Helping Christians Addicted to Pornography

1. Helping ChristiansAddicted toPornography Steve & Bette Wolfgang 12 July 2005 Truth Lectures

2. Matthew 5:8 • “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”NASV

3. 1 Thessalonians 4:2-5 • For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;

4. 1 Thessalonians 4:2-5 • that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know GodNASV

5. How To Stop the Porno Plague • 1968 – 1986: Presidential commissions on pornography (LBJ & RWR) • Increased enforcement (RICO, etc.) • My little town: 4 trials • Subpoenaed to testify • Locked courtroom • 4 trials • 2 guilty verdicts • 2 guilty pleas

6. This Lecture: • Definitions • Scope of the problem • Addictions/compulusion/sin • Scriptural concerns (passim) • Practical considerations

7. Definitions • Pornography – porneia – a work of the flesh (Galatians 5:19) • Obscenity – Miller v. California • Addiction • Physiological only–physical withdrawal? • Physiological + psychological • Psychological addictions? • Cravings

8. Miller v. California (413 U.S. 15)1973 Supreme Court Decision • The trier of fact must determine whether • “the average person, applying contemporary community standards” would find • (a) that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient (i.e., morbid) interest in sex, • (b) that the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable state law, • (c) and that the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

9. KRS Section 531.010Kentucky Revised Statutes • incorporates almost verbatim the Miller v. California language, saying that “obscene” means: • (a) To the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the predominant appeal of the matter, taken as a whole, is to prurient interest in sexual conduct; and • (b) The matter depicts or describes the sexual conduct in a patently offensive way; and • (c) The matter, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

10. KRS Section 531.010Kentucky Revised Statutes • (d) “Sexual conduct” means acts of masturbation, homosexuality, lesbianism, bestiality, sexual intercourse, or deviant sexual intercourse; or physical contact with the genitals, flagellation, or excretion for the purpose of sexual stimulation or gratification.”

11. Supreme Court of CanadaButler v. the Queen, 1992 • Stipulates categories of pornography: • 1. Explicit sex with violence; • 2. Explicit sex without violence, but treats people in a degrading or dehumanizing way; • 3. Explicit sex that is neither violent nor degrading or dehumanizing.

12. Definitions and Meaning • Not all pornography is legally “obscene” • Nudes posed alone (e.g., Playboy, Penthouse) • Partially-clad but suggestive advertisements (Victoria’s Secret, Calvin Klein, Sears, etc.) • NPA is a tiny fragment of all “porn” produced • Consumers who buy NPA are allowing those who profit from it to produce “hard-core:” • Simulated sex, homosexuality / lesbianism, kiddie porn, bestiality, other paraphilias

13. When you support even One small portion Of the pornography industry You help make All Of it possible

14. Summary of the Problem • There is a vast quantity of it • It is grotesquely popular • It is ubiquitous – Studies located porn consumers in 2000 cities in all 50 states and 40 other countries, including China

15. 11.6 million Google results for “porn” Monday 11 July 2005

16. Summary of the Problem • There is a vast quantity of it • It is grotesquely popular • It is ubiquitous – Studies located porn consumers in 2000 cities in all 50 states and 40 other countries, including China • It is enormously profitable • Estimates run as high as $8 billion annually • Although the pornography “industry” is virtually unregulated even in the U.S. • It is a multi-national enterprise; nobody really knows exactly how large it is.

17. New York Timesversus Forbes • NYT Frank Rich article May 18,2001 • Estimating annual porn industry revenues at • $10 to$14 billion annual revenues • Forbes magazine: scathing deconstruction • The actual figure was more like • $2.6 billion to $3.9 billion • Duel continued in print, on NPR, and online

18. New York Timesversus Forbes • Both are “probably wrong” since • “neither of those publications takes the pornography industry seriously enough to assign a beat reporter to cover it.” • Despite the fact that even the lowball Forbes estimate acknowledge that porn is bigger than:

19. The Pornography “Industry” Bigger than: • Major League Baseball • ($2.8 billion in 1999, according to the MLB Commissioner) • Bigger than Broadway theater • ($575 million in ticket sales in 1999, according to the League of American Theater and Producers, Inc

20. Summary of the Problem • It’s not just about naked women and men • “Soft-core” porn merely tip-of-the-iceberg • Scaling depths of degradation to various perversions and paraphilias • child pornography • bestiality • homosexuality • other perversions • See Diane Kholos Wysocki, “Let Your Fingers Do the Talking: Sex on an Adult Chat Line,” in Alex Thio and Thomas C. Calhoun, Readings in Deviant Behavior (Boston: Pearson Education; 3rd ed., 2004): 258-263.

21. Summary of the Problem • Evidence suggests that women are more interested in seeking relationships or romantic partners • In search of comfort, acceptance, intimacy and support • Often lacking in their own marriage • Often lacking in their own marriage

22. Gender Differences • Women may be less interested than men in visual stimulation or sexually explicit material • The conduct of both genders may be equally rooted in the search for different fantasies

23. Gender Differences & Internet Use **NEWSFLASH** Men act like men Women act like women

24. Summary of the Problem • It’s a “guy thing” – or is it? • More and more women involved in pornography consumption • Not so much of erotic images (though there is an increasing amount of that) • More “emotional” involvement in internet “chat rooms” • (though men can be found there too)

25. KFSN, Fresno website :ABC30.com • Sex sites on the internet generate over a billion dollars per year in revenue • Currently there are 100,000 porn sites • 200 new cyber-sex sites created daily • Last year there were 27.5 million U.S. visitors to pornographic websites

26. “Triple-A Engine” of Internet addiction • Accessible • Affordable • Anonymous

27. “Dirty Business: Porn Profits Attract Blue-Chip Corporations” Nightline,ABC News, 2002 • Mainstream appeal: cable, satellite, Internet • People “don’t even have to leave their couch to get their porn” • Seeming “sanitization” • (no need to surreptitiously visit an “adult” bookstore or wait in line publicly at the video store) provided by the new delivery systems • “have also allowed major corporations to get a piece of the pie without getting too close to the product itself.”

28. “Sanitized?” • The “dirty work of actually making the films” is still done by the same sleazy producers • But “major corporations like • AT&T • General Motors [owners of DirecTV – JSW] • Marriott – and others • share the profits by delivering what consumers buy • In classic capitalistic supply/demand environment, • “a new generation of entrepreneurs – including dot-com techies and Ivy League business school grads” bring ambitious business strategies to the mix.”

29. ACE Formulation • Anonymity • Convenience • Escape • Proposed by Dr. Kimberly Young of the Center for OnLine Addiction:

30. “Cyberhex of the Internet” • Intoxicating • Isolating • Integral • Inexpensive • Imposing • Interactive

31. By the Numbers • 17.8% of “born-again Christians” have visited at least one sexually explicit website • Zogby International poll • 40% of “evangelical” ministers struggled with pornography, largely obtained through the Internet • 33% acknowledged Internet pornography usage in the last 30 days • 2001 survey by Leadership Journal

32. US Senate Hearing5 November 2004 • 40% of sex addicts will lose their spouse • 58% will suffer severe financial losses • 27% will lose their job • 70% of hits on Internet sex sites occur between 9-5 on business computers • Dr. MaryAnn Layden, Director, Sexual Trauma and Psychopathology Program, Center for Cognitive Therapy, University of Pennsylvania

33. Three Cautions • This is a nasty subject • “It is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret” • Ephesians 5:12 - NASV • But we cannot ignore; we must confront and expose “the unfruitful works of darkness” • Ephesians 5:11

34. Three Cautions • We also want to honor Paul’s wish that Christians should be • “wise in what is good, and innocent [inexperienced] in what is evil” (Romans 16:19b) • We recognize that this subject is a case where “he who increases knowledge increases pain” (Ecclesiastes 1:18, NKJV)

35. Second Caution • God’s revelation imparts “all things pertaining to life and godliness” • 2 Peter 1:3 • Does this not include sexual information? • Song of Songs • Proverbs 6:20-7:27 • Mosaic sexual laws • 1 Corinthians 6:12-7:7

36. Second Caution • Our weekend marriage series emphasizes: • God is the grand designer of human beings and bodies; therefore • God is the inventor of sexuality • He could have used other ways like cross-pollinization for reproduction • Personally, we’re glad he didn’t • God made sex mutually enjoyable

37. Second Caution • Main point: as Christians, God’s children • We should feel no shame in discussing what God was not embarrassed to create. • Equally important: we cannot truly appreciate what a perversion of the divine creation Satan’s use of pornography is • without considering it against the larger background of healthy sexuality and personality development

38. Third Caution • TMI (Too Much Information) • “trickle-to-river-to-flood” analogy • Academic Search Premier • Lexis-Nexis • GALILEO • PsychINFO • EBSCOHost • KYVL

39. Search Engines • Google • Dogpile • Yahoo • MSN • AOL • Hotbot • ASK

40. Reliable Info? • Caution re: uncritical acceptance of what is reported and repeated in both the public media and scholarly journals. • Mainline news organization like TIMEMagazine forced to recant portions of a 1995 cover story later found unreliable • Problematic nature of reliable data: “Sexuality and the Internet: Lots of Hyp(otheses) – Only a Little Data,” Journal of Sex Research 38 (November 2001): 281-282.

41. Fourth Caution • Prepare for criticism by some who judge motives, saying • “Preaching about pornography is just a way for preachers to get some vicarious thrill” • Or, “condemning porn simply hides their own fascination with it.” • My response: “Shame on you!”

42. Progressive Involvement:A Common Pattern Proposed 4-stage model: • Addiction – initial exposure, titillation, and return • Escalation – desire for more explicit, often more deviant, material • Desensitization – previously stimulating, even shocking, material fails to excite • Acting Out Sexually – fantasies evolve from paper, plastic, and photons to people. • University of Utah psychologist Victor Cline, PhD, Healing Sexual and Pornography Addictions

43. 2 Timothy 3:13 NASV • Perpetrators of evil “will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived”

44. Ephesians 4:19 • “given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more” - RSV • “greedy to practice every kind of uncleanness” - NIV

45. Slaves to Sin • Scripture describes sin as having the capacity to enslave or put one in bondage: • “everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin” (John 8:34) • Warns of those who extol the virtues of “freedom” and “entice by fleshly desires [and] by sensuality . . . while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved” (2 Peter 2:18-19)

46. Romans 6:16 • “when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness”

47. Slaves of Righteousness • We can, by the grace of God and with help from other Christians, repent and begin again to “walk in newness of life” Romans 6:4 • “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” Romans 6:16

48. Romans 6:19 “I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.”

49. Romans 6:22Good News! • But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.NASV

50. Porn Prevarications • Perpetuated by those who produce, publish, peddle, purchase, post, and promote the perversions of pornographic poison: (Dedicated to Larry Hafley)