Someone has claimed that pornography is the root cause of sexual problems in our societies, negatively impacting younger generations. I am curious about the reasons and facts behind this assertion. To find answers, I searched for reported sexual crime rates in different societies. It’s important to note that these rates only reflect reported cases.
An intriguing observation caught my attention: Oman, a Muslim country, and Denmark, a Christian but secular nation, have similar population sizes and reported sexual crime rates. In 2016, Oman’s population was 4.425 million, with a reported rape rate of 6.6 per one hundred thousand. Denmark, with a slightly larger population of 5.731 million, had a lower rape rate at 6.4, despite its larger population. This raises the question: why is Denmark’s reported rape rate lower than Oman’s?
How can sexual crime rates differ among populations? This issue likely involves governance systems or traditional customs and educational influences within societies, rather than simply population size. Could the variance in reported rape rates between countries be influenced by religious rights or secular freedoms?
Let’s explore these connections.
Every society operates under different ideologies, each with its own perspective on governance and lifestyle. Traditional governance often aligns with religious principles, which historically employ a “carrot and stick” approach—reward and punishment—to enforce societal norms, such as strict penalties for social crimes.
However, such harsh punishments have proven ineffective in controlling social crimes today. This leads me to consider contemporary causes for these issues. Since pornography did not exist when religious doctrines were established, there’s no direct evidence linking pornography to sexual crimes, which have existed throughout history. The advent of films is a relatively recent development.
If someone claims that pornographic films cause social problems like rape, I would request evidence. The existence of sexual crimes predates pornography, so it’s difficult to prove that they didn’t occur before its invention. The real question is whether sexual crime rates have increased or decreased, and why.
As civilized beings, we must understand the underlying reasons for all behaviors. Denmark, with its open secular education system, has fewer sexual restrictions compared to Oman, a strict Muslim country where access to pornography is likely restricted. Why then does Oman have a higher reported sexual crime rate than Denmark, which allows sexual freedom?
Consider the scandals involving Roman Catholic priests, celebrities, and politicians. Why do they risk so much? Understanding the root causes of these issues is crucial. While celibacy rules may contribute, there’s a deeper problem that predates pornography.
Personally, I believe that attempts to control sexual behavior often backfire, potentially increasing the incidence of sex crimes. Education is key. Denmark’s secular education system may offer a more effective approach to reducing social crimes compared to Oman’s punitive measures.
Sexual issues are akin to smoking and drinking: acceptable in private, but harmful when imposed on others. Society rightly regulates behaviors that endanger others, such as drunk driving or public smoking. Similarly, while private consumption of pornography and masturbation may be personal choices, actions that harm others—like rape—are unacceptable.
I condemn sexual crimes, but I advocate identifying their true causes. While certain behaviors may correlate with social problems, any solution offered is subjective and evolving. In a diverse world, clashes of opinion are inevitable. Our evolving understanding should focus on current facts and solutions, rather than clinging to outdated beliefs.
Looking to past rules for present solutions is misguided. We lack clear answers for modern cybercrimes; relying on ancient religious texts for guidance on contemporary issues like internet crime is impractical. Similarly, attributing today’s sexual crimes solely to pornography ignores historical context and societal evolution.
Modern societies have changed significantly, driven by population growth, technological advancements, and a shift towards individual freedoms and equal rights. Everything is different now. Rather than glorifying the past, we should seek modern solutions for modern problems.
To achieve peace within ourselves and society, we must understand and accept our dual nature—animal and spiritual. Attempts to suppress our “animal side” throughout history have failed. Instead, we should acknowledge and manage this inherent aspect of humanity to foster inner and outer peace.
As individuals, we possess conflicting impulses. Understanding and resolving these conflicts is crucial to achieving personal and societal balance. Education is vital in this process. By educating individuals about the consequences of their actions, we empower them to self-regulate and make informed choices.
First and foremost, the reason for our conflicts is that we don’t want our ancestors to be proven wrong. We egotistically defend and even go to war with each other to prove who is right. Yet, you can pick any group of people and delve into their past; you will find problematic behaviors, not because of their fault, but due to their level of evolution. So, don’t blame each other’s ancestors and cross the line by giving them a break. They did their best according to their level of evolution.
If an adult sexually abuses a child, that child learns from an action-based education that it’s okay to abuse children when they become adults. This type of action-based education has nothing to do with porn movies but everything to do with the education taught by people who have been abused in the past. I wish I could claim it’s a modern-day phenomenon, but it’s not. Most people repeat behaviors that they have learned. For example, a young person raised by alcoholic parents will often marry someone like their alcoholic parents. If society wants to fix the problems of rape, then banning porn movies is like barking up the wrong tree. Blame and punish the right source. Don’t use band-aid solutions to fix age-old problems by blaming them on new situations. Sexual abuse has been around for thousands, if not millions, of years, and pornography has just been invented. If you go after the known causes of the problems, you may find some solutions. Education, education, and more education. Harsh punishments have not done it, are not doing it, and I don’t believe they will do it. Self-regulation is the key, and that is done only by the individual with education.
Beautiful and spiritual, yet still a beast.
Priests, mullahs, politicians, and celebrities are willing to risk everything just because they have given in to their powerful animal side. They are not aware of the powerful monster living within themselves. Since we have been cleverly taught to blame God or the Devil for our actions, we cleverly blame the entities who don’t talk back to us. Sexual abuse is a bigger sin spiritually than masturbation, so we should put things in perspective. Religion or not, it is a personal problem, so individuals have to be educated about the long-term consequences of their actions.
You can blame your passionate nature, or you can believe the Devil made you do it. Either way, you don’t or are unable to respect the one who resides within you to create balance in how you become good or bad as an individual.
If I were God, I would know which one is a bigger sin or actually a spiritual crime. If mullahs or priests would not allow themselves to watch porn, masturbate, and not sexually abuse children, then the world would be a much better place. Abusing children is a greater evil than watching porn or masturbating. The problem is that one chooses their inner demons. Sexual abuse is not known to be related to porn; otherwise, sexual crime rates would be higher in Denmark than in Oman. Don’t blame porn! Find the proven causes of the problems. A larger or more powerful animal side would be mainly responsible for most of our social problems. For instance, if you are raised or are used to getting things the easy way, you are not going to find a job to get things. From stealing to robbing to prostitution to corruption, they can be connected to the voice coming from within you. If you have a human side that is stronger than reasons and is compassionate towards others, you will not take the easy way out. So ask yourself about your animal size to create peace with education.
When you start to dig into yourself individually, you will find conflicting powers at work within you. But if you don’t even try to look for the solutions, you are trying to mask or trying to sweep everything under the rug. An unhealthy but religious way to look at social problems. If you don’t educate your people with the right knowledge and force them to comply with the rules, sooner or later you will find them breaking the rules. But if you educate them, the numbers of crime rates would drop. Human societies can’t be controlled by having a police officer for each individual; it is just not practical. So the best way to deal with our social problems is to educate and encourage the individual to self-regulate.
I would say deep inside, most of us as individuals have some kind of personal conflicts. They can and should be resolved by the individual by understanding what it means to be a human being. For instance, animal side versus human side or sense of belonging versus sense of freedom. It can only be resolved by understanding what kind of entity we are. We are not only the body, nor are we only the brain; we are an entity that lives in a living body with the brain. We are the one entity who can create balance and act accordingly. In order to do so, first of all, we have to recognize that we are separate from our body and brain.
Say I ask you to move your finger; you would have no problem doing that because the brain and body are functioning. But if you ask a stroke patient, they would have a big problem because their connection between muscles and brain has been disrupted. If you are deaf, you would not hear me, so that would be another kind of problem but a physical one. Now, if everything is perfectly in order but you are dead, you are not going to be able to perform what I have asked you. That is an even bigger problem. Now, if you are alive and everything is working, you will be able to move your finger without any problem, but you have to understand the process you have gone through. See, our body is like a computer; we have all the abilities and data in it, but someone has to use it, and that user is you who lives in your body. And yes, it’s not your brain because the brain depends on data to be provided by you.
If you want to understand it, it can be understandable; otherwise, you can be stuck in either living as an animal or as a spiritual entity. You are a human being who is a combination of both sides. An example I can give is angels; we are taught that being angels is a good thing so we should want and act like angels. Remember, according to our religions, angels have no free will to make choices, so they will only do good but without choice. Human beings do good by choice, so that is what makes human beings supersede angels. Choosing to be good for strangers or even enemies is a characteristic of human beings. Not common, but still found in some human beings, it has been preached by our religions but our politics corrupts our way of believing in God so we choose to follow our animal side. Even if it is working against your animal side or desires, still it’s an ability possessed by human beings.
Back to our spiritual and physical sides. A human body simply can’t live without the animal side or a functioning body and brain; neither can an animal side live without the spirit living within. They are inseparable, so we have to live as a combination of both. This is the problem which we have been trying to fix for millions of years. We have gone through a whole lot of civilization with a whole lot of religious beliefs, isms, and even different types of democracies. Most of our religious beliefs, laws of our lands, and civilization in general preach and promote extreme measures to kill our animal side because we don’t want to be counted as other creatures. We have been taught that we are superior to all other creatures; this sense of superiority seeps into our being, and an individual becomes susceptible to prejudice and discrimination. Personally, I believe that is the foundational education which is mainly responsible for our prejudice and discrimination against each other among human beings. We are taught that if our behavior is similar to other animals, we are bad and inferior.
With all the civilization and evolution, our understanding should have changed by now, but we are still stuck in the old political systems with prejudice and discrimination in the foundation. Our best bet is to understand ourselves by educating and accepting our animal side, its legitimacy, and authenticity to achieve personal and inner peace from within.
Becoming the Chief Executive Officer of our life can help individuals to create inner balance; otherwise, an imbalanced individual can end up making extreme choices like being a slave of the animal side without any restrictions or inhibitions to be a human being or go to the other extreme by removing self-importance altogether and live or spend all their mortal life without any kind of enjoyment.
How can an individual stand against the status quo if the politics of a powerful sense of belonging is overwhelming while personal sense of freedom is non-existing? As a CEO, we can achieve all that by putting everything including other people, religious affiliations, sexual identities, racial differences, and nationalism as departments of our life. Instead of making them the ultimate powers and reducing the individual to a mere speck in the sand. Understanding free will can teach self-importance as an individual and all about the spiritual jewelry they wear. When you wear your spiritual jewelry, you can become aware of self-respect which can teach us all to evolve to the point that we can live as a mortal being who has the responsibility to enjoy a mortal journey as a human animal simultaneously but has the ability to counter our animal-driven desires so one can live and let live in peace.
We all should proudly wear what I call jewels of humanity like being compassionate, forgiving, sacrificing, and loving. Since mass murder or extermination of our own kind has been part of our history so regardless of our spiritual jewelry we are capable of horrific spiritual crimes. Remember we have dropped atomic bombs, we have used other weapons of mass destruction, and even nowadays, we are constantly at war with each other. We even put the other creatures to shame with our out-of-control animal side.
As we have been taught by our religions, controlling or killing our animal side has not worked with millions of years of evolution. If it did not work till now why do we still believe it will work for us by following the same political ways of living? Unless we as individuals create balance deep inside of us and achieve personal inner peace by assuming our duties of a CEO, things are not going to work or change.
In human societies, we have all been taught politically to belong to a group of people to be strong and secure. If you look at it critically, our past education has been pointing towards the sense of belonging to a group of people but not to humanity as a whole. Since it starts with the family and family’s connections to the others around it automatically are a group-oriented education but as a human individual we all potentially can step forward and take a leap of faith in thinking of being part of whole humanity.
Only an individually thinking human individual can surpass politics of sense of belonging to immediate family, community, race, gender, color, religions or nations otherwise we can feel overwhelmingly and over-ride our thinking ability. The evolution can teach us, we as an individual are the foundation for all the changes humanity has made thus far.
Creating inner and outer peace is only possible if we as an individual step forward to understand ourselves as a being who is totally free when it comes to make decisions. Since we all are free individuals we can choose to belong to humanity as a whole but we have been taught to form groups of people for security. Physically we belong to humanity yet spiritually to God. If you belong to nationalism, or a religion which does not believe in humanity as a whole, you demote yourself and follow the politics of groups instead of spirituality which is universal and directly connected to God. Crossing the lines of our traditional political knowledge of sense of belonging is in order, so we can evolve further into the next level and belong to humanity as a whole.
War against our animal side is a war which could not be won throughout the history of our civilization and the main reason is that it is an understanding not understood. Since you just can’t separate the two, there is only one option we have and that is to accept the legitimacy of our animal side being part of our make up and make deals with it instead of waging war against it. By doing that we can stop inner turmoil and bickering to create inner peace individually first then collectively because it takes a human individual to start or stop the wars whether its internal or external.
Since we have been misunderstanding an understanding we have been underestimating and denying the strength of our animal side. Our systems of law and order and rules of our religions have failed us miserably in controlling social crimes and our wars. If you want proof just look around and critically look at our religious wars and their reasons. War-related spiritual crimes against humanity and in general crime rate of the human societies are the prime examples of wrong path we have been on. This failed approach has not worked is not working and will not succeed if it had not succeeded in millions of years of evolution. We have to learn more about ourselves to understand who and what we really are? Why the animal is still alive and well regardless of our efforts to kill it? Even our mullahs, priests, politicians, and celebrities can attest that our animal side is just too powerful to deal with. It has evolved and has become sophisticated which makes it more dangerous and destructive for humanity. Our weapons like guns and to advanced level weapons of mass destruction on one side and on the other hand the popularity of political sense of belonging to our groups should be a warning for all of us to take a crash course in understanding what is and what does it take to be a human being in modern-day humanity. Regardless of our violent behavior with our smarts we are heading towards dangerous grounds of self-destruction.
Following explanation should be helpful in understanding the legitimacy and authenticity of our animal side.
The inception of evil doesn’t just begin with a mother loving her child. It has always been there, a matter of nurturing and allowing one side to dominate. For example, when a baby cries, the mother feeds, changes diapers, and comforts the baby. As babies, we quickly learn to adapt to new circumstances and discover our existing personal desires. We also learn how to gain the mother’s attention. If the mother or caregiver consistently responds to every need—or rather, desire—of the baby, she nurtures the baby’s animal side, which inherently suppresses, minimizes, or weakens the human or spiritual side.
If a mother were to think, “I’ve already fed, changed, and comforted; there’s no need to rush,” and let the baby cry for a while, what would happen?
The baby would cry for a bit, look around, and then realize nothing is happening. Personally, I believe the baby would take the first step toward becoming a healthy and balanced human being. Learning about restraint, self-soothing, delayed gratification, and patience distinguishes us from other creatures. You can’t teach a dog or cat about delayed gratification. I believe this is one of the root causes of many personal, emotional, and social problems, deeply linked to our imbalanced upbringing. Understanding and reconciling these two personal sides are crucial for every individual to live a happy, healthy, balanced, and successful life, as my first triangle suggests: health, happiness, and success. Remember, without health, you can’t be happy, and without health and happiness, personal success loses its meaning.
This fundamental education has been misunderstood or ignored by our personal and societal politics, overshadowed by our widely accepted, preached, and cherished loving emotions. Are these loving emotions beneficial for us? Do they align with our animal side or our spiritual side, or perhaps we haven’t evolved enough to fully comprehend and properly place them in our mortal lives?
As individuals, do we understand the traits of our spiritual or animal sides, and do we grasp that we are the ones who truly call the shots, regardless of our nationalism or religious beliefs?
Lines can easily blur for us as individuals when we wholeheartedly embrace the teachings of our belonging groups. We kill each other over the politics of belonging groups, neglecting our personal responsibility to first understand ourselves as individuals.
Returning to the baby analogy: after crying a bit, the baby looks around, sees no one responding, and starts to self-soothe, entertain itself, and learn to control its desires. This is the first step a human takes toward being a human—learning about delayed gratification and managing the inner animal to create a balance with the human side—all stemming from that initial step.
Imbalance has far-reaching consequences for both the individual and society. Everything from obesity to brushes with the law could be avoided if we were taught from the start about not just instant but also delayed gratification.
Growing up in Pakistan, I heard wise words that stuck with me, though I don’t know their origin, so I’ll quote them as “Author Unknown”:
“When the trunk of the tree is green, it can be bent, but after that, we should forget about molding and conforming because it will not bend; it will break.”
The animal side, having been nurtured, has grown to a point where even attempts to harness it through sheer willpower can backfire. In my role as a personal trainer, I see people fail in their weight loss efforts because they try to ignore the power of their animal side. Weight loss companies have existed for decades, yet our obesity rates continue to climb steeply, largely due to this powerful, untamed animal side. This is also a contributing factor to higher crime rates, as instant gratification is a hallmark of the human animal’s behavior. I don’t seek to diminish the animal side, as I believe we must acknowledge its legitimacy to achieve balance and live as human beings. We must do justice to both sides, for the animal side holds essential knowledge about our mortal existence and deserves respect. Our religious education often contradicts our animal side; we are taught about heaven and hell to control it, yet little is said about the injustices society inflicts upon the mortal individual. As mortal individuals, God has gifted us this life, and religious authorities should not strip us of our animal side. The animal side allows us to enjoy mortal life—food, sex, love, and temporary attachments.
A just legal system treats everyone equally, a concept I connect with spirituality. The political rules of our societies and even our religious doctrines should all be rooted in spirituality. Throughout history and into modern times, however, we are indoctrinated to live for the afterlife. The images of God and the Devil are magnified, overshadowing the human equation. Nationalism and religious politics push individuals not only to live lives of sacrifice and deprivation but also to carry out their nations’ and religions’ dirty work.
It’s falsely preached that group power provides security—a claim unfulfilled since the dawn of civilization. For a long time and continuing today, individuals suffer, die, and lose love for the sake of belonging groups. The struggle against the internal Devil is another issue individuals face, leading to constant internal conflict. Meanwhile, the animal side flourishes unchecked in societies close to home. We are taught that to be good in God’s eyes, we must vanquish the Devil within. How, then, can we justify and exercise our God-given free will? Would you sacrifice your entire life in pursuit of being good, all while battling constant inner turmoil? Why do you believe extreme measures will bring inner peace? Who benefits from your sacrifice? Does God have anything to do with internal and external conflict? And finally, why do you think you’ve been blessed with free will?
As human individuals, none of us truly knows God’s plan for us. We are not created as angels; our makeup denotes us as human, possessing a side that gets us into trouble yet also makes us superior to angels. This aspect is intended by God and thus legitimate. Even God does not eliminate the Devil, as humans must strive to overcome obstacles to evolve further.
Since human beings give physical form to God and the Devil, nurturing either side strengthens it. Parents and society should be mindful of this education; addressing it during childhood could lead to more balanced adults. Remember, it’s the human who acts, whether in a godly or devilish manner. Nurturing must be deliberate.
When taught that God and the Devil are external entities, humans become subordinate and insignificant, and belonging groups gain control over them. We’re taught hidden messages of subservience, obedience, and insignificance, aimed at political control.
Your individual actions are either godly or devilish because external influences shape you. People who claim to be God’s subcontractors often condemn those who stray from their path. Dissenters are branded as followers of the Devil, although both sides commit devilish acts. No war can be considered a spiritual war; all are political, fought over land, nationalism, or religion. Politics have a place in society, and identity politics are crucial, but they have caused human beings to lose their identity and remain trapped in an identity crisis. You’re either good or bad; there’s no in-between, as human beings tend toward extremism. You’re taught that you can’t be both or belong to both sides, yet an individual’s life can show otherwise. People may do wrong in their youth but grow and change with different education. Questioning these teachings brings clarity and reveals life’s purpose. Human identity is being human, not angelic; avoid living like an angel, as you’ll regret it in your mortal life’s end and blame others for your failures, but it will be too late.
A physical body gives form to God and the Devil, enabling individuals to enjoy their brief visit. Taking responsibility for your life is essential. We’re not here merely to worship; we bear the responsibilities of our mortal lives as well. Enjoying life’s pleasures isn’t godly or devilish; it’s human. Refusing these pleasures benefits only those preaching sacrifice.
Observe how religions lavishly spend on grand buildings as God’s houses while fostering extremism to incite conflict. Who are these contractors, and why can’t they eradicate poverty, hunger, and disease? Despite these monuments, humanity continues to suffer, contrary to the Quran’s teachings that state if your neighbor goes to bed hungry, your food isn’t righteous. Political motives have stripped religions of their spirituality, focusing instead on group belonging. If told that indulging and enjoying life is devilish, question this politics of sacrifice and examine the motives of those who benefit. If religions were truly spiritual, poverty, disease, and war would be nonexistent. Show me a time of peace in history; we’ve always fought over our animal instincts or defended ourselves.
Consider reality: if you live spiritually, you can’t perform physical actions. To give spirituality practical meaning, you must be alive and physically active. Here, the human individual plays a pivotal role, elevating to a third status.
To serve God effectively, you must be alive to enact spiritually. Deceased individuals become spirits unable to act physically, so God’s work is reliant on the living. Yet some preach that indulgence and life enjoyment are Devilish. These same people encourage others to kill, driven by political motives rather than spiritual understanding.
As I mentioned before, God’s spiritual work is done by living human beings, so ask yourself: Are these people really following God’s will? Why would God want to kill people if people are the ones making God meaningful?
The reality is that God is a spiritual understanding that only emerges when we start to transcend our insecurities and related boundaries. An empty mosque, church, or temple is merely a building created by other human beings—or rather, by living human beings. Beyond religious beliefs, God does not reside in any human-made structure. Understanding resides within living human beings, where God, as a concept, finds meaning in humanity’s struggles with poverty, disease, disability, hunger, thirst, old age, and belief systems. It is in the mutual aid of humans helping each other survive that God meaningfully exists.
Our mosques, churches, and temples often serve as places where we politically gather to curse and plan how to harm other human beings simply because we disagree on the pathway or road to God. Nothing but mass ego gets in the way of truth. The simple truth of humanity is that individual humans make God meaningful. Yet our politically active religious leaders seem hell-bent on inspiring us to harm each other, all in the name of God.
If you ask me, I envision a place where all religions, nations, races, and genders come together to plan how they can assist each other, rather than merely worshiping or competing to appease God. God needs assistance to fulfill divine work, and only living human beings—not the deceased—can aid in this task.
It is purely political to bring out the worst in us to serve the sense of belonging. No wonder humanity cannot catch a break from its wars. If we begin to believe that God resides in all of us as a life force, we cannot deny God in certain races, genders, nations, or religious groups. Otherwise, we perpetuate biased beliefs, prejudice, discrimination, conflicts, and wars. If you wonder how God can reside in someone who behaves devilishly, take charge to nurture their godly side. This responsibility falls not only on the individual but also on mothers, society, and humanity as a whole.
If God blesses you with an opportunity to live at a higher level, yet you choose to live at a substandard level due to childhood teachings or feelings of insecurity, it is interesting how opinionated and passionate people become about others’ lives. In reality, our nature grants us total freedom to choose our way of life—evidenced by our independent bodies, free-thinking brains, and free will. If we do not respect our individuality, thoughts of individual mortality fade away.
Disobeying religious rules or customs does not render someone godless. Politically, they may be labeled in various ways, but spiritually, such judgments hold no weight. Scientists may assert there is no God, a belief stemming from their acquired knowledge and limited use of their brains in one area. Nonetheless, their inventions and medical discoveries that save millions of lives serve humanity—a form of service to God. Those who believe in God and those who do not can both serve humanity; such differences should not fuel divisions.
Everyone blessed with a functioning body, free will, and oxygen owes gratitude to God, regardless of their belief system. Remember, every action is a shared action, a dance we perform with God. No one can claim, “I did it!” Everything we achieve comes after taking a breath, dependent on both internal and external universes functioning in perfect order—over which we have no control. As humans, we must remain humble and act with reverence for our mortality.
When we inflict upon others what we would abhor for ourselves or our loved ones, it constitutes a spiritual transgression. Unfortunately, in mass settings, we often fail to see injustices done to individuals. We have been indoctrinated by the politics of group identity. For evolving entities like humans, no perfect system of governance exists. However, systems based on equal human rights are most suitable, fostering spiritual contentment. In societies where individuals can challenge governments in court and prevail, we witness a spiritual governance system, indicating respect for individual life. Respect for each individual is where it all begins and ends. Until we respect individual lives, we cannot see God in others nor achieve inner and outer peace.