The Pains of Pornography (Part 1)

When one sees the title of this article, rest assured he knows this will be an interesting and difficult topic. When one speaks about pornography, it is one of those topics which will easily make a person feel uncomfortable. Despite the discomfort which would occur, there is an importance behind a study of the subject. The importance may not be readily seen by many who believe there are more important things which should be discussed. “Why should we waste time on this topic?” or “We really didn’t need a sermon on this subject” are two of many things which a preacher may hear after presenting a sermon on this topic. There is still an importance behind articles and preaching on this subject. Before these series of articles are presented, the author wants to define what he means by “pornography.” It is not just the act being performed by two adults on camera. It could also be the simulated act which could be seen in a movie in an everyday theater. It could be a male or female who is half dressed in a provocative pose. It could even be a fully dressed person in these poses. That being said, the author is not merely speaking about the movies or photos which one would normally think of. Pornography can be found in a magazine focused on females in bikinis or even a catalog with fully dressed individuals.

Now that the subject is defined, it is important that one examines many of the facts of this topic. This is not all encompassing and there are some facts which have been left out for the sake of tact and taste. The author would like to encourage his readers to please do study on this topic (while being careful of what you look at) because there are many disturbing facts which are linked to the common usage of pornography.

1. When one speaks about pornography, it is important not to act in a sexist manner concerning this topic. “Sexist? How so?” may be a common question asked at this point. Often, certain topics are looked at in a sexist manner. For instance, when a preacher or Bible teacher speaks of immodesty one may easily think, “This is being directed to the females in the audience.” This is taking a sexist approach to the topic. Males can be just as immodest as female. In the same manner, males are not the only persons affected by pornography. One in three regular users of pornography are females. Considering that forty million Americans are regular users of the product, which would mean that around thirteen million females are regular users (give or take). This also shows the importance of doing study on a subject like this. As difficult as it is, there are literally millions of souls at stake just because of this one sin.
2. It is a very profitable industry as it grosses eight billion dollars in income regularly. A little over half of that is made over what one would find on the internet alone (4.9 billion). Over half of that (2.5 billion) is spent by citizens of the US alone. Every SECOND $3,075.68 is spent by 28,258 users. That being said, one could study this topic from the point of stewardship. Can one claim to be a good steward of the time and resources which have been made available to them by the Lord?
3. The least popular day out of the year for usage is Thanksgiving, while the most popular day of the week is Sunday.

These are just a few facts about the subject. As mentioned, this author stumbled across many different startling facts about this topic that he had never considered. While he is not a fan of shock value in sermons or articles, there are two which he will share.

1. As will be discussed, the usage of pornography can lead to very extravagant actions. Many of histories serial killers were porn addicts. Usage escalated to the point these individuals began watching the more “shocking” types. They began to torture small animals and eventually became what they became.
2. This was probably the most shocking of facts which was discovered. This author feels uncomfortable just typing this out. At the same time, it is a fact which must be faced and the reality is not always what one would hope. Pornography is used by those who make child pornography for a number of reasons. It is shown to the child in order to convince said child that the act which he or she is about to commit is a normal one. Over time, it also helps rewire the child’s brain to the point that he or she has lower moral inhibitions and the act become more and more natural to them.

When one considers the facts of this subject, it becomes clear that this is a dangerous thing and teaching needs to be done on the subject.