Pornography 101
I was introduced to porn at nine years old. I still remember the day. My best friend, Jake, and I were pretending to be Billy and Jimmy Lee from Double Dragon. We ran around the house kicking and punching stuff and looking for more guns (boys never have enough guns) so we could save our sensei. That’s when Jake led me up to his driver’s room and said, “I wanna show you something cool.” He walked up to the closet doors, grabbed the handles and threw them open with the flourish of a practiced magician. And viola! Playboy bunny after Playboy bunny magically appeared posted on the inside of the doors. Expecting a display of armaments to make Rambo jealous, I was disappointed. On top of that, it was gross.
Nevertheless, that first exposure sparked my fascination with women and sex. A fascination that would lead me down paths good and bad over the next decade and a half. On one hand, it instilled in me an awe with the mystery and beauty of a woman and sexuality. On the other, it embroiled me in a battle with pornography and lust that can never be won on the grand scale.
Most every guy has a story like this. Statistics put the average age of first exposure to porn at 11 years old. It’s a 97 billion dollar industry with 28,258 people viewing porn sites every second. 70% of Christians admit to battling pornography daily. Reuters in Ontario, Canada reported that 87% of university students are having sexual encounters over the internet or telephone. As you can clearly see, this is a problem that a majority of the population of this planet deals with. So what do we do about lust, porn, and illicit relationships? How do we successfully guide our sexual desires and develop control of lust?
I don’t want to rush through this topic. It’s important enough to take our time through it. Let’s make this a discussion. Share your thoughts on the matter; things you do that are helpful in cultivating purity. I’ll be putting up the continuation of this post on Wednesday. I hope these questions stay with you until then and that you take the time to pray and meditate on them. Looking forward to hearing what you come back with!