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PORNOGRAPHY- A SOCIAL TSUNAMI
Pornography. What is it? What is the definition of pornography? Some describe it as legal poison, the new marriage wrecker, or the next social tsunami. It has the characteristics of these and more. Illegal internet child pornography has become a multi-billion dollar business, and fuels the desires of sexual predators and pedophiles, nationwide. What has changed over the course of the last 50 years? Why does the Playboy magazine in the plain brown envelope tucked away under the sofa seem rather tame by today's standards?
First of all, with advent of technology and the internet, the medium has changed. Over the course of a 4 year period, the number of porn sites on the internet increased from 70,000 to 4,200,000, with over 400 million pages of pornography to view. This accounts for 12% of all sites. Why? What is the motivation? We can't help but believe that this is the work of the evil one. And the enticement is financial gain, the money.
Worldwide pornography is a $97 billion industry, that is greater revenue than Major League Baseball, the NFL, and the NBA combined, or revenues generated by CBS, NBC, and ABC combined.United States exceeds $13 billion, which is 4 times North Dakota's annual state government budget.
So what is wrong with 40 million Americans viewing a legal product on the internet, daily? Isn't it harmless, only responding to curiosity and attempts to gain knowledge? After all no one is forcing anyone to view it or become involved.
So how is it that 40 million Americans viewed pornography on the internet? Most were not. The tools of the pornographers are limited only by their imagination and the technology at their disposal.
Is pornography addictive? Once the user becomes trapped, the progression begins; addiction, desensitization, escalation, and finally acting out their fantasies. They come to believe sex, love, and intimacy are equal, children should have sex, laws should not govern their wild desires, and women are nothing more than sport.
Pornography affects men by changing their view of women, implanting the desire for unobtainable perfection and satisfaction, and aggression. It leads to isolation, lies, denial, and a secret life of shame. And because of the impact visual images have on the brain, they can be affected long after seeking to escape this terrible scourge.
So how should we define pornography? Of those who become addicted, one in four will lose their job as a result of a pornography related incident.
Is it the new marriage wrecker? Perhaps the most pervasive effect of pornography has to do with desensitizing and dehumanizing the intimate relationship necessary for a healthy marriage, and replacing it with mistrust and deception.
Is it a social tsunami? No one is immune or safe. The average age of a child's initial exposure to pornography is 8 years old. It is not just on the internet, its in the movie theaters, motel room X rated rental offerings, in printed material, on I Pods, and television.
So what are we to do? It must start in our home with our family, and then in a meaningful way be addressed in our churches and schools.
And, oh by the way, a dictionary definition of pornography is: sexually explicit pictures, writings, or other material whose primary purpose is to cause sexual arousal. How God must grieve as He sees this beautiful gift of intimacy He has created, used by the evil one to morally attack the family and destroy the culture.
Tom Freier is the Executive Director of the North Dakota Family Alliance.
Some of the above articles may require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.
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