in explicit detail the day-in, day-out happenings of Hef’s lifestyle in her book, Bunny Tales: Behind Closed Doors of the Playboy Mansion. Her description of Hef’s orgies is telling. The icon of sexual liberation needed Viagra, multiple women, and finally pornography in order to experience a sexual climax. If a harem of real-life porn stars isn’t enough to satisfy a porn-imbued libido, what makes us think an average woman can compete?” 9. “But what if the mechanics of arousal and pleasure are not the essence of better sex? What if the Big O of sex is not orgasm, but oneness? What if the best sex is about bonding and connecting to another person?” 10. “To help our children to grow up in a pornified world, we must take the double-pronged strategy of both protecting their minds and preparing their character…A child who never suffers the consequences of his bad choices will soon learn that he can get away with anything. A child who never learns to respect authority will soon come to believe that all rules and guidelines are nothing but arbitrary standards that can be discarded for any momentary pleasure. Such a child is ripe for porn when he stumbles upon it. This is why children should grow up in homes where there are clear rules and expectations.” 11. “One of the reasons many people find it difficult to break free from porn and remain free is that they confuse sexual desire with a craving for pornography. Whatever protocols you put in place to distance yourself from pornography, remember: the goal is not the long-term squelching of sexual desire. The goal is the healing of your sexual cravings so that you can pursue them in a manner that pushes you toward a healthy and satisfying marital relationship.” 12. “French novelist Virginie Despentes has reportedly said that consuming pornography does not lead to more sex; it leads to more porn…Porn promises freedom, but it enslaves us. It promises excitement, but it ends up boring us. It promises us ‘adult’ entertainment, yet it makes us increasingly juvenile. It promises intimacy, but leads to isolation. The good news is that freedom is possible and something so much better awaits us on the other side.”

This is totally disgusting. It's not something that should even be debated.

I’m so lost in this debate and I can not follow Dennis & his logic.. something seems odd about his interview. It’s very uncomfortable in my spirit. Plus Dennis constantly interrupts which to me is a red flag 🚩

My wife and I just watched this video together and couldn’t be more proud of the amazing responses Matt gave Dennis. Thank you Matt for defending women dignity and the sanctity of marriage .

I am convinced that Prager's defense of porn is a defense of his own sin.

Here's why it's bad: you shouldn't share sex with others. It's reserved for your spouse. Playboy exhibits the human body for sexual pleasure. The model is inviting you to engage with her sexually. Only your wife should invite you to do that. And you should only engage with your wife in that way. That is why it's bad.

I've stumbled upon this video because I was watching the exodus series. I actually read the porn myth several years ago so it was cool to hear from the author. This is a brilliant debate and conversation!

Matt, this was a perfect example of humble, loving correction. You sacrificed your social comfort and potential strain of friendship for Dennis’ good. Thank you for modeling this.

Dennis doesn’t seem to recognize that porn/masterbation in most cases leads to more serious evil. Evil begets evil. Sin begets sin.

First watch, new subscriber. Spectacular conversation; a model of the distinction between the Judaic and Christian understandings of "righteousness". I am surprised that word did not enter the discussion, but perhaps it will in the longer version of the episode.

Dennis is desperately trying to justify the sins of his father. He needs to stop looking at his earthly father for what is right and wrong; he should look towards his Heavenly Father. Looking at another person's nakedness while you are married is sinful.

Matt, everything you've said here is spot on. My husband had an adulterous affair last year, and it was largely due to, I believe, his lifelong addiction to porn. It was slowly poisoning our marriage for years, until last year when he finally acted on those desires. Our marriage is falling apart, and I am completely heartbroken. Porn destroys men and then it destroys families. That's a hill I will die on.

Dennis is a deeply troubled man. I'm glad you allowed him to spew his thoughts.

I am an extremely loyal Pints fan. Watched every episode. While I appreciate Matt always erring on the side of charity, I am absolutely thrilled to see him embrace some confrontation here. What an absolutely splendid defense of God’s commandments. This has finally swayed me to become a paid subscriber on locals.

Participating in support of pornography in any way is an act or behaviour.

Matt was amazing in this debate...subscribing for how he handled that. Dennis made me feel super slimy. Like an older man trying to justify what he has done in his life.

This conversation made me realize that Christianity really is the most morally superior religion.

Keep the discussion going, porn destroyed my life, please everyone, never tire of pushing back against porn. It's evil, pure and simple, full stop.

I've been listening for 5 min and subscribed. Dennis displayed the typical human being's mental gymnastics of justifying themselves in thoughts and behaviors vs. Justification through Jesus's finished work and then letting The Holy Spirit guide you in love in all your relationships. What a stark difference. He can't seem to make the connection between lust and what it can lead to.

This is sort of shocking to me. I never dreamed Dennis Prager would hold a position like this.

This debate really makes me thankful for Aristotle and Aquinas as logical powerhouses for framing these debates. Matt thanks for being so humble and letting the Holy Spirit work through you. I’m praying for Mr. Prager that he has his Damascus moment.

I really enjoyed this dialogue between you both and respected what you each said

Wonderful debate, thank you so much!

MATT. THANK YOU. SANITY. As your average woman in 2023 who has been scathed by pornography in my life and marriage, I think by just hearing Matt defend the dignity of women and children, I have healed more from this interview than I have in years of therapy. THANK YOU.♥️

Matt, one of the things I love about you is how careful you are with terms. A precise use of language is delightful to witness.

Terrific Show!! Thank you for solid Catholic virtue clearly expressed in this public forum. IHS

Dennis took it too personally. His mother & father loving each other & sharing a sin wasn't the topic at hand.

As a young Catholic woman, I was very put off by much of what Mr. Prager said. He was very ambiguous and most of what he shared was just plain creepy. I am glad this debate aired so we now know how we can pray for this gentleman. Hats off to you Matt for defending the Catholic teaching and hopefully educating many who have been misled. God bless!

The "whose women do you want them to look at" is such an amazing response question for this.

I am so happy to have found your channel. New and excited subscriber here!

I love that there is such open and intelligent communication. Even to go discuss he they define words to reach a more complete understanding.

No, Dennis, women are heartbroken about porn for so many reasons. He is so far off. Thanks, Matt.

For those watching this debate: There was a 6 month period where I lived by what Prager was saying. It completely messed up my life. Fradd is 100% right.

I lost some respect for Prager after this conversation. Not only did he come off as very misogynistic, which is not a word I use often, in the way that he summed up that "men love women and women love a man" as if women aren't capable and don't often also get tempted sexually by other men, but he also just seems to be defending something because he personally does it. Women can sexually desire other men outside of their marriage just as men do, women just (sometimes) seem to be more in control of themselves. I wonder how he'd react to knowing his wife also desires men outside of him. I feel he would think differently of that.

Well done Sir!! Your wife is a very blessed woman to have you as her husband!! We need more men like you with a strong and fierce Christian faith! 🙏🏻🕊️

The emotional side of spouses using porn is simple to me (as a man). I ask myself, would I appreciate my wife pleasuring herself to a jacked dude behind my back? The answer is no, it at all. That would hurt me pretty deeply. Maybe it would motivate me to be more fit but maybe it would depress me. Pornography has literally destroyed even the most honest men, myself included, and I’m in the process of sensitizing myself to this smut, and re-programming all over again because I grew up like it was literally not a big deal AT ALL.

Matt, you presented yourself with kindness, patience, and with charity. Thank you.

Dennis Prager said his Mother was OK with her husband having and looking at Playboy …and their marriage lasted 72 years. My questions are: 1. Did his Father require Playboy to have the marriage last so long? 2. Did his Father therefore fantasize on the Playboy pictures while having sexual relations with his Mother? (which is why it lasted 72 yrs)? further, did the magazine rob his Mother from his Father focusing 100% on her only during their love making? 3. Could his parents marriage have lasted without the Playboy magazine? Prager is justifying his opinion(s) due to not having a relationship with Jesus. With knowing Jesus, he will then understand our Father’s commandment to be holy.

This was excellent! Thank you!

Before converting I used to listen to Denis Prager and Alison Armstrong answer these questions ( and I consumed all Alison's Understanding Men products). I cannot tell you what untold damage their advice did to my new marriage. We are still suffering from the trauma of it. Thanks be to God for the teachings of the Catholic Church. Let us pray for their conversions so that they stop wounding women and men and destroying marriages with their dangerous advice.

Matt- you are strong in heated debates. Don’t shy away from them, you did well.

great debate! Matt, very great stance and points as always!

This was a great interview, very nice!

To Matt’s wife - you are beyond blessed to have such an upstanding guy who truly gets it. I pray his words reach every man on the planet! May God continue to bless and protect your beautiful marriage! 🙏🏻❤️

My respect and admiration for Matt has gone through the roof. Not easy debating with Dennis and keeping it dignified and kind. Ultimately Dennis feels there is a place for pornography in the world, not so, its all evil. Well done Matt.

Absolutely selfishness=viewing pornography if your spouse is offended by it.

I wish Dennis would allow Matt to finish his points! The amount of times he interrupts Matt is maddening!

This was such an interesting debate to watch. As an adolescent, my first inclination with regards to p*rn was that there was something wrong with it. Our culture slowly changed my mind though to the point where I defended it to friends who thought it was wrong! That also led to thinking hook-up culture was acceptable, marriage was bondage and a whole other host of wrong-headed beliefs. That was very much intertwined with my left-leaning political beliefs. I only questioned all of this recently. It seems to be the Catholic views on the above are correct. My natural inclination was correct and hearing this debate has further solidified this for me. Our society has cheapened the most precious gifts we can have as humans. Thanks for the debate. These discussions are so important.

This was a very good conversation. Very intelligent way to discourse and disagree

Dennis doesn’t seem to realise he’s using terms different than everyone else and even when the difference is explained, he doesn’t change his terminology

Dennis argued that he had seen his parents marriage going well despite his dad openly consuming porn. Does he really know what his mom had been feeling about it though? Or perhaps it's just that his mom never brought up how she really felt? I am highly skeptical that anybody could be genuinely fine seeing his/her spouse lusting over another person. They might tolerate it, but tolerating is different than genuinely being fine with it...

Dennis is so obviously wrong here it's amazing watching him try to defend it

This discourse is an embodiment of the absolute fact that the term "judeo-christian ethics" is a figment of the mind.

Love to hear the truth of our Catholic faith. You did well. Love this channel and it’s helping me. God bless ❤

I'm a fairly new subscriber to Pints With Aquinas, and I must admit, this conversation has shown me just how sharp Matt is intellectually. Also, it's refreshing to see this kind of content among the many "progressive" Catholic channels on RU-vid, which frankly drove me away from RU-vid for several years. You have given me a reason to come back.