Hugh Hefner: Joy and Mourning at the Death of an Evil Man

It’s not surprising. Nevertheless, it turns my stomach to see celebrities in the news praising Hugh Hefner and claiming that he had positive effects on society. Brothers and sisters, the world may be deceived, but among us let there be no illusions. The man was evil.

Heffner and the Porn Industry are Altogether Evil

Heffner’s sinful business consisted of paying young girls to take off their clothes for the sexual pleasure of men. This is a form of prostitution.

Some try to defend this by pointing out that the women were not forced to do this. However, alluring people to sin by offering them fame and money is the work of the devil and those he uses. It is with riches and luxuries that Babylon, the whore in Revelation, leads the nations to destruction:

NIV Revelation 18:3 For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries."

Some claim that Heffner promoted “free speech”. The truth is that he contributed to a twisted and perverse interpretation of the right of free speech. Many have died to procure and protect our freedom of speech. Certainly we agree that it is good for the government to protect the right of people to express a wide range of opinions and views which we disagree with. But this is not the same thing as the publication and sale of photos of naked women. The Supreme Court justices which have treated pornography as free speech, and those who have encouraged them to do so, have twisted a precious freedom into a protection of evil:

NIV Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

Some claim that Heffner promoted “sexual freedom”. Nothing could be further from the truth. He, and others like him, have led many into slavery to sin.

NIV Romans 6:16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey-- whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

The porn industry which Heffner pioneered is a massive flood of many evils. Much pornography portrays violence against women. All pornography involves tempting people to sin by looking with lust (Matthew 5:28). Far from enhancing real intimacy, pornography destroys it. Pornography also works an evil influence on both men and women by promoting a standard of fleeting, outward beauty which is opposed to the true standard of beauty promoted in God’s Word:

NIV 1 Peter 3:3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes.
4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

It is now known that pornography works like an addictive drug. It releases chemicals in the brain which become associated with the pornography. Like other addictions, it is sometimes the case that porn addicts will seek harder, darker, and more extreme forms of pornography over time.

Pornography hurts the people who are in it. Pornography hurts every person who views it. Pornography hurts the family members (spouses and children) of those who view it. It is altogether evil.

So How Do I Feel about Hugh Heffner’s Death?

In a very limited way, I can related to this verse:

NIV Proverbs 11:10 When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.

Is it wrong to be glad that there is one less rich man using his money to seduce vulnerable young ladies into decisions which will deeply wound their souls? Am I wrong if I’m happy that Heffner’s long celebration and promotion of immorality has come to an end? I hope not, because I do feel those emotions at some level. And yet, I feel them with a sense of trembling because I also remember that God’s Word says:

NIV Ezekiel 18:23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

So I also mourn.

I mourn because it would have been so much better if the wicked man had turned from his ways and lived.

I mourn because Heffner’s death will likely do little if anything to end the massive evil pornographic industry which he helped to produce.

Finally, I mourn because so many of my brothers and sisters in Christ are sharing in his sins.

NIV Revelation 18:4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say: "'Come out of her, my people,' so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;

This was initially a post on my blog.

 

Adonia, of course you are right. It is theoretically possible that Heffner accepted Christ near the end and we just have not had an opportunity to know this. But I think genuine "death bed conversions", while possible, are actually quite rare.

In general, if someone is leading the kind of life which Heffner led, we should not expect them to inherit the Kingdom of God:

1 Cor 6:9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men
10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

I'm not saying he was "too bad" be saved. God saved me. God's grace is sufficient to save anyone. But there's no evidence that Heffner ever repented.

 

If Hefner advocated complementarianism, it was a sick, twisted, perverted version of complementarianism which is unlike the truth promoted by evangelical complementarians.

That would not be surprising since Hefner's promotion of "free speech" was a sick and twisted version of that precious right, and Hefner's promotion of "art" was a disgusting misuse of the word. Not to mention Hefner's promotion of "sexual freedom" which was in reality slavery to sexual sin.

 

I felt Christianity Today's article on Hefner's legacy was insightful and on target.

 

Thank you for sharing this.

Like you, I found pornography when I was young (about the same age you mention, or perhaps a couple of years older, I don't remember precisely). As with you, I feel that my sinful choice to look at it (and after the first glance, it was MY choice) did a lot of harm to my soul and mind. And yet, what I looked at was relatively "mild" in terms of the amount and the nature of the material compared to what young people are faced with today. God only knows how deep I would have fallen down that hole if I had nearly unlimited access to any type of porn night and day like young people do now. I sincerely pray for God's grace and mercy and power to help set them free and cleanse them thoroughly.