Families – Threats – Pornography

From our Introductory Post:

“The righteous have sat back and allowed the wicked to take over our relationships to God, families, churches, governments, schools and colleges, journalism, entertainment, sports, sciences, and a whole litany of other endeavors in our society.”

Families – Threats – Pornography

In our previous post we considered the topic of Threats to Families, specifically Cohabitation Before Marriage. We will now take a look at another threat to the family, Pornography.

We continue looking at areas that may create some ire among certain readers. Generally, when pet sins are exposed, even professing “christians” take exception. I am really not concerned about sparing feelings at this point so will be as objective as I can about this topic and other topics as they present threats to the family. Those who take offense need to deal with it between themselves and God.

How often have we heard, "Men, women and sometimes even children are saturated by sexual content, and more significantly, are told that it has no real effect. It's just a little amusement."? This quote from Pat Fagan, senior fellow of the Family Research Council, reveals the tension caused by the proliferation of pornography throughout our culture. Dr. Fagan in the same article, http://www.christianpost.com/article/20091202 , details some of the negative effects of pornography summarized by the statement, "pornography corrodes the conscience, promotes distrust between husbands and wives and debases untold thousands of young women."

Jill C. Manning, M.S., in testimony before a U.S. Senate committee in November, 2005, detailed the negative effects of pornography as related to the family.

“1. Increased marital distress, and risk of separation and divorce,
2. Decreased marital intimacy and sexual satisfaction,
3. Infidelity
4. Increased appetite for more graphic types of pornography and sexual activity associated with abusive, illegal or unsafe practices,
5. Devaluation of monogamy, marriage and child rearing,
6. An increasing number of people struggling with compulsive and addictive sexual behaviour.” ( http://www.heritage.org/research/family/tst111405a.cfm?renderforprint=1 )

With all of these negative effects documented and intuitively known it is fair to ask why pornography continues to be tolerated by our nation. First Amendment considerations aside, a report from PBS’s Frontline is insightful here:

“It's one of the hottest industries in America. Easier to order at home than a pizza, bigger than rock music, it's arguably the most profitable enterprise in cyberspace. AT&T has been in the business. Yahoo! has profited from it. Westin and Marriott have made more money selling it than selling snacks and drinks in their mini-bars. And with estimates as high as $10 billion a year, it boasts the kind of earnings that most American businesses would envy.” (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/porn/view/ )

It would seem the real bottom line regarding pornography, as with most things, is the bottom line. There is simply too much money being made from this industry to get anyone in authority to do anything substantive about.

The solution here is found in the Biblical admonitions, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,” (2 Corinthians 6:17) and “For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.” (1 Thessalonians 4:7) among others. By simply saying no to many of the offerings of the media and the Internet and replacing them with God’s Word, wholesome books, DVDs, downloads, films, etc. we can overcome the negative effects of the plague of pornography in our families.

Summary

This post has examined Pornography as a major threat to families. We discovered that the solution is found not only in observing Biblical injunctions but providing positive practical alternatives to the programming offered by the typical media outlets and the Internet. Our next post will take a look at another threat to families, Morality not Being Taught in Schools.

I remain yours in the name of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Name above every name.

“Mr. Phil”