Is prostitution wrong?

[JacobEzra.]

According to Manswers, jolly St. Nicholas is the saint of the working women Merry Christmas, prostitutes!

Do you know why St. Nicholas would be? Or are you not caring of such, just trying to make a joke?

 

[Meow Mix]

Its a shame when one needs to sell their body into exploitation as such.

I don't think throwing them into jail is the right thing to do though, but to get them counseling and help.

Maybe if they want or need counseling or help from being thrust into something they had no desire to do in the first place; but some women and men might not have qualms with it.

I worked in exotic dancing all the way through undergrad school (sure, not the same as prostitution but according to some people "only a stone's throw," so to say) and loved every minute of it. I don't owe a dime in loans, either.

 

[Meow Mix]

Do you know why St. Nicholas would be? Or are you not caring of such, just trying to make a joke?

I was just lightening the mood, but by all means I wouldn't mind hearing a more serious explanation.

If I recall correctly from the show (which is fairly irreverent, so I take anything it says with a grain of salt) St. Nicholas paid off a girl's debt or something like that.

By all means, you've piqued my interest now Please share!

 

[JacobEzra.]

His parents died when he was a young man, leaving him well off and he determined to devote his inheritance to works of charity. An opportunity soon arose. A citizen of Patara had lost all his money, and had moreover to support three daughters who could not find husbands because of their poverty; so the wretched man was going to give them over to prostitution. This came to the ears of Nicholas, who thereupon took a bag of gold and, under cover of darkness threw it in at the open window of the man's house. Here was a dowry for the eldest girl and she was soon duly married. At intervals Nicholas did the same for the second and third; at the last time the father was on the watch, recognized his benefactor and overwhelmed him with his gratitude. St. Nicholas - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online

 

[1948_its_happening]

There is adultery and fornication.

Biblically adultery is punishable by death while fornication involves a marriage proposal or fine depending on the decision of the father of the woman.

Adultary can only be commited by a man with another mans wife.

Fornication is sex outside marraige

 

[Meow Mix]

His parents died when he was a young man, leaving him well off and he determined to devote his inheritance to works of charity. An opportunity soon arose. A citizen of Patara had lost all his money, and had moreover to support three daughters who could not find husbands because of their poverty; so the wretched man was going to give them over to prostitution. This came to the ears of Nicholas, who thereupon took a bag of gold and, under cover of darkness threw it in at the open window of the man's house. Here was a dowry for the eldest girl and she was soon duly married. At intervals Nicholas did the same for the second and third; at the last time the father was on the watch, recognized his benefactor and overwhelmed him with his gratitude. St. Nicholas - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online

Wow! If true, I approve of St. Nick. Thanks for the link, too -- I'm hoping to find some history from the Catholic perspective on how he became associated specifically with the Santa Claus figure in some cultures.

 

[Meow Mix]

There is adultery and fornication.

Biblically adultery is punishable by death while fornication involves a marriage proposal or fine depending on the decision of the father of the woman.

Adultary can only be commited by a man with another mans wife.

Fornication is sex outside marraige

So according to Biblical rules, if people have sex outside of marriage then the father of the woman decides whether or not she will marry the person? Not the woman herself? Also, if a fine is chosen, who gets fined and by how much, and to whom does the money go?

 

[1948_its_happening]

So according to Biblical rules, if people have sex outside of marriage then the father of the woman decides whether or not she will marry the person? Not the woman herself? Also, if a fine is chosen, who gets fined and by how much, and to whom does the money go?

Old jewish law states that if an umarried man and woman have sex the man must ask for her hand in marraige.

If the father says yes, they get married.

If the father says no he must still pay the wedding dowry and leave her.

I reckon this law was to protect the family because no one wanted a non-virgin bride. So if the father was so displeased with the man who jumped the gun that he prefered that his daughter probably be alone, then he would use the dowry to look after her like her husband should have.

Remember we are talking about 12-13 year olds. That is the age woman fell pregnant back then.

 

[strikeviperMKII]

Speaking to the point of prostitution being joyless, many jobs are, some even exhausting and mind numbing to boot. And the same thing, desperation, pushes people into these other jobs. As for danger, fishing, logging, and firefighting are extremely dangerous occupations.

Physically more dangerous, I think you could argue. Prostitution involves things far more sensitive things than the body. A broken body can usually be mended, An emotionally broken person is not so easily fixed.

 

[Meow Mix]

Old jewish law states that if an umarried man and woman have sex the man must ask for her hand in marraige.

If the father says yes, they get married.

If the father says no he must still pay the wedding dowry and leave her.

I reckon this law was to protect the family because no one wanted a non-virgin bride. So if the father was so displeased with the man who jumped the gun that he prefered that his daughter probably be alone, then he would use the dowry to look after her like her husband should have.

Remember we are talking about 12-13 year olds. That is the age woman fell pregnant back then.

Interesting. Well, I'm glad things aren't like that these days, in any case.

 

[Me Myself]

Is there any difference between a prostitute and a woman who goes out with a man just because they are rich or famous?

Same thing if you ask me.

Basicaly the same thing kind of yeah.

 

[Sleeppy]

As I have recently found out in another thread, marriage prevents diseases, prevents sleeping with other people, prevents relationships from going sour, and prevents a few other things.
All by some mysteriously magical force.
I suspect that it is god himself who protects marriage and those in it.

Prostitutes have no such protections.

Someone's a little bitter. Did you want to tell them what thread and post numbers as well?

 

[work in progress]

I would have said that prostitution could better be dealt with through a legalized system of control, but now I'm not so sure. Holland's experience with legalized prostitution has actually fueled human trafficking, through the black market of girls and young women either taken captive or sold into slavery, and transported to legal and illegal brothels in many other countries. From: The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women

In Amsterdam, Netherlands, 80% of prostitutes are foreigners, and 70% have no immigration papers, suggesting that they were trafficked. (Marie-Victoire Louis, "Legalizing Pimping, Dutch Style," Le Monde Diplomatique, 8 March 1997)​

 

[cablescavenger]

There is plenty of opposition to prostitution in many religions and society as a whole but is it really wrong?

I'm thinking about both sides of the profession - the customers and the workers.

Surely if you want to provide it then that is your choice and if you want to partake in the services offered then that is your choice also. Obviously free will and standard consent issues apply.

any views?

There are members of society who would be denied physical closeness to another if it was not present, and for those people I find it hard to deny them the pleasures that many take for granted.

If it were an altruistic service borne out of compassion, then I would advocate it, but it is not, and it gets exploited by an underbelly, so I could not support it.

 

[Meow Mix]

I would have said that prostitution could better be dealt with through a legalized system of control, but now I'm not so sure. Holland's experience with legalized prostitution has actually fueled human trafficking, through the black market of girls and young women either taken captive or sold into slavery, and transported to legal and illegal brothels in many other countries. From: The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women

In Amsterdam, Netherlands, 80% of prostitutes are foreigners, and 70% have no immigration papers, suggesting that they were trafficked. (Marie-Victoire Louis, "Legalizing Pimping, Dutch Style," Le Monde Diplomatique, 8 March 1997)
​

Isn't that like saying we shouldn't be sure whether or not to legalize building cell phones since some other country might choose to exploit children mining "blood silicon" to ship it to tech companies?

If a country legalizes prostitution and regulates it, trafficking should not be an issue -- rather, trafficking above and beyond what would already occur anyway.

 

[work in progress]

Isn't that like saying we shouldn't be sure whether or not to legalize building cell phones since some other country might choose to exploit children mining "blood silicon" to ship it to tech companies?

If a country legalizes prostitution and regulates it, trafficking should not be an issue -- rather, trafficking above and beyond what would already occur anyway.

I'm saying I'm not sure because I honestly don't know how this problem could be best solved. All I am sure of is that legalization of prostitution will not be any sort of easy fix. As long as there are middle-aged men with money who want sex with young women, and young women who need money, there is going to be prostitution. Most of the girls who are on the streets or even working for escort agencies don't want to be there, but they usually come from broken homes, have little or no skills, and end up with costly drug habits. Maybe some problems aren't going to have easy answers for fixing them.

 

[dawny0826]

If it's legal and the prostitute and participants are of age and do not feel exploited or abused and are consenting, I don't think it's wrong but I'm sure as hell not paying for sex and wouldn't sell myself out to anyone. I find the thought disturbing and feel that I'm worth a hell of a lot more than that.

 

[Quiddity]

It's always wrong. However, under certain conditions, there exist a hierarchy of truths that would compel a mother to feed her child if she thought no other option was available.

 

[Watchmen]

There is plenty of opposition to prostitution in many religions and society as a whole but is it really wrong?

I'm thinking about both sides of the profession - the customers and the workers.

Surely if you want to provide it then that is your choice and if you want to partake in the services offered then that is your choice also. Obviously free will and standard consent issues apply.

any views?

Many women "provide it" because they are poor and feel they have no choice and nowhere else to turn. They loathe themselves and wish they didn't have to. We also have sex trafiking because of it. So, yes - it's really wrong.

 

[Meow Mix]

Many women "provide it" because they are poor and feel they have no choice and nowhere else to turn. They loathe themselves and wish they didn't have to. We also have sex trafiking because of it. So, yes - it's really wrong.

Ok, for everyone saying "most" of these women loathe themselves -- can we start seeing some data on this please?

People say the same thing about strippers.

Neither I nor any of the other girls at my bar loathed it. I loved it, so did they.

I have no idea about prostitution, but I'm just saying, if we're going to be throwing around comments about "most" people loathing it maybe we need to start backing up our claims.