Pornography -- What's Wrong with It?

by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson

Free E-mail Bible Study Bible study Humility: Disciple's Guide to a Humble Life

Along with the "free sex" movement that began in the '60s came a loosening of restrictions on pornography. If "looking on a woman to commit adultery with her in your heart" (Matthew 5:28) is Jesus' definition of the spirit of adultery, then pornography fits the description precisely, defined as: "the depiction of erotic behavior (as in pictures or writing) intended to cause sexual excitement."1

Where pornography was once available only in sleazy porn shops, today it has become common in our society, abundant in libraries, bookshops, and video stores -- now piped into homes on the Internet and cable television..

There are no victims here, argue the pornographers and their allies. An increasing body of evidence disagrees. While a portion of the feminist movement supports pornography as a free speech issue, a significant slice opposes pornography as degrading and dangerous to women. Here are some of the arguments against pornography:

  1. Pornography helps men view women as mere sex objects.
  2. Pornography lowers moral values in individuals and society resulting in the acceptability and/or legalization of prostitution, fornication, adultery, and other sexual perversions.
  3. Pornography creates unrealistic expectations of sex and sexual practices that spouses may be unable or unwilling to fulfill.
  4. Pornography isolates sexual fulfillment from a caring relationship with another human being, rendering it essentially selfish.
  5. Pornography exploits young women's naiveté and need for money, prostituting images of their bodies to fulfill men's lusts.
  6. Pornography is linked to crimes of rape, incest, and sexual abuse of children.
  7. The pornographic industry is increasingly controlled by organized crime.
  8. Pornography can become psychologically addictive, leading many men to crave more and more bizarre sexual fantasies to stimulate them.

As our society embraces pornography as a harmless outlet, it can't help but increase problems of individuals and society as a whole.

Who are the "victims" whom Satan deceives and pollutes through pornography?

  • The women who pose.
  • The men who view and become addicted despite their shame.
  • The wives who suffer isolation, shame, and assault.
  • The children who are abused.
  • The women who are raped.
  • The society that bears the cumulative pain of divorce, crime, and disorder.

Victims? We all are victims.

Breaking Free from Lust and Lure

If you have been captured by a habit of lust or pornography, how do you break free? It is difficult. If you have practiced a habit over a period of years, you will not break it in a moment. It will take determination and a healthy dose of God's grace to cleanse you when you fail. But it is possible to break free from lust. Here are some steps that can help.

  1. Call an attraction to pornography what it is -- adultery of the heart -- a spiritual addiction.
  2. Understand something of the nature of the addiction. For example, what is the "love hunger" that pornography feeds and what are the "triggers" that result in viewing of pornography?2
  3. Come to a firm conviction that lust is wrong. Deal with each of the rationalizations you have made for your sin. Write them down to look at when you are tempted.
  4. Stop feeding your lust. Get rid of anything in your home that triggers this lust.
  • Throw out any pornographic materials you possess.
  • Until you get victory over this it may involve cutting off the cable capability that pipes pornography into your home.
  • Ask the phone company block all 900 number calls.
  • Purchase a service that filters out pornography from your computers -- not just for your children's sake, but for your sake as well.3
  1. Share with someone close to you your struggle with this sin and become accountable to this person.
  • Ask for this person's prayer support and confess your sins to him (James 5:16).
  • Seek counsel for your problem from a pastor or Christian counselor.
  1. Use the weapons of prayer, scripture reading, and fasting.
  2. Accept God's grace and complete forgiveness toward you as his child, even if you fall and sin again. The woman taken in adultery didn't hear condemnation from Jesus, but love and encouragement: "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more" (John 8:11).
Sermon on the Mount: The Jesus Manifesto, by Ralph F. Wilson
Sermon on the Mount: The Jesus Manifesto is available in paperback and ebook formats

References

  1. Merriam-Webster's 11th Collegiate Dictionary (2003).
  2. You may find some help from Dennis Rupert's "Weapons for the War Against Lust and Sexual Immorality" (www.new-life.net/lustwar1.htm). Other help can be found at ManOnTheRoad.org (www.manontheroad.org),
  3. Covenant Eyes (www.covenanteyes.com) is software that e-mails a report of Internet sites you view to the accountability partner of your choice.

 

Sermon on the Mount Bible Study

Copyright © 2024, Ralph F. Wilson. <pastor@joyfulheart.com> All rights reserved. A single copy of this article is free. Do not put this on a website. See legal, copyright, and reprint information.

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