Attacks On The Family - Part II
March 2022 |
Another attack on the family is immorality. Not only did God create marriage but He also created sex and sexual relations between husbands and wives. The purpose of these sexual relations is to have children (Gen. 1:28, 7, 9:1, 35:11) and intimacy in the husband-wife relationship (Gen. 2:24, Matt. 19:5, Mark 10:7-8, I Cor. 6:16, Eph. 5:31). Since they were created by God, any degrading of sex is not only an attack on marriage and family but also an attack on God and is prohibited as sin by God (Gal. 5:19-21, I Cor. 6:9, Rom. 1:24-31, Col. 3:5-7, Mark 7:20)
One form of such immorality is pornography. Webster defines pornography as, “The depiction of erotic behavior (as in pictures or writing) intended to cause sexual excitement.”
Jesus said, “Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matt. 5:28).
This emphasizes that all sin—including evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, and lasciviousness—are sins in a person’s heart before they lead to actions (Mark. 7:21-22).
This is what happens with pornography. It tempts people by drawing them away or enticing them to sin through evil desires that are already in their hearts (James 1:14).
How Widespread Is Pornography?
Consider these statistics1:
- Twelve percent of websites on the internet are porno-
graphic—that’s 24,644,172 sites.
- Porn sites receive more regular traffic than Netflix, Amazon, and Twitter combined each month.
- Pornography is a $97 billion-dollar industry worldwide—$12 billion-dollar industry in the U. S. That’s larger than all the combined revenues of all professional football, baseball, and basketball franchises, and more than CBS, NBC, and ABC combined.
- Fifty percent of Christian men are addicted to pornography despite knowing and believing that it is dehumanizing.
What Are Some Results Of Pornography?
Scientific studies reveal the following:
- Research shows that pornography consumption is linked to unstable relationships, increased risk of infidelity, and greater likelihood of divorce…. Men who are exposed to pornography find their partner less sexually attractive and rate themselves as less in love with their partner.2
- Through research, scientists have proven that pornography affects the brain in the same way drugs do. Watching porn literally will neurologically rewire your brain. Pornography has a profound impact from the first time it is viewed, and eventually it causes a build up of tolerance to the graphic material being watched developing into a craving for more and more graphic types of pornography.3
- The more someone uses this pathway, the more intense their longing for it will be. After a while they will long for more frequent and higher levels of stimulation.4
- In many cases, the wives of pornography users develop deep psychological wounds, commonly reporting feelings of betrayal, loss, mistrust, devastation, and anger in responses to the discovery or disclosure of a partner’s pornographic online sexual activity.5
- Wives can begin to feel unattractive or sexually inadequate and may become severely depressed when they realize their husbands view pornography.6
- Viewers of pornography assign increased importance to sexual relations without emotional involvement,7 and consequently, wives experience decreased intimacy from their husbands.8
- Prolonged exposure to pornography also fosters dissatisfaction with, and even distaste for, a spouse’s affection.9
- Finally, pornography users increasingly see the institution of marriage as sexually confining,10 have a diminished belief in the importance of marital faithfulness11 and have increasing doubts about the value of marriage as an essential institution and further doubts about its future viability.13
- All this naturally diminishes the importance for them of having good family relations in their own families.13
- Since pornography encourages sexually permissive attitudes and behavior, users of pornography have a higher likelihood of contracting a sexually transmitted disease or fathering an out-of-wedlock pregnancy.14
What Is God’s Answer For Pornography?
God’s answer for pornography is the same as for all sin—an ongoing, personal relationship with God through faith in who Christ is and what He did on the cross (Eph. 2:8-9; Luke 9:23; Gal. 5:16; Col. 2:6).
From there, the main defenses against pornography are close family life, a good marriage, and good relations between parents and children, coupled with deliberate parental monitoring of internet use.15
SOURCES
1 Samantha Gallo, “The Effect Of Pornography On Families,” Human Defense Initiative, Jan. 5, 2019, https://humandefense.com/the-effect-of-pornography-on-families/
2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid.
5 Pat Fagan, “The Effects of Pornography on Individuals, Marriage, Family, and Community,” Family Research Council, December 2009, https://downloads.frc.org/EF/EF21A12.pdf
6 Ibid. 7 Ibid. 8 Ibid. 9 Ibid. 10 Ibid.
11 Ibid. 12 Ibid. 13 Ibid. 14 Ibid. 15 Ibid.
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