The reasons against viewing pornography are countless! In short, pornography does three things:
(1) Severs your relationship with the Lord.
When a person views pornography, he or she breaks one of the Ten Commandments: "Thou shall not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14). Our Lord states in Matthew 5:27-28 that pornography is equally offensive as adultery. Jesus taught, "You have heard it said, 'You shall not commit adultery'. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery in his heart".
Our Lord makes it clear that desires of the flesh are against the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-17) and that giving into these desires are evil. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21).
Pornography does not allow a person to be chaste – which is what the Lord wants for us. We are not being pure in our thoughts and actions. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23). The key words are “faithfulness” (to remain pure for our future or current spouse) and “self-control” (not giving into self-gratification through porn and masturbation).
Pornography destroys the holiness of marriage. The purpose of sex is to either conceive a child (Genesis 1:27) or consummate a marriage (Mark 10:7-8). On the other hand, everyone involved in pornography does not recognize their God-given responsibility to only have sex for these two reasons.
Also, sex in pornography is casual and selfish – it shows people self-gratifying themselves outside of marriage. The Lord commands that sex be only within marriage because it is faithful, permanent, exclusive, and not selfish. Christ taught in reply to the Pharisees’ question about divorce: "Have you not read that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female, and declared, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and the two shall become as one’? Thus they are no longer two but one flesh" (Matthew 19:4-6).
(2) Attempts to destroy your personal life.
Pornography is addictive just like alcohol or drugs. Pornography provides a very powerful sexual stimulant or aphrodisiac effect, followed by sexual release, when it is used to masturbate.
Your heart and mind are changed by pornography. Pornography is a fantasy world where there is no true love – no self-giving to another person. Women (and possibly children) are viewed as sex objects who enjoy being used by men for sexual pleasure.
After seeing rape, children molested, or physical abuse in pornography, a person may begin to accept and do these very things after viewing them for a long time.
Your marriage and family may be destroyed as you attempt to impose the things you see being done in pornography on your wife or husband. Several stories from formerly porn-addicted men prove this to be true. Find them at Men Against Pornography
(3) Attempts to destroy our society.
AIDS and venereal diseases do not exist in the world of pornography.
Live porn and porn shops increase rape, prostitution, child abuse, domestic violence in the home, and lower the quality of neighborhoods (Uniform Crime Report, 1990).
Major reason for crime in the United States: 1 out of every 6 persons in our federal and state prisons is a sex offender, and sex crimes are second only to drug crimes.
Pornography is an $8 billion business (U.S. News & World Report, 1997).
Children exposed to pornography on the Internet: 70% of children viewing porn on Internet while in school or library (The Internet Online Summit, 1997).
WHAT CAN WE DO?
As Christians, we have to:
(1) Reject any pornographic thoughts or images.
(2) Carefully select movies, books, and music.
(3) Pray for chastity.
An excellent place for help if you are addicted to porn or know someone who is: National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families
Keith
Editors Note: While the consumption of pornography leads to a higher than average incidence of sexual crimes, the incidence of rape and other sexual crimes correlates higher with the consumption of outdoors magazines than with the consumption of pornographic magazines.
Nikki