Pornography as Pollution
One of the arguments against polluting our world is that we are playing with the future. To introduce unnatural or foreign substances into a complex eco-system will have an affect. Much of the time we don’t know the impact it will have on the future until the future arrives. Because we value the environment, many believe it is not worth the risk. As an example of this logic, think of ad images used by those opposed to Pebble Mine.
This same logic applies to the usage of pornography. The human mind has a huge capacity for taking in tremendous amounts of information and images. It is like a complex eco-system, able to handle a variety of situations without permanent damage. But what happens if it gets polluted? What affect does viewing porn have on the future of the viewer and those around them? With the proliferation of internet porn usage in the last ten years, we are beginning to find out. We are in the beginning stages of learning what will be made increasingly clear in the years ahead, and the news is not looking good.
The Witherspoon Institute has just published The Social Costs of Pornography. The authors are diverse in background: from conservative to liberal, from atheists to Jews, Christians, and Muslims. They include specialists in medicine, psychology, psychiatry, sociology and law. The report summarizes what we know to date of the impact of porn on this first generation of internet users. Here are some of the findings relating to men, women, and children, as well as some of what I have observed as a pastor.
Men who use porn will often view sexual activity that, at one time in their lives, they would have found unconscionable. What once shocked and disgusted can now be exciting. They will often demand this kind of activity from their spouses, implying this is the new normal in sexual behavior. Studies show this often leads men to become visually desensitized to their wives’ bodies. Sex, which is designed to be the most relational thing we can do as humans, becomes drained of relationship.
As to whether porn use can be classified as an addiction, there are experts on both sides. As someone who has listened to men talk about porn use, I see all the signs of addiction: denial, preoccupied thoughts, acting out, shame, self-loathing and an inclination to increase the dose. Many men feel trapped and want to stop using. They realize it is not good for their sex life and ultimately leads to a loss of closeness with their spouse. In some cases, not only does it affect their relationships, their compulsivity may also lead to loss of job, having great impact on the family.
For women who find out their husbands are using porn, research shows the most common reactions are anger, loss of trust, and devastation. Not surprisingly, this is contributing to divorce statistics as well. There is also statistical correlation between porn use and the following: extra-marital affairs, health risks, prostitution, less happiness in marriage, and aggression. By using MRI scans to analyze brain activity in men viewing porn, Susan Fiske at Princeton University has shown that men using porn look at women more as objects than as human beings. In addition, those women who viewed porn themselves were more likely to struggle with self-image. Truly, women are hurt by pornography.
The impact of pornography on children should be a major concern to everyone. First of all, if porn use leads to more affairs, divorce, and conflicted homes, this hurts children. If mom or dad has an addiction to porn, like any addiction, it will work to undermine the health of the family. Second, it’s availability to kids with a smart phone or iPad is immediate, anywhere, anytime. To have a laissez- faire or nonchalant attitude about what porn may be doing to kids is the height of negligent parenting. A study by Columbia University found that 45% of teens have friends who regularly use internet pornography. Psychologists are seeing pre-adolescents treated for sex-addiction, something not seen before the internet. Please, let’s protect our children.
There is a myth that “what I do in private doesn’t hurt others.” That is simply not true. When you pollute yourself, you, a social human being in relationship with others, will pollute those you love. Just like smoking, you can choose to smoke, but second-hand smoke can harm others’ lives. You can choose to use porn, but you will hurt those you love. In a world where love is already in short supply, porn puts love at risk. ~ Pastor Mark