Pornography refers to showing or describing sex in a lot of detail in materials like movies, music, magazines, on television, video games, smartphones, mobile devices, websites and now online photo-sharing services to arouse the viewer reader or listener sexually.
It can include pictures as well as written and audio materials. It looks like pornography is a prominent feature of popular culture. More people in more places are consuming more pornography than at any other time in history. The nature of pornography is also changing. Professor GAIL Dines writes: “Images today have now become so extreme that what used to be considered hard-core is now mainstream pornography.”
How do you view it? Is pornography a harmless pastime, a deadly poison, evil or something in between?
Facts About Pornography
- Every year, the global pornography industry generates an estimated 100 billion dollars (USA)
- Every month, nearly 9 out of 10 young men and 3 out of 10 young women in the United States view pornography.
- Everyday, an average of two million pornographic movies are rented in the United States alone.
- Every hour, nearly two hard-core pornographic videos are released in the United States alone.
- Every minute, internet users send more than 1.7 million pornographic e-mails.
- Every second, nearly 30,000 people view pornographic web sites.
How Pornography Affect Families
Wendy and Larry Maltz in “the Porn Trap” says “couples and families break up over porn.”
Pornography damages marriages and families by
- Undermining Marital Trust, Intimacy And Love.
Proverbs 2:12 -17 says: “ Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.
It will save you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words, who was left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God.
- Promoting Selfishness, Emotional Aloofness And Dissatisfaction With Ones Mate. Ephesians 5:28, 29 says: “In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church.”
- Feeling Unhealthy Sexual Fantasies And Cravings.
2 Peter 2:14 says: “With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed – an accursed brood!”
- Tempting Users To Force Objectionable Sex Practice On Their Mate.
Ephesians 5: 3, 4: “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.”
- Promoting Emotional And Physical Infidelity.
Mathew – 5: 28 says: “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
The Bible tells marriage mates not to “deal treacherously with each other (Malachi 2: 16). Infidelity is the kind of treachery that can devastate a marriage and lead to separation and divorce. Such breakups, in turn, harm the children from the marriage.
To sum up: pornography poisons loving relationships and ultimately brings heartache and pain. Proverbs 6:27, 28 says: “Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?”
How Does Pornography Affect Individuals
Pornography is highly addictive with some researchers and therapists even likening it to crack cocaine. A man called John who was hooked on Internet pornography says: “Nothing would stop me. I felt like I was in some sort of trance. I would literally shake and develop pains in my head. I struggled to stop, but years later I was still addicted.”
People who indulge in pornography often cover up their habit. They are secretive and deceitful. Not surprisingly, many suffer from feelings of isolation, shame, anxiety, depression and anger. In some cases they even develop suicidal tendencies. “My mood because self-absorbed and desperate. I felt worthless, guilty, alone, and trapped. I was too embarrassed and scared to seek help,” says John, who downloaded porn to his mobile phone almost daily.
Even a fleeting or accidental brush with pornography can have a negative impact. Testifying before a US senate committee, Dr. Judith Riesman, a leading researcher on pornography, said: “pornographic visual images imprint and alter the brain, triggering an instant, involuntary, but lasting, biochemical memory trail that is difficult or impossible to delete.” Martha 19, who was exposed to pornographic wed site, says “the images are engraved on my mind. They pop up unexpectedly. It feels like I will never completely be able to erase them.”
To sum up:
Pornography endangers emotionally and cause great emotional turmoil on its victims.
2 Peter 2: 19 says: “They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity – for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.”
Bible’s View About Pornography
Colossians: 5 says: “Deaden, therefore your body members…… as respects fornication, uncleanness, sexual appetite, hurtful desire and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
In Other Words God Hates Pornography.
This is not because he is prudish about sex. He created our sexual powers and purposed that marriage mates use them for the sake of pleasing one another, drawing close emotionally and sharing the wonder of bringing children into the world.
James 1: 17 says: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
(To be continued)
Rose Corner
…with Rose Hansey
