As someone who is a former addict who lost a marriage, a ministry and almost his life because of porn I can say the study is exactly right. Almost every church I've been in during the last 15 years hasn't touched this topic with a 20 foot pole. How I wish when I was saved in 1994 that some pastor would have asked me if I had a problem with porn.

Thanks for posting this. I have mentioned porn from the pulpit and it comes in various ways in discipling relationships, but there is nothing formal in place. Maybe now is a good time to be thinking about that!

Blessings

I lost it all due to porn Fortunately, God saves.
http://www.iamlivingproof.org/noporn/

When I speak about the gospel from whatever platform, I will speak of my time in pornography.

Thanks for the resource. This issue is certainly an important one. A very helpful resource for me was Driscoll's free ebook "Porn Again Christian". It is a worthwhile read, you can find it here - http://relit.org/porn_again_christian

As a recovering porn addict, I know all too well the damage it does. Thankfully, Jesus chose to heal me before I was able to inflict irreparable damage.

Porn addiction is a regular topic among my small men's discipleship group. We seek to transcend what normally passes for "accountability" and instead aim for transparency with brutal honesty.

Porn addiction and its root cause (idol worship) are addressed often from the pulpit in our church, and in our community groups.

However I am not an advocate of internet filtering or government censorship.

Unless your heart is truly changed, no amount of "hedges" will be sufficient to stop you from getting your "fix".

Pornography is not a legal or moral problem. It, at its root, is a worship problem.

The church must bring the Gospel to bear against porn - not waste its time seeking to legislate morality.

Way to use an unbiased source for your blog. I've read studies from much more reputable sources that show that not only do almost all men (and a good number of women) over the age of 18 regularly watch porn (as in, one to five times/week for 20-40 minutes), it has absolutely no detrimental effects on their ability to form stable relationships, have good sex lives or feel good about themselves.

I think it's interesting -and telling -that you assume only men are watching pornography.

I'm not, by the way, saying that porn can't become an addiction. It does, and it is of course a problem for that incredibly small minority of porn-watching individuals.

Watching porn is only an issue if you already have problems with sex -for example, an unnecessary and unhealthy interest in what goes on behind the closed doors of the bedrooms of consenting adults. If you think sex is dirty, of course porn is going to be something you don't condone. However, porn is just porn. Unless it's illegal in some way (i.e. exploiting children), it's really none of your business who watches porn.

Making sex out to be a dirty, filthy sin causes more issues with people and their sex lives than watching porn ever could.

{it has absolutely no detrimental effects on their ability to form stable relationships}

With all due respect, b., let me sum that for you quickly, alongside your statement that most people use porn:

50% divorce rate nationwide.

{Making sex out to be a dirty, filthy sin causes more issues with people and their sex lives than watching porn ever could.}

The opening pages of the report say this:

"Sexual intercourse, like atomic energy, is a powerful agent for good if channeled well, but for ill if not."

I don't believe that's a characterization of sex as a dirty, filthy sin.

I grew up in the women's advocacy movement. Funny, decades later, that the one area where feminist concerns about porn, which I've heard all my life, are not being abandoned is...here among the religiously biased.

Bias is a fact of life; the question is whether people can give justification for their bias. This particular perspective regarding porn is not unique to this subculture or belief set. Informed women have been aware of how many ways this is bad for us for the last 30 years.

Hi C.L.

Let me demonstrate that I, too, can cite statistics that are irrelevant to the topic: 76% of people in America self-identify as Christians, according to the 2008 American Religious Identification Study. I can even cite my sources.

Are you suggesting that 100% of those 50% of marriages that end in divorce end because of porn? My parents' divorce was because my dad cheated, not because he watched porn and my mom felt left out or unwanted. My father's second divorce was due to the fact that he married a woman with whom he had nothing in common -again, no porn. Those are, admittedly, anecdotal examples that play no part in the larger picture -unless of course you were insinuating that 100% of divorces involve porn.

The 50% divorce rate has more to do with people marrying young, marrying for the wrong reasons or simply growing apart. Most divorces are related to issues of finance or fidelity, not porn.

The whole idea that porn is dirty or shameful contributes to the American obsession with other people's sex lives. If porn is not detrimental, and there's little to no evidence among the scientific community that it is, why should it be a problem if people watch porn?

Obsession is a different issue -an addiction to porn is a problem. It is a rare problem that occurs among a small portion of people, and a problem that gets blown way out of proportion.

I have not said that I don't have feminist concerns about porn. In fact, I do. Porn presents both men and women in a negative light, occasionally. But I have never heard of a widespread epidemic of women being objectified, abused or raped because the men in their lives watch porn. We objectify one another as sexual creatures all the time. Porn is designed to arouse people, not create cultural norms.

I am aware of the bias against porn because it depicts sex in lewd ways. My point is that it's not the problem this study and this blog make it out to be, and in addition to that, porn doesn't even create the issues that so many people say it does.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/relationships/6709646/All-men-watch-porn-scientists-find.html

"B":

You really have no idea what you're talking about here. I know the lone study you referenced and their sample size wasn't significant enough to be considered definitive. Also, if you read the wording within the report, it was clear the researcher built testing to meet the desired conclusion of the paper.

Porn is harmful. Period. Remember when people put out reports saying smoking wasn't harmful for you?

Jason -porn and smoking are very different realms. Smoking was presented as being healthy because research hadn't been done to show that it wasn't -and when it had, people were paid by tobacco companies to say that it wasn't.

Physical and psychological studies are different. Smoking is a physical and psychological harm as well as a social problem, while porn is an aid for people who want to masturbate or get aroused.

Yes, there is bad porn -I'm not denying that. But there is porn that is simply an aid. There's nothing wrong with that.

Erotic romance novels portray women in exactly the same ways some pornography does, but no one is getting their knickers in a knot over Harlequin novels. What's the difference?

Reading the study, I was reminded of how frequently Paul and the other New Testament writers warned of the dangers of sexual immorality. Eleven times in Paul's epistles (five times in 1 Corinthians alone), he reminds us that "the body is not meant for sexual immorality;" that it's a great temptation, but not something to be indulged in; not because sex is bad, but because it's a worship issue. Paul's point every time he talks about this sin is that we don't worship sex, we worship Jesus. And this is a message that is more important than ever to be discussed in our churches.

As a 30-year-old man who became a Christian at 25, I've experienced first hand the devastating effects of pornogrpahy. God was very kind in healing both my (now) wife and myself of the damage we'd done to ourselves, but it breaks my heart to think of how far we'd gone.

Thanks for sharing this study, Ed. It's greatly appreciated.

B,
It sounds like you are coming to this discussion with a chip on your shoulder. Perhaps I am wrong, but from the first line in your first comment you had it out for this post.

That being said, this is a Christian blog. What makes you think Ed wouldn't use research from the Family Research Council? As one other commenter noted, as long as there research justifies the bias there is nothing wrong with using them as a source.

It also appears to me that you perhaps enjoy pornography. Is this why you seem to be so incensed about this post?

Finally, to echo your point. I do take notice with Harlequin novels. The only difference with these novels is one is left to conjure up their own images rather than having them created for them.

Hi, b.,

"Are you suggesting that 100% of those 50% of marriages that end in divorce end because of porn?"

To give you a straight answer, no. I'd hate to give you that kind of headache. :~) What I said was, let's put that "alongside your statement." Proceeding with that...

"My parents' divorce was because my dad cheated...My father's second divorce was due to the fact that he married a woman with whom he had nothing in common"

That makes another good corollary to where I'm heading here. Thanks for supplying it.

"porn is an aid for people who want to masturbate or get aroused."

Autoeroticism is also an important point to have on the table.

"76% of people in America self-identify as Christians, according to the 2008 American Religious Identification Study. I can even cite my sources."

No need; I've heard 84%, actually, and it dovetails with the greater context of this question. Right in the executive summary, this argument is set firmly in a greater social context, which we could put as follows:

1) 76-84% of Americans self-identify as Christian.

2) we'll accept your assertion that most people use porn.

3) 50% divorce rate in and out of the churchian environment, again, accepting your assertion that there are a variety of reasons.

4) We'll also take your claim that porn is an aid to autoeroticism, a sexual dystopia as compared to the depth and breadth of psychological and physical intimacy between spouses.

5) To bring in what several of the guys are saying, "Paul's point every time he talks about this sin is that we don't worship sex, we worship Jesus."

I would expand that, based on everything that's been brought to the discussion from all sides, and based on the greater social context given in the paper's executive summary: We can worship self, in this case auto-erotically (which requires no addiction, btw), or we can worship Jesus Christ.

The guys who are speaking up here have learned that in a deep and meaningful way: neither self-defined religiousness nor self-defined permissiveness are the solution to the damage caused by self-worship. Christ is.

b., thank you for a respectful discussion on a complex question. Appreciate your willingness to represent the minority viewpoint in the conversation.

Kind regards,

Cathi-Lyn

WOW, great study. I am currently working with the FBI cyber-crimes division based in Mia. I have several of the men and women who serve on this taskforce in my church. The stuff they are sharing with me is unthinkable (human trafficking, snuffing films, cyber-sex). All right here in America, right under the thin layer of civilization. A new computer program is coming out that is the most high tech, state of the art accountability program ever designed. The FBI is wanting a copy of it. That is how good it is. It is by Accountability Tools and will be released in mid January. If you want to be on the advanced copy purchase list email me at rpeters@fbcweston.org Pastor get a copy free.

rob

B,
You say there is BAD porn and good porn... says who?

Could you tell us what makes bad porn bad, and good porn good?

As a professional counselor who has done research on the effects of the disclosure of sexually compulsive behaviors (including pornography use) I can say without hesitation that pornography use is highly destructive to the spouse- and ultimately to the marriage or committed relationship. My research in 2005 (now found in my co-authored book, Your Sexually Addicted Spouse) found that nearly 70% of women experienced the symptoms of those with PTSD- post traumatic stress disorder- following the discovery or disclosure of their husband's sexual acting out. Pornography use is usually a secret, hidden behavior that erodes the ability to be emotionally and many time physically intimate in committed relationships. The women I work with experience pornography use as a form of marital unfaithfulness- it is infidelity, a betrayal of trust. Those who's husbands have a steady diet of porn often experience a lack of sexual activity within the marriage relationship- the user actually begins to prefer the porn because it is easier- it is self-focused.

I used to talk to groups and tried to encourage young people to be informed consumers- to know the possible consequences of pornography usage on their future relationships, as well as their physical and emotional intimacy, and possible progression into other highly risky and destructive sexual behaviors.

If you are married to someone who regularly uses pornography or is engaged in other compulsive sexual behaviors, there is help and support for you.

It is interesting how many Christians seem to get so easily roped in addictive porn use.

http://www.covenanteyes.com/blog/2009/11/24/why-are-so-many-christians-addicted-to-porn/