Introduction
In 1996 Americans spent over $8 billion on pornographic entertainment--more than what all Americans spent at the box office or on rock and country music. In that year, an astounding 665 million hard-core pornography videos were rented.
For many people, pornographic images have become so integrated into the American lifestyle that the racks 
of "adult" magazines at the local newsstand rarely cause a passerby to raise an eyebrow--much less a voice of protest. Pornography has won itself a place in society, and these days, the sight of a young teenage boy pouring over Playboy elicits more giggles than concern from adults.
But an analytical look at the impact of pornography on our society suggests that sexually explicit images have far graver ramifications than most people would ever suspect. Studies link pornography to sexual dysfunction, rape, child molestation, and many other socially destructive behaviors.
American consumption of pornography continues to grow each year and has already reached epidemic proportions. Such grand scale consumption warrants a close look at pornography’s impact on civil society.
Sexual Instruction
Many pornographers argue that their product provides instruction in sexuality. Boys especially turn to pornography believing it will teach them truth.
A 1985 study found that boys--ages 12 to 17--are the largest consumers of sexually explicit material. This trend is alarming considering the fact that many experts say pornography actually promotes dangerous misinformation about sexual relations and advances sexual dysfunction and medically risky practices.
Park Elliot Dietz, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., renounced his support for the pornography industry after studying the issue while serving on the Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography in 1986.
"Pornography is a medical and public health problem because so much of it teaches false, misleading, and even dangerous information about human sexuality," he wrote in the concluding statement of the Commission Report. "A person who learned about human sexuality in the ‘adults only’ pornography outlets of America would be a person who had never conceived of a man and woman marrying or even falling in love before having intercourse."
What kinds of sexual dysfunction does pornography advance? Dr. Dietz goes on to elaborate. "[The person who learns about sex from pornography] would be one who had learned that sex at home meant sex with one’s children, step-children, parents, stepparents, siblings, cousins, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles and pets . . ." he wrote. "[T]he probable health consequences in this area alone are sufficient to support recommendations that would reduce the dissemination of that pornography."
But porn publishers are not terribly concerned that their perverse products fall into children’s hands. Hustler publisher Larry Flynt stated that one of his "proudest moments" was in hearing, "Thanks for helping me make it through puberty" from a fan. Boys enter puberty at about 12 years of age.
Serial killer Ted Bundy attributed his criminal record to the Playboy magazines he collected in the 1950s as a 12-year-old boy. They juxtaposed sex and violence and fostered an unnatural desire to kill women for sexual pleasure. In his last interview, he warned about the danger today’s pornography poses to society. "What scares and appalls me . . . is when I see what’s on cable TV, some of the movies and some of the violence in the movies that comes into homes today, with stuff that they wouldn’t show in X-rated adult theaters [30] years ago," Bundy said. "[What will happen] as it gets into the home of children who may be unattended or unaware that they may be a Ted Bundy[?]"
Promoting Rape
The federal government reports that over 300,000 rapes occur in our nation each year. Could there be a connection between the consumption of pornography and the rise in incidents of rape? Studies suggest just such a connection. By combining erotic images with violent images, pornography normalizes sexual assault and desensitizes men to rape.
A 1991 study found that "[college] men who had engaged in forced sex rated their enjoyment of Playboy magazine as significantly greater than men who indicated that they had not engaged in forced sex." This study also documented that college men who reported a greater inclination toward some kind for sexual coercion or aggression tended to come from homes where their fathers read magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse and talked about watching X-rated movies.
Another study looked at the rates of rape in the states that consumed the most pornography. States where the most pornography (Playboy, Hustler . . . etc.) is sold, like Nevada and Alaska, also lead the nation in rapes.
The FBI recognizes this correlation. One FBI report noted that an astounding 81 percent of the sex killers said their biggest sexual interest was in viewing pornography and in compulsive masturbation." Scientists at the FBI Academy in Quantico created the following psychological profile of a rapist: "He collected Playboy, then Penthouse magazines . . . and dreamed of rape. Then he slipped over the threshold of fantasy into the reality of sexual assault."
Shattering A Child’s Innocence
Pornography poses a large enough threat to the adult population to warrant its removal from society. But more astounding still is its threat to the most vulnerable members of our society--our children.
Pornography normalizes and promotes the sexual abuse of children. In 1989, cartoonist Dwaine Tinsley, the creator of "Chester the Molester," a Hustler magazine cartoon which glorified molestation, was convicted of violently sexually abusing his daughter until she was 18 years old. His daughter was left a suicidal drug addict after years of being drugged, forced to take birth control pills, and being sexually abused by her father.
Pornography becomes a tool in the hand of a child molester. The magazines and photographs are used to convince a child that other children are sexually active and to instruct the child in how to perform. Thus, a cycle begins as these encounters may then be recorded and distributed to those who will use them to coax other children into sex.
Enough Is Enough Campaign reports that 87 percent of convicted molesters of girls and 77 percent of convicted molesters of boys admit to using pornography, most often in the commission of their crimes.
Children suffer emotionally, psychologically, and physically. "Children of sex rings have undergone body trauma," reports a publication called Child Welfare. "They have reported both forced ingestion of feces, blood, and semen, and having these same materials smeared on their bodies. They disclosed witnessing and/or participating in the physical torture and/or destruction of living things. . . . These experiences have the potential to distort, arrest, or destroy the developing sense of self."
Childhood is shattered. The offenders may get 10 to 15 years in prison, but the children are sentenced to life. According to the National Judges Conference, "The therapeutic issue for the victim [of child porn] to complete treatment is the need to put the crime in the past, an impossibility when there is an existing pictorial history."
One young man recounted that during the criminal trial of the leaders of the sex ring that had molested him, his was the only name to be released to the public. He was only 11 years old at the time and turned to drugs to escape the humiliation, as did many of the other children involved in the case.
As Published in the Final Report of the Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography, 1986
Perhaps, one of the greatest tragedies of childhood sexual abuse is the propensity for some victims to later become offenders. Studies show that pedophiles have "fairly high levels of exposure to pornography during late childhood and adolescence as well as adulthood."
Intimacy and Addiction
Some people get caught up in the web of pornography because they believe it will enhance their marriage, specifically their sex life. But pornography cannot strengthen a relationship because it is void of intimacy. It wraps sexual pleasure in abuse and reduces women and children to mere pieces of machinery to be used on demand.
"This obsession and addiction did not enrich our sex life," testified one woman. "It robbed me of a loving relationship, and our sex life turned to his masturbation with his pornography." For those hooked on pornography, masturbation becomes "disproportionately represented as the primary [sexual] outlet, regardless of marital status," and it can only be categorized as a pathology.
One study found, not surprisingly, that those men prone to sexual aggression have an aversion to intimacy. The study concluded that, "men who are at risk for sexual aggression are less attracted to physical intimacy that might be characterized as affectionate." What may surprise Americans is that the sexually aggressive men expressed greater interest in Playboy magazine, a so-called "soft-core" publication. This "association between less affection and sexual aggression," reinforced by pornography, is alarming.
Dr. Victor Cline, a clinical psychologist, who has treated over 300 sex addicts documents the slippery slope to addiction. He says the four steps are: addiction, escalation, desensitization, and acting out.
The first stages of a pornography problem can be likened to drug abuse; the high only lasts for a few minutes compelling users to take larger doses, with greater frequency, and to experiment with different combinations.
According to a 1986 study, "[T]here is a satiation effect in the consumption of pornography--subjects remain interested in pornography only if they are as, or more, explicit than previous material." Soon the porn addict finds that simply watching and listening to the perversion is not enough. He is desensitized. To get the same sexual thrill, he must act out the perversion. For many, this leads to personal and financial disaster as they go from soft-core to hard-core pornography, to phone sex, to prostitution, to incest, to homosexuality, to bestiality, etc.
The porn addict eventually falls into such depravity that he can become incapable of natural sexual relationships. Patrick Anderson, an admirer of Hugh Hefner (the founder of Playboy magazine), said that "[Hefner] could never make ‘love’ without drugs." He went on to say that "[Hefner] felt little or nothing during sex" and that he had experimented with homosexuality.
Hiding Behind The First Amendment
Many advocates of pornography try to exonerate themselves with First Amendment rhetoric. However, much of the available pornography today is illegal and prosecutable under the law. The Supreme Court has ruled that certain categories of speech are not protected by the First Amendment. They include "obscenity, child porn, libel, false advertising, perjury, contempt of court, inciting a riot and falsely shouting "fire!" in a crowded theater." However, obscenity laws have not been strictly enforced since the 1960s.
In its 1973 decision Miller v. California, the Supreme Court clearly defined obscenity, thereby, establishing a three-pronged test to evaluate pornography. The Court has consistently held that materials that are ruled obscene by the Miller standard are illegal.
In the early years of the Clinton administration, the Justice Department, under Attorney General Janet Reno, appeared to be operating with the intent of legalizing a substantial portion of child pornography. In Knox v. United States, the Justice Department sided with Stephen Knox, who contended that the video tapes he received, featuring footage of semi-nude girls and focused on their private parts, was not pornography. This is a clear violation of the child protection standards set by Congress in 1984.
But recent developments in the fight against pornography give us reason to hope. CWA and other pro-family groups recently had the opportunity to meet with Deputy Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. As a result of that meeting, Holder sent a special memorandum to all United States attorneys "reminding them of the Department’s policies and priorities in the prosecution of obscenity cases." This memorandum can serve as a powerful tool for concerned Americans as we urge federal attorneys to take action against pornography.
The battle against pornography is not a petty, moralistic banter over First Amendment freedoms. It is, instead, a battle for the very soul of America--a battle that will be won or lost in the local communities across our land. The facts are irrefutable. Pornography destroys marriages, families, and individual lives. Concerned Americans must take a stand and defend our society against this poison of the mind and heart.
IF YOU OR A FAMILY MEMBER ARE STRUGGLING WITH PORNOGRAPHY OR ARE AFFECTED BY ITS POISON, PLEASE CONTACT US! WE WANT TO PRAY WITH YOU AND HELP YOU WORK THROUGH THESE IMPORTANT SPIRITUAL ISSUES!
DON'T IGNORE IT -- IT WON'T JUST GO AWAY. THIS POISON IS ATTACKING BOTH CHRISTIAN AND NON-CHRISTIAN FAMILIES ALIKE. IT'S TIME WE BECAME INFORMED AND TOOK THE CHALLENGE OF PARTNERING WITH GOD TO SEE THOSE WHO HARE IN BONDAGE SET FREE.
The Bible tells us: "IT IS FOR FREEDOM THAT CHRIST HAS SET US FREE!" Don't let the freedom purchased for us and your loved ones at Calvary be for naught . . . pursue freedom and bring glory to the Risen Victorious Savior! Amen!!