Who made-up the term 'spiritual pornography' in the Boston Movement?
Boston Movement leadership referred to anti-Boston resources in the late 80s as ‘stuff’, until Preston Shepherd first introduced the term spiritual pornography, which was formally adopted by Kip McKean in 1989.
"You know, there is a proliferation – literally, throughout the world – of not only anti-cult material – little packets, but booklets, books, videos. Preston Shepherd calls this stuff ‘spiritual pornography."What is intended with the term 'spiritual pornography'?(Kip McKean, They Hated the Dreamer, August 25, 1989)
The words spiritual + pornography forms a paradox (an opinion that contradicts itself; para contrary to – doxa opinion).
Shepherd’s opinion conflicts with common belief.
Spirituality has nothing to do with pornography and vice versa.
Nonetheless, this statement seemingly absurd or self-contradictory contains some truth!
Here Shepherd’s opinion becomes ‘truth’ for all members of the Boston Movement and future generations when it is applied to the forbidden.
Church members engaging in taboo activities such as reading information on the Internet that opposes the views of the Boston Movement/ICOC commits a kind of spiritual pornography. It is like reading an actual Playboy magazine. SP has become the excuse to suit leadership’s ideas of what the members ought to think.
"… Some people say, ‘Well, hold it. If you're strong enough – if there isn't anything wrong in this stuff, then why shouldn't I read these anti-Boston materials?" Well, let me ask you this: you've been a Christian for a while, and prayerfully you're strong in the Lord. Why can't you just open a Playboy and just see how it goes? Let me tell you something – I've been a Christian for 17 years, I don't dare get close to one. And you shouldn't get close to that spiritual pornography, the thing that's driving you there is curiosity, that is Satan – get it out of the house."Even today, all members of the ICOC are restricted to investigate opposing views on the ICOC teachings. The main objective of the inner doctrine of spiritual pornography is to control the amount of negative information concerning the church group and to shelter its members from the outside world.(Kip McKean, They Hated the Dreamer, August 25, 1989)
Does the Bible support the concept of 'spiritual pornography'?
No, the Bible clearly points out that spirituality has nothing to do with any form of impurity or wickedness.
“Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness”Therefore pornography can never become spiritual!(2 Timothy 2:19 NIV)
My next article, SP3 will investigate The Internet: A free marketplace of ideas
One thing that I've been researching is an area I'd like to call "softcore spiritual pornography". It doesn't attack the ICOC or ICC directly, but it does attack its underpinnings. For example, a progressive Church of Christ elder has written books called Do We Teach Another Gospel? and Born of Water. Both are presented to a mainline, conservative Church of Christ audience, but what he talks about in both books (patternism and baptism, respectively) applies directly to both the ICOC and ICC. Also, other hardcopy books by Christian authors such as "Toxic Faith" by Steve Arterburn and Jack Felton, expose common control structures and false belief systems within toxic and cultic churches.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Why aren't books that are explicitly written to damage a Christian's faith like Richard Dawkins's "The God Delusion" not classified as spiritual pornography?