I spent about 20 years pursuing pornography in its various forms. In the years since I was set free from sex addiction in 1998, God has been helping me see and understand His perspective on pornography. I suggest that overall, porn affects every viewer negatively, regardless of cultural context, religion, gender or age. Here are some reasons for why I believe this:
1) Pornography feeds lust of the eyes and lust of the flesh. These two carnal forces are never satisfied – they cause a person to crave more and more in order to achieve the same “sexual high.” It opens the door to other forms of evil, like anger, abuse, violence, hatred, lying, envy, compulsiveness and selfishness. The power behind porn is revealed when the porn addict tries to stop their habit – it is virtually impossible without help.
2) Pornography sexualizes the viewer’s mindset. It warps and perverts their perspective such that sex is unnaturally elevated in their thoughts. Porn’s images are stamped into viewer’s brain with the aid of hormones (ex. Dopamine) released during sexual arousal. Even if a person decides to stop looking at porn, the past images can remain for years or even a lifetime.
3) Pornography promotes destructive practices and can lead to progressive addiction. For example, porn sites routinely link viewers to depictions of every type of sexual perversion imaginable, such as child porn, homosexuality, bestiality, necrophilia (sexual interest in corpses), masochism (pleasure from abuse or suffering), rape and sadism (gratification from inflicting physical or mental pain on others). The viewer’s exposure to such themes naturally increases the likelihood that they may attempt to act out what they’ve viewed. This can lead to sexual crimes, such as rape and murder (e.g.Ted Bundy and Gary Ridgway, The Green River Killer).
4) Pornography intensifies an individual’s drive to serve oneself, rather than serve others. For example, masturbation, which typically accompanies porn-viewing, reinforces a self-centered sexual orientation (i.e. lust), which can detract from a person’s ability to give and receive love.
5) Pornography addiction can lead to financial problems. The convenience of credit card transactions on the internet encourages covert spending without limit. Pornographers often use the bait of free porn to entice viewers into paying to see more down the road. Porn can also cause losses in productivity for employers due to employees spending work hours browsing porn on company computers. Employees who get caught accessing porn on work computers could be fired.
6) By viewing and/or purchasing porn, viewers are supporting the porn industry and facilitating its growth. By viewing porn, the viewer is also contributing to the sexual exploitation of whoever or whatever is in the images he or she is viewing.
7) Looking at porn can damage the viewer’s family relationships, not to mention increasing the chance of his or her spouse and children finding the material. The most basic area that porn will affect in a married person’s life is his or her marriage relationship. We frequently hear from spouses of porn addicts whose marriages have been devastated by porn. Porn may inspire some people to abuse their children sexually. Porn may inspire some people to abuse their siblings sexually.
8) Looking at porn at work could damage the viewer’s reputation, decrease his or her productivity and lead to job loss. It could also inspire unhealthy and/or inappropriate relationships with co-workers.
9) Looking at porn can damage the viewer’s current or future marriage sex life. Porn viewers may find that it’s difficult to enjoy true intimacy with their spouse when they’re fantasizing about somebody else! Additionally, porn builds an unrealistic perception of sexual relations. Porn sex is a portrayal or an act made for the viewer’s enjoyment. It takes what God intended as a private expression of love between a husband and wife and prostitutes it for entertainment. When a person has been looking at sexual pictures of other people for entertainment, he or she will have a downgraded value of sex. This in turn will detract from their appreciation and value of sex with their spouse. We often hear from women whose husbands have fed on porn to the point of preferring porn over having actual sex with their spouses. Over the years since the internet began, the proliferation of porn has exponentially increased. Men and Women are looking at porn now more than ever – it is no longer just a guy thing!
10) Looking at porn will increase the viewer’s tendency to lie, because he or she will have a natural desire to keep it secret to avoid criticism, embarrassment, shame and/or having to surrender their habit.
11) Looking at porn can lead a person into masturbation addiction.
12) Looking at porn brings significant spiritual consequences (see consequences page). For example, it opens the doorway to spiritual oppression and confusion in the viewer’s life. The power behind pornography is inherently evil. It seeks to control and dominate the viewer’s life, while allowing other forms of evil to gain influence in that person. Once a person starts looking at the porn, their eyes become the gateway for the evil power to enter them. As it gains influence, the evil can numb the viewer’s ability discern right and wrong. As traditional moral values are blurred, confusion sets in. Secondary effects of porn viewing can include sexual frustration, lying, abuse, affairs, debt, violent behavior and irrational thinking. (see Testimonials on how porn destroys lives)
13) Looking at porn helps you start to believe the lies it promotes. Example lies include:
Sexual freedom = happiness
Perverted sex (homosexual sex, incest, BDSM, etc) is more enjoyable than “normal” heterosexual sex
There are no consequences to sexual promiscuity
Sexual expression is a right, not a God-given or God-defined gift
You can live a healthy life with the porn images floating around in your mind
Porn doesn’t harm anyone
Sex is something to be done primarily for self gratification
The porn stars are the happiest people on earth
Adults can view porn without any lasting side effects
Porn will help your sex life
Porn is just a harmless thing that everybody looks at
More lies…
Other things porn may inspire in the viewer (which could in turn affect the family) include sexual frustration, lying, abuse, affairs, debt, violent behavior and irrational thinking. (see Testimonials on how porn destroys lives)