Classic KJV - Proverbs 29:3

Translation: his...his

Look at the text carefully and note that the second occurrence of the word “his” is in italics. The translators of the KJV moved the “he” from “he will waste” and attached it to “wealth,” creating the phrase “his wealth.” A more literal translation would be, “He who keeps company with harlots, he will waste wealth.” Whether the wealth is his father’s or the son’s is irrelevant. Harlotry as an industry wastes wealth. Yes, the prostitute and her “john” (manager) get some money but it is blight. It’s a social pollutant and a financial destroyer. The text gives a direct message to those who legalize and even license prostitution. It’s financially foolish.

My Experience

When I was working for Shell Canada I was dismayed to fill my gas tank at my company’s service stations where they sold pornographic magazines. I wrote to the senior vice president and asked him (in a more professional manner) why we sold smut. He replied that he understood my concern and would look into the matter. He delegated it to a junior vice president. In meeting with the junior vice-president I was told this

1. Some customers want such magazines.
2. Soft porn and erotica are not as bad as hardcore porn which Shell does not sell.
3. Our company must display all the products distributed by the magazine supplier.
4. If we stopped selling porn, where should we draw the line? Should we also ban cigarette sales?

(During the 1980s smoking was still allowed in all public places.) My efforts to stop the sale of pornographic literature such as Playboy from Shell service stations in Canada failed.

Personal Physical Abuse

Recently, smoking was banned in most public places in Canada, and the sale of cigarettes from service stations was greatly restricted. It's strange that during the 1940's in WW2 all soldiers were issued cigarettes with their food rations. In those days, the physical dangers of smoking were unknown.  I believe the day will come when society will recognize the dangers of pornography and also restrict its sale.

Bad Business

Big business is not necessarily good business. The smoking industry is big business and it was much bigger before doctors confirmed the health hazards of smoking. Although the porn industry is in the multi-billions, society is hurt thereby not helped. The addiction of men to pornographic material is enormous and it is much more insidious than nicotine or even than cocaine for one simple reason. The chemicals released in a man's brain as he views porn are internally generated and therefore can be activated very easily, anywhere, anytime. Yes, the porn industry is big business, worldwide, but it is also bad business. Note only does it waste money but it does much more harm - it degrades and damages women (and children) everywhere. 

The text also implies that the legalization of prostitution is also a waste of economic resources. We are better off by strengthening marriages.

The Social Cost of Pornography

In 2010, the Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, New Jersey released a study on pornography, aptly titled “The Social Costs of Pornography,” prepared by Mary Eberstadt and Mary Anne Layden. Within this study, the researchers (who spanned diverse backgrounds, both religious and political) investigated the harm that pornography caused, summarizing them down into eight distinct findings:

1. Unlike at any other time in history, pornography is now available and consumed widely in our society, due in large part to the internet. No one remains untouched by it.
2. There is abundant empirical evidence that this pornography is qualitatively different from any that has gone before, in several ways; its ubiquity, the use of increasingly realistic streaming images, and the increasingly “hard-core” character of what is consumed.
3. Today’s consumption of internet pornography can harm women in particular.
4. Today’s consumption of internet pornography can harm children in particular.
5. Today’s consumption of internet pornography can harm people not immediately connected to consumers of pornography.
6. The consumption of internet pornography can harm its consumers.
7. Pornography consumption is philosophically and morally problematic.
8. The fact that not everyone is harmed by pornography does not entail that pornography should not be regulated.

The entire paper and its specific conclusions and arguments is not summarized here, but Mary Anne Layden (Director of the Sexual Trauma and Psychopathology Program at the University of Pennsylvania) prefaced the paper with this introduction:

Overall, the body of research on pornography reveals a number of negative attitudes and behaviors that are connected with its use. It functions as a teacher, a permission-giver, and a trigger of these negative behaviors and attitudes. The damage is seen in men, women, and children, and to both married and single adults. It involves pathological behaviors, illegal behaviors, and some behaviors that are both illegal and pathological.

Our Maker, Saviour, and Friend

Jesus kept company with harlots, or should I say, they kept company with Him.

Jesus’ enemies took note (Luke 7:37-39). Why would an upstart religious teacher allow an immoral woman to show Him such personal affection in public? Alas, the religious establishment failed to recognize who Jesus really was and is. They vastly underestimated Jesus’ power.

Jesus was "wasted" so that others—those who love and obey Him—can become incredibly wealthy (2 Corinthians 8:9). Outlandish! Amazing! Indeed- divine!