The single biggest money maker on the internet is pornography. The profits of pornography are larger than ABC, CBS, NBC, and ESPN combined! Pornography makes more money than all the studios in the American film business. The “adult entertainment” industry generates more than $12 billion in revenue per year. In 2006, of the $1.6 billion that Americans spent on pay-per-view or video-on-demand, about a third went to “sex-related entertainment.” Strip clubs, exotic “sex toys,” porn DVDs, and Internet porn have grown steadily, and with that growth has come acceptance and tolerance. There is even a porn trade show that takes place each year in Las Vegas (no surprise there!) organized by the AVN Media Network. It is a multi-day event featuring panel discussions, screenings, open forums, booths, and workshops. The tobacco industry has been attacked (and rightly so) for marketing cigarettes to young people. So where are the protests against the porn dealers and the entertainment industry for trying to get kids addicted to these very harmful cultural pollutants? While our culture seems to be more than willing to embrace porn stars like Jenna Jameson (ClubJenna, her adult entertainment empire, had revenue of $30 million in 2005), there is little mention of the “dark side” of the industry. An example of the damage done by the industry is when fathers and husbands become addicted to this garbage. There is also little mention in the mainstream media of the sheer degradation that pornography causes to everyone involved – the participants and the viewers, whose minds, expectations, and proclivities become contaminated by pornography.
Statistics reveal that an alarming 40 million adults in the United States regularly use pornography and that the average age of first exposure is at 11 years of age. This is made worse by the fact that indulging in pornography is no longer considered as being problematic or taboo in our society, and has thus become mainstream and acceptable. Pornography is readily accessible on the Internet with unrestricted access. Our youth are being subjected to evils unheard of 15 years ago. Why hasn’t our government – which seems to be aggressively interested in regulating most everything else – taken steps to protect its citizens through some sort of filter on the World Wide Web? While this may not happen in the immediate future given the economic driving force of the pornographic industry and those who would cite “freedom of speech”, this is where voices need to be heard in order to force a change. The citizens need to be protected and there should be a better understanding of what “freedom of speech” actually means.
Individuals understand that various things that are readily available to them, such as food, are safe and not (for example) poisonous. The abuse of illegal drugs (such as cocaine) leads to disaster in interpersonal relationships. Yet the most potent and addictive drug available today is pornography! Porn creates a physiological addiction resulting from the firing of certain neural pathways in the human brain. IT IS NOT HARMLESS ENTERTAINMENT! Pornography should be avoided at all costs because it can enslave an individual for a lifetime.
As a counselor for the last decade or so, I have witnessed the role pornography plays in the devastation of the lives of many individuals. This includes the sexual abuse of children, broken marriages, relationships beyond repair, men in prison for the possession of child pornography and other sexual offenses, women treated with great disrespect and as mere objects, and the social landscape littered with broken families. I have also been privileged to be a part of some remarkable stories of healing and deliverance from the jaws of this evil. This comes about because of a reordering of one’s life that is directed to God and His Revelation in His Son Jesus Christ. However, there is now a sense of urgency because of the escalation of this mind-numbing evil. Because I am so convicted in my heart to do something about it, I have decided to set aside my counseling practice and join in this cultural war for the soul of our country and the souls of our children (mine and yours). Make no mistake – there is a spiritual battle going on against evils such as abortion and pornography. Prayer must be our constant companion and weapon against pornography. But there are specific things we can all do to take this evil down and stand up to pornography.
This website will be taken down for a short period of time soon so that it may be refashioned into a site to serve as a resource for those who want ideas on how to battle pornography. There is much one can do to protect one’s family, but the problem of pornography is of such magnitude that it permeates our entire culture. It is time for leaders to rise up and call for an end to the poisoning of our society, our children, and ultimately our way of life. It is time to “Stand Up To Porn” and fight back. God be with us.