The Digital Invasion (Part 4) - Internet Pornography

XII. Internet pornography 1. "The greatest threat to the body of Christ, to the church, to families, and to the individual Christian is the pervasive, destructive pornography available through the Internet." (Josh McDowell) 2. Internet pornography is an evil invention of men which people go a whoring after (Psa 106:39). 3. Pornography used to be harder to get. A. It required going to a store and buying a magazine in person. B. This was a deterrent to decent people. C. Then it became available on the internet in the privacy of one's home. D. This made it easier to obtain, but it was still mildly risky because there was only a family computer in a common area of the house. E. Then laptops, smartphones, and tablets came out and porn became accessible anywhere, anytime in the privacy of your own bedroom, etc. 4. The addictiveness of pornography A. Internet porn is different than "traditional" porn. i. "Internet porn has several aspects that distinguish it from other pornography as well as other addictive substances. Unlike porn in other media, net porn doesn't come in physical formats that must be acquired (and concealed), carry a high cost of ownership, and offer little in the way of variety before becoming "stale". Online porn is potentially endless, and often free – users are not limited to whichever magazines or DVDs they can afford. And unlike addictive drugs, for instance, most internet porn is fully legal to view. The barriers to accessing net porn anytime, anywhere, are largely nonexistent: it's always just a click away." (The Nofap Experiment: A Voyage Through Porn Addiction, Support, And Recovery, ProjectKnow.com) ii. "The internet is ubiquitous, its contents on-demand, making it the perfect medium for the porn industry. It has also demolished any social barrier of having to purchase porn in-person from a shop or adult store – internet porn allows its viewers to remain safely anonymous (or as anonymous as anyone can be online) in the comfort of their own homes." (Ibid) iii. "WebMD reports that an astounding 420 MILLION web pages contain pornographic material. ********.com, the second-largest porn site on the web, receives 100 million page views a day, and serves 4,000 VIDEOS a second during its peak hours. This one site receives an astounding 2% of the internet’s total traffic." (Ibid) B. The Coolidge Effect i. "Male sexual response follows a well-established pattern known as the Coolidge effect. As demonstrated in rats and other animals, a male will enthusiastically have sex with a female he's been newly placed with – but before long, he'll become accustomed to her, and less interested in sex. However, if she's replaced with a new female, the process restarts, and the male will once again be just as enthusiastic about having sex with her as he had been with his previous mate." (Ibid) ii. "This is a novelty-seeking behavior: a new female mate is largely more stimulating and exciting than mates that the male has been with before. The effect is so pronounced that, with new females, the post-sex refractory period of males is substantially reduced - allowing them to have more sex, more frequently. While this effect is most prominent in males, it's also been observed in females to a lesser extent." (Ibid) iii. "The features of internet porn are perfectly poised to take advantage of the Coolidge effect. Were it not for this novelty-seeking effect, net porn viewers would settle on the first few scenes they enjoyed, and never seek out anything else. But this isn't the pattern that's observed, as indicated by the continuing boom in the online porn business. Porn viewers have the opportunity to browse through as much new porn - “new mates” - as they wish, for as long as they wish. This provides a constant source of novelty." (Ibid) iv. "This pattern of response to porn has been scientifically proven. In one study, sexual response steadily decreased as men were shown the same adult film 18 times in a row, but their arousal once again peaked as they were shown a new film the 19th time around. (http://yourbrainonporn.com/doing-what-you-evolved-to-do) With the vast amount of porn online, and all of the different niches available, viewers will never run out of novel porn, and this state of heightened sexual response can be maintained indefinitely. This phenomenon, where modern technologies take advantage of our evolutionary tendencies in an exaggerated way, is known as a supernormal stimulus, or “superstimulus”. It is the kind of overwhelming stimulus that the human mind simply did not evolve to cope with – just as unnaturally sweet foods drive us to keep eating unhealthy amounts of them. (http://yourbrainonporn.com/garys-research-intense-sweetness-surpasses-cocaine)" (The Nofap Experiment: A Voyage Through Porn Addiction, Support, And Recovery, ProjectKnow.com) v. The scripture affirms these scientific findings that the eyes of man are never satisfied (Pro 27:20; Ecc 1:8; Eze 16:28). vi. "The endless stimulus of porn has a real impact. Today, 42% of male college students report that they regularly visit porn sites, one in five feel controlled by their own sexual desires, and 12% of them spend 5 or more hours watching internet porn every week." (Ibid) vii. "Like any addictive stimulus, continued use of net porn appears to induce a degree of tolerance and desensitization. This heightened state of arousal becomes normal - a new baseline. Acquiring the same “high” now requires more effort. This further perpetuates the cycle of seeking out new porn, and the addiction is real: using internet porn is the single strongest predictor of compulsive internet use. It’s more addicting than any game or social website, striking right at the heart of one of our evolutionary imperatives." (Ibid) viii. "The behavior of porn users precisely matches the predictions of the Coolidge effect. Against this desire for novelty, traditional monogamous relationships with a single partner often cannot compete. This normal stimulus, a single mate, is not enough for someone who's used to the constant novelty of online porn. Just as with the rats, porn users can experience delayed ejaculation, as well as a selective impotence – one that occurs while with their partner, even when this is not an issue for them when viewing porn. (http://yourbrainonporn.com/dr-oz-show-addresess-porn-induced-ed) Even their porn use may become less satisfying to them, no matter how frequently they use it, often leading to more fetishistic or deviant porn content. Their addiction leaves them unable to stop, and all of this can greatly compromise their relationships as well as their enjoyment of sex. (http://yourbrainonporn.com/doing-what-you-evolved-to-do)" (Ibid) 5. Pornography Statistics A. The following statistics were taken from: Pornography Statistics: Annual Report 2014, CovenantEyes.com: B. The porn industry i. The porn industry generates $13 billion each year in the US. ii. Internet porn alone is a $3 Billion per year business. iii. By 2015, mobile adult content and services are expected to reach $2.8 billion per year, mobile adult subscriptions will reach nearly $1 billion, and mobile adult video consumption on tablets will triple. We are already starting to see an increase in mobile adult content. iv. 1 in 5 mobile searches are for pornography. v. 24% of smartphone owners admit to having pornographic material on their mobile handset. C. Porn in the church i. 51% of pastors say Internet pornography is a possible temptation. ii. 50% of all Christian men and 20% of all Christian women say they are addicted to pornography. iii. Regular church attendees are 26% less likely to look at porn, however, self-identified "fundamentalists" are 91% more likely to look at porn. D. Porn stats for children i. 9 out of 10 boys were exposed to pornography before the age of 18. ii. The first exposure to pornography among men is 12 years old. iii. 71% of teens hide online behavior from their parents. iv. 28% of 16-17 year olds have been unintentionally exposed to porn online. v. 20% of 16-year-olds have received a sext and 30% of 17-year-olds have received a sext. vi. 6 out of 10 girls were exposed to pornography before the age of 18. vii. 15% of boys and 9% of girls have seen child pornography. viii. 32% of boys and 18% of girls have seen bestiality online. ix. 39% of boys and 23% of girls have seen sexual bondage online. x. 83% of boys and 57% of girls have seen group sex online. xi. 69% of boys and 55% of girls have seen same-sex intercourse online. E. Porn stats for young adults i. Today, 68% of young adult men and 18% of women use porn at least once every week. ii. Another 17% [of young men] and another 30% of women use porn 1-2 times per month. iii. This means for 85% of young men and nearly half of young women, watching porn is at least a monthly activity. iv. 51% of male and 32% of female students first viewed porn before their teenage years (12 and younger). v. 67% of young men and 49% of young women say viewing porn is an acceptable way to express one's sexuality. vi. Politically liberal people are 19% more likely to look at porn. vii. 19% of 18-24 year-olds have sent a sext. viii. Students who have had sexual intercourse are five times more likely than virgins to be involved in sexting. F. Porn and your marriage i. "I have also seen in my clinical experience that pornography damages the sexual performance of the viewers. Pornography viewers tend to have problems with premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction. Having spent so much time in unnatural sexual experiences with paper, celluloid and cyberspace, they seem to find it difficult to have sex with a real human being. Pornography is raising their expectation and demand for types and amounts of sexual experiences; at the same time it is reducing their ability to experience sex." - Dr. MaryAnne Layden ii. Happily married men are 61% less likely to look at porn. iii. Those with teen children are 45% less likely to look at porn. iv. 68% of divorce cases involved one party meeting a new lover over the Internet. v. 56% of divorce cases involved one party having an obsessive interest in pornographic websites. vi. Men are more than 543% more likely to look at porn than women. vii. 70% of wives of sex addicts could be diagnosed with PTSD. viii. Those who have ever engaged in paid sex are 270% more likely to look at porn. ix. Those who have ever committed adultery are 218% more likely to look at porn. G. Pornographic Web Pages By Country (Pornography Statistics, FamilySafeMedia.com) i. United States 244,661,900 ii. Germany 10,030,200 iii. United Kingdom 8,506,800 iv. Australia 5,655,800 v. Japan 2,700,800 vi. The Netherlands 1,883,800 vii. Russia 1,080,600 viii. Poland 1,049,600 ix. Spain 852,800 x. The US has 7.7 times as many porn pages as these other eight countries combined (244,661,900/31,760,400). xi. Still think the US is a Christian nation? 6. Pornography addiction is not limited to men; women are increasingly falling into this sin. A. The following is from: (How Many Women are Hooked on Porn? 10 Stats that May Shock You, CovenantEyes.com): B. "Here’s what the most recent surveys tell us… 1. According to a study published in the Journal of Adolescent Research, about half (49%) of young adult women agree that viewing pornography is an acceptable way of expressing one’s sexuality. 2. According to a survey of more than 11,000 college-age women, more than half (52%) of young women today are exposed to sexually explicit material by the age of 14. 3. According to a study published in the CyberPsychology and Behavior, 62% of women have seen pornography by the age of 18. 4. Exposures to porn during childhood are not just brief glimpses. Some teen girls are viewing online pornography for a half-hour or more at a time, and 1 in 7 have done this on multiple occasions. 5. About 1 in 5 women (18%) use the Internet for sexual purposes habitually—every week. "In a recent survey of women who are part of the Dirty Girls Ministries online community (an online support forum for women with sexual struggles)… 6. Of the women in the community, 87% say they feel or have felt “out of control” when it comes to the matter of masturbation; 70% say the same about sexual fantasies. 7. Of the women in the community, 45% said they started “habitually and compulsively” watching pornography or engaging in cybersex when they were 13-17 years old. 8. Of the women in the community, 27% say they feel or have felt “out of control” when it comes to sexually chatting online; 11% say the same thing about sexting. 9. Of the women currently 18-29 years old, 61% saw porn for the first time before they were 13 years old; 55% said their first exposure was Internet or computer-based. 10. When asked how well did their parents prepared them to for sexual temptations and how well they taught them about purpose of sex, on a scale of 1 to 7, 55% of the members of this community gave their parents a 1. Another third (32%) gave their parents a 2 or 3." C. The scripture teaches that it's not only men who are enamored with sex and the sexual body parts of the opposite sex (Eze 23:20-21). 7. Pornography is sin. A. Nakedness is to be covered. i. The priests in the OT were to wear linen britches which went down to the thighs to cover their nakedness (Exo 28:42). ii. It is a shame for nakedness to be uncovered (Isa 47:2-3; Rev 3:18). B. A person's nakedness is only for the eyes of their spouse. i. A wife's nakedness belongs to her husband (Lev 18:8,16). ii. A husband or wife is a covering of the eyes of the other (Gen 20:16). iii. A man should only be satisfied with his wife's body and no other (Pro 5:15-20). C. Lusting after a woman in your heart is adultery if you are married (Mat 5:28). i. Adultery starts with the eyes (2Pe 2:14). ii. It is sin for a married man to even think upon another woman (Job 31:1). iii. This would be a wicked imagination which God hates (Pro 6:18). iv. If your spouse finds you looking at pornography, he or she could put you away for adultery since your actions have revealed the adultery you have committed in your heart (Mat 5:28). v. If it is commonly known that a married church member is indulging in pornography, they will have to be excluded for adultery. vi. What would be adultery in the heart for a married man would logically be fornication in the heart for an unmarried man lusting after an unmarried woman. D. Pornography is lasciviousness which is sin (Gal 5:19). i. Lasciviousness n. - The quality of being lascivious. ii. Lascivious adj. - 1. Inclined to lust, lewd, wanton. b. Inciting to lust or wantonness. iii. If it is commonly known that a church member is indulging in pornography, they will have to be excluded for lasciviousness. E. Pornography incites concupiscence (Col 3:5; 1Th 4:5). i. Concupiscence - 1. Eager or vehement desire; in Theol. use the coveting of ‘carnal things’, desire for the ‘things of the world’. 2. esp. Libidinous desire, sexual appetite, lust. ii. Libidinous adj. - 1. Of persons, their lives, actions, desires: Given to, full of, or characterized by lust or lewdness; lustful, lecherous, lewd. F. Pornography makes provision to fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Rom 13:14).