Pornography reduces people to one or two anatomical parts.

Anything that diminishes or cuts complex human beings into fractions is ultimately evil.

We are not just our race, sexuality, ethnicity or religion. We are whole, complete persons who deserve the right

to be encountered as individuals.

Women have long argued that they have been treated as things. They were once considered as chattel or possessions of their fathers or husbands. Today, equal treatment means being seen as whole, multifaceted persons with unique gifts to offer.

As a college male, I was willing, even eager, to be reduced to a sex object. As I have grown older (so that people sometimes view me as a Jell-O mold or an ancient rock), I have grown to resent it. I am more than my age, handicaps or beltline.

This condensing of people to a single aspect of their lives is at the heart of what divides us. When we truly encounter others as real people, we see them as complex beings not so unlike ourselves.

There are always those heartwarming stories about quiet in the midst of war when greetings or humanizing conversations bridge the gap between the battle lines. While these stories usually conclude with the restoration of hostilities, they point to how really getting to know someone makes them less of an object and harder to diminish.

Pornography is a major example of something that objectifies women and men. Women especially see how it eroticizes their domination and humiliation. It reinforces sexual and cultural attitudes that are found in sexual harassment and rape.

When individuals are seen only as things, we see the worst that humanity can do. The Holocaust, Sept. 11, sexual abuse and genocide in the Sudan are just a few examples.

This also goes for the soft-core porn that can be found in many magazine advertisements. Pushing the product is obviously more important than the people. Automotive magazines have long been a major culprit, as have women’s fashion magazines.

We ought to get as indignant about the subtle subversion of individuals as we are about the blatant depiction of sex. This multibillion-dollar industry is dehumanizing to both those who are depicted and those who are mesmerized by it.

• Mike McLellan can be contacted by calling and leaving a message at 830-4201 or e-mailing him at DrMikeM@sbcglobal.net.