Don’t be an idiot - Pornography hurts marriages. You can get a bunch of ACLU flag-burners and Librarians together who will swear up and down that what really harms people is not exposure to deviant sex, but repression of natural human impulses. If you’ve ever been exposed to pornography, you know better.
Marriage needs to be defended against pornography for several reasons:
1) Porn breaks the marriage covenant. If you are lusting after women (or men) with your heart, you have already committed adultery. There are no ifs, ands, or buts – no excuses – no victimless crimes - You have violated the promise you made to your spouse and to your God.
2) Porn increases the desire for private sexual actions. Porn is an addictive spiral. You may think you can control yourself, but the data shows that over time you will need more quantity and graphic quality to maintain the same level of excitement and satisfaction. Sexual behavior apart from the marriage relationship is condemned in scripture.
3) Excessive masturbation (for men) has one of two effects. It will either desensatize you to sexual activity (thus decreasing your ability to perform sexually) or it will train your body for premature ejaculation (thus decreasing your ability to please your partner). Either way, you violate your wife's access to her "marital rights." Your body is not your own.
4) Studies show that long exposure to pornography leads to increased instances of anger and manipulative behavior. It leads to lower respect for the opposite sex and supressed emotions. These are not qualities that contribute to successful marriages.
5) Porn violates the dignity of persons. You are denigrated as one who is rebelling against what God created you to be. You dishonor your spouse by focusing attention and sexual energy away from the marriage bed. You also support the industry that subjects people to humiliating behavior for commercial gain. As you look at porn – imagine your daughter or sister being forced to pose by an overbearing boyfriend or because she can’t make her rent this month. These women are somebody’s family members. They are created in the image of God and you support their explotation.
Q. Great. Porn is bad for marriage, but so is death by automobile accident. Why do we need a whole day on this blog to defend marriage against it?
A. Because it is becoming more prevalent and the industry is targeting you.
Of course porn is addictive. If it was not, the “first one is free” approach would not be used so often - and the industry knows it. Addiction is why porn continues to grow and expand. Like reflections of Satan, porn pushers are always on the prowl, working to deceive, trying to get men (& women) to stray. One industry insider describes how far-reaching porn has become – and that it was the Presidency of Bill Clinton that made it possible for porn to become firmly entrenched in modern American Culture – while complaining of new self-regulatory practices the industry is implementing to keep porn mainline.
Many ACLU-types help the porn industry by promoting an agenda of loose morals and attempting to steer discussions of the harmful effects of sexually deviant materials toward the Free Speech bandwaggon. They boldly engage in the typical selective recall and doubletalk, but not all feminists will agree their slutty sisters.
Pornography is not just harmless fun. It is a destructive force that is being pushed into the lives of everyday Americans at an aggressive pace. Sex sells – movies, tv, advertisements, etc – all trying to redefine your reality to pull you into the World and keep you from Christ. Soulless executives working for profit at the expense of decency, morality, and family. If you do not work to combat this evil, it will find and affect you. It cannot simply be ignored.
Porn is selfish. Marriage is selfless.
Porn destroys. Marriage builds up.
Porn limits. Marriage increases.
Porn violates marriage.
Defend your marriage (and yourself) against the pornography industry.