What is the difference between erotica and pornography? What is the difference between art and pornography? One of the ironies of explicit images that portray sexual scenes is that they are rooted in the religious experiences of most cultures. From the dawn of time, religion and sex have been intertwined. This is especially true of the civilizations of the peoples of the ancient Near East, the region of the world that covers parts of modern- day Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel.