Dennis Prager, the conservative commentator behind Prager U, declared in a round table discussion with Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson that pornography was “not awful” if used as a “substitute for adultery.”
Prager, a practicing Jew, made the comments a Daily Wire seminar on the Book of Exodus, the latest episode of which released Wednesday. In response to a question about lust and sexual sin, Prager explained to his fellow panelists that a man looking lustfully at a woman “is not a sin in Judaism.”
“I am less interested in the interior person, morally speaking, than you are, than probably any of you are, and it’s largely — I do believe — because I come from a behaviorist, law-based religion. We care how you act,” Prager said.
“That’s why we don’t have a claim that if you look at another woman with lust, it’s as if you’ve committed adultery with her,” he continued, alluding to a saying of Jesus recorded in Matthew 5:28. “There’s only one way to commit adultery in Judaism and it’s with a different organ,” Prager stated.
Peterson then pressed Prager on his views on pornography, prompting the conservative commentator to defend its use under certain conditions by claiming “men want variety.”
Speaking to his experience as a radio host, Prager explained that when listeners call in to ask him about the subject, he asks them whether the pornography use is detracting from or enhancing their sexual relationship. “If adultery is a substitute for one’s wife, it’s awful. If it’s a substitute for adultery it’s not awful,” Prager stated. “I know this is not a religious answer.”
Prager has been divorced twice and has been married to his third wife since 2008.
Peterson has repeatedly spoken out against pornography use, calling it “not a net social good.” (RELATED: MURPHY: Pornography Should Be Banned Because It Incites Violence. Period.)
Speaking with Dave Rubin in Nov. 2021, Peterson compared the consumption of pornography to Pleasure Island in “Pinnochio.”
“It’s all pleasure with no responsibility. That’s deadening. It’s parasitical in a sense,” he continued, pointing to the time and money spent on online porn sites.