Ed Stetzer shares insights on a recent study about the impact of pornography on families and communities.
A new study done by Patrick F. Fagan examines the effects of pornography on individuals, marriage, family and community.
Fagan is Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Research on Marriage and Religion at the Family Research Council. He specializes in examining the relationships among family, marriage, religion, community and America's social problems.
This study is important for everyone to read as it demonstrates it has damaging effects on individuals and families.
In the summary Fagan explains,
Pornography is a visual representation of sexuality which distorts an individual's concept of the nature of conjugal relations. This, in turn, alters both sexual attitudes and behavior. It is a major threat to marriage, to family, to children and to individual happiness. In undermining marriage it is one of the factors in undermining social stability.
Social scientists, clinical psychologists and biologists have begun to clarify some of the social and psychological effects, and neurologists are beginning to delineate the biological mechanisms through which pornography produces its powerful negative effects.
Some of the findings inside the study include:
Pornography is addictive, and neuroscientists are beginning to map the biological substrate of this addiction.
Users tend to become desensitized to the type of pornography they use, become bored with it and then seek more perverse forms of pornography.
Married men who are involved in pornography feel less satisfied with their conjugal relations and less emotionally attached to their wives. Wives notice and are upset by the difference.
Pornography use is a pathway to infidelity and divorce, and is frequently a major factor in these family disasters.
Among couples affected by one spouse's addiction, two-thirds experience a loss of interest in sexual intercourse.
Many adolescents who view pornography initially feel shame, diminished self-confidence and sexual uncertainty, but these feelings quickly shift to unadulterated enjoyment with regular viewing.
The main defenses against pornography are close family life, a good marriage and good relations between parents and children, coupled with deliberate parental monitoring of Internet use. Traditionally, government has kept a tight lid on sexual traffic and businesses, but in matters of pornography that has waned almost completely, except where child pornography is concerned.
Given the massive, deleterious individual, marital, family and social effects of pornography, it is time for citizens, communities and government to reconsider their laissez-faire approach.
Social scientists, clinical psychologists and biologists have begun to clarify some of the social and psychological effects, and neurologists are beginning to delineate the biological mechanisms through which pornography produces its powerful negative effects.
Some of the findings inside the study include:
Pornography is addictive, and neuroscientists are beginning to map the biological substrate of this addiction.
Users tend to become desensitized to the type of pornography they use, become bored with it and then seek more perverse forms of pornography.
Married men who are involved in pornography feel less satisfied with their conjugal relations and less emotionally attached to their wives. Wives notice and are upset by the difference.
Pornography use is a pathway to infidelity and divorce, and is frequently a major factor in these family disasters.
Among couples affected by one spouse's addiction, two-thirds experience a loss of interest in sexual intercourse.
Many adolescents who view pornography initially feel shame, diminished self-confidence and sexual uncertainty, but these feelings quickly shift to unadulterated enjoyment with regular viewing.
The main defenses against pornography are close family life, a good marriage and good relations between parents and children, coupled with deliberate parental monitoring of Internet use. Traditionally, government has kept a tight lid on sexual traffic and businesses, but in matters of pornography that has waned almost completely, except where child pornography is concerned.
Given the massive, deleterious individual, marital, family and social effects of pornography, it is time for citizens, communities and government to reconsider their laissez-faire approach.
Ed Stetzer is President of LifeWay Research and LifeWay’s Missiologist in Residence. He has trained pastors and church planters on five continents, holds two masters degrees and two doctorates, and has written dozens of articles and books. Ed is a contributing editor for Christianity Today, a columnist for Outreach Magazine and Catalyst Monthly, serves on the advisory council of Sermon Central and Christianity Today's Building Church Leaders, and is frequently cited or interviewed in news outlets such as USAToday and CNN.
http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/139251-the_effects_of_pornography.html
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