You've ever looked at pornography, on TV, the Internet, or a magazine.
or You don't think that porn depicting consenting adults is a problem.
If you're a man reading this, then odds are you fall into category #1 (above). I have yet to meet a guy that has not looked at porn at one time or another. Maybe they were young and curious, or maybe an experienced friend told them where to find it. The point is that we were fed it young.
As the years went on, a blessed few of us realized that we were heading down a dark path and veered off. Most didn't. Years later, many of us were still plagued by this disease of the mind. Are you on this path right now? Are you apathetic towards other people allowing their minds to go this way? Let me open a window to the future for you.
I have spoken with a number of guys and girls over the internet, who in anonymosity freely give out personal information about their lives - just not identifying information. Some of them just needed someone to listen, and some of them were trying to help others break from their chains. The consistant theme that I have gotten from these conversations is this - porn is a slippery slope. Everyone starts soft-core, but after a while that soft stuff just doesn't give you the same thrill. It's like alchohol - the more you drink, the more it takes to get that same buzz.
Once soft-core porn no longer does it for you, you turn to hardcore. This is a fast and likely unnoticed progression, as this is the most popular and most easily accesible form on the net today. Once a guy is into this, they likely are disgusted by seeing their own gender in the nude and will turn to lesbian porn so all they see is women. This horny mindset somehow ovverides your understanding of right and wrong, allowing you to lower your standards for a short time. Adding alchohol in the mix just makes this progression faster.
As sad as this progression is, it doesn't end here. Gay, orgie (groups), and strange fetishes (unusual sex) begin to pervade. This is the line that most people would agree publicly is quite disgusting. But you see, when you're hooked on porn, you'll never stay at one level - you keep getting sucked in deeper.
Abuse, control, rape, gang rape, and bestiality (sex with animals) is the second-last category of porn. This is inhumanly perverted, and no God-fearing man could possibly do any of these things. Not to say of course that they couldn't glance at them. They do. They shouldn't, but many do. To watch a sin and to take part in it are two seperate, and yet equal acts. God makes it clear in the Bible that thinking of sin and committing a sinful act bears the same penalty.
The most horrific and disgusting level of porn is child pornography, also know as kiddie porn. This vilest of evils is so disgusting that a conscience-driven man could kill himself before allowing his eyes to see it. Some have, i'm sure. The thing that we as society needs to realize is, not all people who look at this crap are perverts. God makes it clear that they are sinners, but they are also human beings who have been caught up in the lie that porn doesn't hurt anybody.
Watching a man and a woman having sex may seem like nothing more than a sexual charge, but it is really a beast in disguise.
I want to clarify something - I believe that a human being who has any grip on conscience could not possibly commit acts portrayed in child porn media. Such people should be locked away and held up to the glory of God, come fire or mercy. I do however pity those who have fallen into the imagery - those who watch but do not do. They are fathers, sons, teachers, pastors, and other trusted men that wouldn't dare commit such a sin, and yet are drawn into it just the same.
For these men - at any level of porn, whether it be soft or worse, GET HELP! Your mind is being changed by what you allow to enter your eyes, and every second you spend perverting your mind is another day of your future that you'll have to fight it.
For teens and young adults, I highly reccommend you buy and read Every Young Man's Battle.
This is the official website where you can buy the book,
or you can buy it here at Amazon.com.
For older men, as well as married men, read Every Man's Battle. Your fight isn't over - it's just beginning!
Official Website
Amazon.com
Also, you can visit Setting Captives Free for a free course on breaking the chains that porn has created in your life. They also provide a counsellor - very helpful!
You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery"; but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. - Matthew 5:27-28 (NASB)
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2 comments:
Mike,
I couldn't agree with you more. This subject above any other troubles me most. There are several serious problems with pornography. The first is the fact that is is truly addictive, just like drugs or alcohol, or any other addictive substance or act. The addiction is centered around both emotional and physical stimuli. Emotionally, the "fantasy" is that the participants in the image are posing for you specifically. It's their "partcicpation" in the act. The second is truly physical, but it is tied directly to another emotional problem, loneliness. Physically, the brain becomes engulfed in endorphins upon orgasm, providing a sense of, well...I think most folks know what that's like. It's very pleasurable, to be blunt. Just like getting a buzz from alcohol or pot, or the rush of adrenaline from crack or speed. It truly does feel good for a time. It relieves those very real and very unpleasant feelings of loneliness and low self-esteem that plague all addicts.
The second is that people become objects of gratification. Women no longer appear as individuals who have feelings and dreams and thoughts of their own. They become sex objects who's sole purpose is to feed the addict's fantasy world, where they are god. Where others serve them. Where others prostitute themselves to them. You have to admit, there are few acts that are less submissive than sex. You are allowing another person access to your body. Otherwise, it's called rape.
I am really concerned for girls growing up today. I am concerned about what boys are being taught about sex and about females through what they see online. The same holds true for women, don't get me wrong. It certainly takes two, and I know men aren't lusting after the same photos of only a few promiscuous women. It's hundreds, even thousands of women who are participating in this horrible problem. It used to be true that if a person wanted to see a photo of a naked person or a porn film, they had to physically go to an adult bookstore or subscribe to it through the mail. Point being, it was available, but not so easily accessible and MUCH more difficult for minors to obtain. NOT SO ANY MORE. In fact, many pron sites are purposefully designed with the intent of bringing in the UNSUSPECTING viewer. Take whitehouse.com, for example. How many innocent, unsuspecting children have been tricked into viewing explicit sexual acts through this kind of malfeasance? It's well past time responsible adults (parents--I'm talking to YOU) take on this problem.
Talk to your kids.
Sorry--didn't mean to highjack your thread. :)
Not at all, Kris! Good input.
The important summary that I draw from this is:
Porn is all about false intimacy and control.
To conquer it, we need healthy relationships to replace the unhealthy ones.
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