Neil Gallagher, a Christian campaigner against pornography in the U.S. some years ago, would appear on TV talk shows and other such venues and he would quote, The body of the wife belongs to the husband and the body of the husband belongs to the wife. Then he would ask the studio audience, fellow-guests and host as to where that sexual advice was given. The responses would often be a book called The Sensuous Woman, the research of Masters and Johnson (renowned sex-therapists – husband and wife who divorced). So often people were amazed to find that it was a quote from the bible – 1 Cor. 7:4. The Bible is not puritanical in its view of sex: the puritanical view of sex was a denial of sex as a normal wholesome function of even married life. The Bible also rejects the idea that celibacy is holier than marriage in Heb. 13:4. It was God who invented sex!
So the Bible’s teaching against pornography is not out of some unrealistic old-fashioned prudery. The Bible comes from the same eternal mind that invented sex. What is pornography? One old timer was asked what he thought about pornography and he replied that he hadn’t had a chance to decide whether he was for it or a’gin it because he didn’t have a pornograph! The English word pornography is a compound of two Greek words: porneia which means sexual immorality, and grapho which means to write or draw. So the word describes a writing or depiction which describes fornication, depicts fornication, promotes fornication, advocates the art of fornication or thoughts and concepts that result in fornication. Many people think of pornography as nude pictures or something close to that, but in its broader sense, it is any book, play, magazine, song, picture or even speech that rejects the Biblical teaching concerning the sin of fornication, and instead advocates fornication as a desirable human practice or in any way, promotes the sin of fornication. Well, what is wrong with fornication?
Relevant passages abound: Matt.5:27-30; 12:34,35; Mark 7:20-23; 1 Cor. 6:9,10; Gal. 5:19-21; Col. 3:5,6; 2 Pet. 2:14; Jude 7 et.al. Jesus taught that not only the act of fornication is sinful but the lust in the heart which leads to the act of fornication is sinful too. Anything which causes one to have sinful thoughts cannot be right and should be shunned by the child of God. The fruits of any activity are also a dead give-away as to the value of any activity. An evil tree produces bad fruit. It distorts sex from its God-given purpose to sheer animal lust. It prostitutes and makes a burlesque out of human love, making vile and dirty that which is intended to be pure and beautiful. It exploits women, by depicting them as playthings and the sex-objects of men. Women are dehumanised and made to appear as so much merchandise to be bought, stolen, or appropriated. Pornography cannot ennoble women or help men to respect them.
Pornography promotes and glorifies homosexuality, corrupting young minds and leading them into immoral conduct. By encouraging unrestrained sexual indulgence, it contributes to the continuing epidemic of venereal disease. Some users of pornography become addicted to it and lose the ability to function in a normal, loving marriage relationship. It is as destructive and dangerous as drug abuse. Like other addictions, more and stronger forms of the drug are required to satisfy the lust. Thus, so it descends the ladder of moral depravity into the sexual abuse of children. Crimes of rape, violence and even murder are provoked against others by the consuming of such material. It wrecks marriages, not only from inside the marriage, but also young men who feed on pornography before marriage, carry twisted images of sexual love into marriage. Now, pornography has its defenders and promoters. Why?
In any society, especially free societies, there is always a battle for the minds of the people. There are those who believe that democratic freedom is having no control on sexual freedoms. They want the right to be slaves to their sexual lusts, and they want the right to do that and have our acceptance. They claim that what is done in the privacy of one’s own home is a matter of civil liberty. It’s not that simple! Look at Gal. 6:7; Prov. 23:7; 4:23. Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an action and reap a character; sow a character and reap a destiny. Isa. 5:20 defines what is really happening in such battles – it is the labelling of good as evil and vice versa.
So they tell us that the Bible is repressive of personal freedoms: that it is old-fashioned and has no relevance. They tell us you can’t legislate morality. Really?! It’s obvious that we do: law is about right and wrong – about morality! Don’t murder! What’s that? That’s a moral judgement! What they mean is you can’t legislate spirituality, and that’s true. You can’t make people love what’s good and right and pure and hate what’s bad and wrong and impure.
Pornography is big business. Forty years ago when I was researching this, Britain’s richest man, Paul Raymond, was in the porn business. In 1985 it was estimated to be a 6 billion dollar a year business in the U.S. Now? Well nobody really knows! Porn brings in more money than any other form of entertainment. It is said to be harmless and victimless. It is ludicrous when one considers the millions of dollars spent on advertisements in the valid belief that people are influenced by what they see, hear and read. A Dr. Maddison, a Sydney psychiatrist, said, I find it ludicrous to hear English professors and publishers defend to the death the beneficial effects of good literature upon the minds of those who read it, nevertheless maintaining that pornography has no effect at all. It is a known fact that 77% of those who molested boys said they were regular users of hard-core porn. 87% of those who molested girls said they were regular users. Men who use porn have less interest in love and affection as a motivation for sex and a greater tendency to fantasize about the use of force in sexual relationships. When pornography restrictions are relaxed, rape increases. It is also observed that both men and women who use porn becomes dissatisfied with the sexual performance and even the physical appearance of their spouses.
Porn is addictive. Why? Not only because it partially satisfies the human sex drive, but because its use is progressive in that one needs more and more to satisfy cravings. It has been described as “athlete’s foot of the mind” – it never goes away, always asking to be scratched, but the scratching only intensifies the itch. Porn destroys. Ted Bundy, a serial killer who was executed some time ago in the U.S., said, I have lived in prison a long time now and I’ve met a lot of men who were motivated to violence just like me. And without exception, everyone of them was deeply influenced and consumed by an addiction to pornography.
Porn is anti-family. Richard Neville, the former editor of the porno magazine “Oz” claims that he sees married life as outdated – that marriage is outdated – and that pornography must be used as one of the ways of effectively undermining and eventually replacing the institution of the family. It has many forms: etchings, paintings, films, magazines, telephones, videos, TV, websites.
If Cain was living today, God might rebuke him by saying, Sin is crouching at your computer; it desires to have you but you must master it. An Associated Press article reported that Internet pornography is a hidden public health hazard exploding, in part, because very few are recognizing it as such or taking it seriously. Cyberspace remains virtually free of content regulation, and so cybergarbage is but a mouse click away from the billions of people throughout the world who have a computer hooked to the W.E.B. The most active internet sites are sex-related, with 62% of sites devoted to porn. Playboy’s Internet Site is the second most visited site by teenage boys. Apparently, 10,000 new sex-oriented pages are added each day! 300 porn sites are added each day! Web sites alone generate billions of dollars in revenue. One of of four men admit to viewing pornography on the internet. Many women are turning to porn too, with the majority using internet chat rooms. These sites create a curiosity, attracting people from all walks of life and backgrounds with materials they never dreamed would become addictive.
Why is all this so? Internet pornography is believed to be anonymous. Viewers believe no one will ever know their sin. A few years ago the mailman knew who ordered pornographic material. Today one does not have to talk to anyone on a telephone, browse at a newsagent or “adult” bookstore, or confront a shop employee to pay for pornography. He can indulge daily with no one knowing his sin. And it is affordable. For just a few dollars a month one can subscribe to the internet which offers thousands of porn sites. Of course the internet can be used for such things as e-mail, research, buying and selling and other good usages. One can become entangled in this sin without spending one dollar more than he is already spending. Also, it is accessible. It takes little more than the click of a button, 24/7. With a laptop almost any location is available to pornography. Instant gratification has always been a powerful persuasion in tempting man. The internet can offer the viewer more sinful pictures, videos, words and instructions than one has ever had available in an instant. A newspaper ran an article where a 13-year-old was charged with rape after viewing porn sites on his father’s computer. He tried to perform the acts on a 6-year-old boy and a 7 year-old girl. When the investigators asked him how he knew to find the sites he said, That stuff’s in the news all the time.
This poses some challenges for us. Never before have pornographers been able to push filth into our homes so openly and so easily. When we consider that 90% of kids see sexual sites for the first time accidentally, with the average age of such exposure being 7 years of age. Innocent attempts to use the internet as a research tool can bring unwanted links to porn sites. Filtering devices are available which can do a good job of stopping objectionable web sites appearing on your screen. There needs to be some rules and regulations and supervision with children.
Lust of the heart is not a new sin, but Satan has a clever new weapon. we must safeguard our hearts and those of our families and friends.