Pornography as a Spiritual AND Public Health Crisis
But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:28
If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Matthew 18:6
The State of Louisiana just established a new law. It now requires pornography sites to require government ID for age verification before entering a site. While this might not seem like much, it provides a significant obstacle for minors in visiting sites. While the new law is intended to make such sites harder for children to access, the specter of providing government ID (which would be kept in the digital world somewhere) to enter a site might cause some adults to pause as well.
Pornography is not new. It has existed since ancient times. It was painted on the walls of the volcano-entombed city of Pompeii. As soon as photography was invented, it was co-opted by pornographers for their evil endeavors.
The problem with pornography today is the easy accessibility and just the overwhelming amount of it out there and available. It is impossible for parents to protect their children from it. Yes, I said impossible. If you have small children and you think you will be able to keep them from seeing it through their late teen years, you are wrong, just plain wrong. Your only present option is to teach them what it is, warn them against it, show them how to avoid it and hold them accountable.
What is interesting now is that the general culture is seeing the mental health damage that pornography brings. Consider the fact that the Louisiana house passed this bill 96-1, the state senate 34-0, and a left-leaning governor who has no problems with vetoing conservative legislation signed the law without argument. Other states have passed similar legislation including Montana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Utah, Virginia, and Texas. Some have passed the laws unanimously.
People in the US are getting fed up with porn.
We understand the spiritual implications of pornography, but it also has health and mental health implications and these are disconnected from each other. Jordan Peterson, maybe the most well-known clinical psychologist in the world said this about pornography.
You know, cause it’s super satiation. And it’s a non-trivial technological problem, you know. It’s now possible for a young man to look at more beautiful nude woman in one day than any man has ever seen, prior to 10 years ago, 20 years ago—that any man in history had ever seen. That’s not nothing. That’s something. And to think that doesn’t do anything to you. It’s like—no, that likely does something to you.
There are so many consequences of pornography. It interferes with the sexual relationship in marriage, it keeps young men (and young women) from seeking real relationships with real people, it contributes to the marriage crisis, the baby crisis, and the declining population crisis. It creates a warped sense of what sexual relations are all about and destroys humanity to truly enjoy the sexual relationship as God intended.
There are some interesting things we learn about pornography and the role it plays in our present culture.
Technology, long considered the scientific answer to humanity’s problems, has had a huge role in making problems bigger. This is because technology amplifies whatever it touches. It can make ministry easier, but it can also make sin easier. Humanity’s problems are not technological, they are spiritual. It is a heart problem.
Humanity is committing suicide. Western culture is committing suicide and shouting with joy as it happens. Like the fentanyl addicts lining the streets of our major cities, we are on our way to oblivion and most do not care anymore. The neutering effects of homosexuality, transgenderism, and pornography paired with abortion and anti-marriage sentiment has led to a population crisis. Consider South Korea as reported in the Guardian on Feb 2, 2023.
A South Korean woman can now expect to have an average of 0.78 children in her lifetime – the lowest level since records were first kept in 1970 – making South Korea the only country in the world with a fertility rate below one.
It just takes a little math to see the problem. With a birth rate halving the population in every generation, the ramifications for future generations is evident. Who will care for the elderly? Mathematically, populations could collapse altogether. Biblically we know that will not happen.
People can communicate with one another now more than ever, but they are lonelier than ever. Satan has succeeded in substituting fake digital experiences for the true companionship that God created for Adam and Eve in the Garden.
The biblical mandates regarding marriage, the family, human sexuality, adultery, and even lust are interconnected, intended by the Creator for our good. They are not restrictions established by a cosmic killjoy to destroy our fun as the immature and irresponsible 1960s generation claimed. God gave us these commands for our benefit, so that we might prosper, so that our families could grow up secure, and so that we could enjoy the beauties of marital companionship through the end of our earthly lives.
The command to keep ourselves sexually pure, including abstaining from viewing pornography, is God’s gracious gift given to you for your good.
Do not let Satan mess it up for you.
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