SYNOPSIS

Pornography is a powerful force that has become increasingly widespread in Western culture since the advent of the Internet. As the culture has been “pornified,” the ways in which men, women, and sexual attitudes and expectations have been affected are of considerable concern. While pornography is influencing and shaping assumptions about identity, sexuality, the value of women, and the nature of relationships, little discussion has focused on the neurobiological aspects of its allure, addictive properties, and long-lasting effects. Perhaps the appeal of pornography to so many is because it activates a part of our brain that is specifically organized to look for sexual cues. What if pornography merely hijacks a part of our nature that is intended for something better? What if our sexual drive and our neurological nature are wired for intimacy and not just sensuality? In this article, we examine how pornography affects the brain—its hormonal, neurochemical, and neurological consequences that play a role in developing attachments. In addition, by highlighting the sensitivity that many men have to be drawn into pornography, focusing on the male brain’s inherent predisposition toward sexually explicit imagery provides a window into our embodied, created, sexual nature that goes beyond simple reproductive biology. Because we are embodied beings, the impact of viewing pornography hijacks the normal functioning of the brain and the maladaptive patterns we adopt have profound psychological and behavioral effects. It affects not only how we form memories and make attachments but also how we understand sexuality and how we view each other. By grasping the neurobiological realities of our sexual development, we are better able to cultivate a healthy notion of relationships.

In a 2010 interview with Playboy Magazine, Grammy Award-winning musician John Mayer garnered a great deal of attention for his thoughts on former girlfriends (including Jennifer Aniston and Jessica Simpson), racist comments, and altogether boorish behavior. What went under the radar, however, were some revealing comments about his experiences with pornography. In a startling series of quotes, he gave his impressions about how the availability and access to porn may be affecting our expectations of sexuality and sexual intimacy.

Pornography? It’s a new synaptic pathway. You wake up in the morning, open a thumbnail page, and it leads to a Pandora’s Box of visuals. There have probably been days when I saw 300 [women] before I got out of bed….Internet pornography has absolutely changed my generation’s expectations.…You’re looking for the one photo out of 100 you swear is going to be the one you finish to, and you still don’t finish. Twenty seconds ago you thought that photo was the hottest thing you ever saw, but you throw it back…How does that not affect the psychology of having a relationship with somebody? It’s got to.¹

The on-demand availability of robust sexual stimuli presents a unique problem for developing and maintaining a healthy sexuality. The ease of access, variety of images, and the vigorous sensory constitution of this media go beyond the strength of mental imagery and fantasy. People can see whatever they want, whenever they want, however they want. In doing so they can generate, serve, and satisfy their sensual nature. Pornography creates a world today where the consumer (usually men) has the ability to bring up at their whim graphic (and sometimes interactive) depictions of nudity and sexual encounters. Women are perpetually available for their pleasure with minimal immediate consequences. People become disposable.²

Debating the pros and cons of pornography takes place in our legislatures, in our pulpits, on news television, and on numerous websites and blogs. While there are voices on every side of the conversation—liberals and conservatives, atheists and theologians, feminists, First Amendment advocates, and sociologists—a critical voice is being left out. As a brain researcher, I believe it is essential that an understanding of how pornography affects the brain should be included in this discourse. By gaining a better understanding of how sexually explicit material is processed and how it influences brain development, we can begin to understand its effects on our understanding of sexuality, what harm it might lead to, and how our framework of sexuality is evaluated.

In the Christian worldview, sexuality holds a privileged place in human relationships. Sexuality maintains both a sacred and a moral dimension in human life (Gen. 2:22–25). At face value our sexuality is the most obvious aspect of our embodied nature; it is the biological manifestation of our life-giving, procreative nature and evident in our reproductive organs.

But if we understand sexuality as only a matter of biological reproduction (making babies), we miss a significant part of the story. Human sexuality is also about intimacy. In our culture, however, the term intimacy is often used to be synonymous with sexual intercourse. So as individuals feel the need for intimacy, it is not uncommon for them to think that sexual activity is the only “real” form of intimacy.

It is here more than anywhere else that pornography takes human sexuality out of its intended purpose—the establishing and deepening of intimacy between two human beings—and makes it a product to be consumed. Human beings become objects of consumption rather than individuals requiring dignity and in this process those involved in its production and its consumption are harmed. This harm is not only sociological and psychological, but also spiritual. The product, another human being’s nakedness or intimate moments, is consumed for another’s benefit. Searching for a video, magazine, or website that has just the ideal effect (evidenced in the John Mayer quote earlier) offers the promise of euphoria and connection. It has the potential to become a fixation, a compulsion akin to chasing the ever-elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The pornographic selection may be consumed once, occasionally, or on an ongoing basis, for as often as you would like. Whenever it fails to meet your standards for beauty or excitement, whenever it fails to stimulate your fantasy, or if you just become bored with the images, the people within are disposed of. Free from the need to recycle or acknowledge that real human beings were exploited, the law of supply and demand drives what the market will bear.

The need for human intimacy is ongoing. Like food or water, intimacy is not met once and forevermore fulfilled. The desire for ongoing, deepening intimacy is in our nature, it is part of being made in the relational image of God. Intimacy is what drives us to know and to be known. It pushes us forward through life and is at the heart of our relational nature; it is part of our design—our wiring.

If we understand sexuality as being first about intimacy, then viewing pornography becomes a voyeuristic invasion of the sacred space of another. Instead of being life-giving, it becomes destructive for the viewer as well as the one involved in its production. It provides a false, or counterfeit, way of feeding the need for intimacy. On a cultural and social level, men and women are portrayed as objects for our consumption. The undeniable message here is that people are pieces of meat for our consuming pleasure and entertainment. If that is how the brain is being forced to respond to these images, the objectification and commoditization of people will seep into other parts of the viewer’s mind. It will affect the way he views people when he is not watching porn. The regular consumer of porn will begin to find that he fantasizes throughout the day about sex. Each woman he sees will be seen through a pornographic lens. People become an object of consumption or a competitor against whom they compare themselves.³ They will be evaluated as to their stimulating ability. It should come as no surprise that that these consequences can destroy a marriage, family, ministry, or career. While it offers the promise of intimacy and connection, pornography only delivers isolation, disconnectedness, and depravity.

The human body consumes and digests food. In a similar way, we can think about the brain as a consumer of stimuli and information. When we eat, food is broken down by the digestive system and used to supply the body with the energy it needs to survive and thrive. Once it has been fully digested, whatever that is unusable (waste) is excreted. This helps to ensure the healthy functioning of the organism. If we take this analogy and extend it to the brain, the brain’s job is to consume and digest information. This information is taken in through the eyes and other senses and digested and stored with meaning and memories. Anything that might have strong emotional content or is highlighted as being important information is stored and used later. The brain doesn’t always get to decide what it wants to keep and what it doesn’t. Sexual images are inherently powerful and have emotional content. As such, pornography forces itself on the brain. Whether one consents or not, pornography becomes a part of the fabric of the mind.

In academic circles the working models of understanding how pornography affects people often focus on sexual attitudes and behaviors, with a special emphasis on social harm. This would include acceptance of rape myths, the prevalence and intensity of sexist attitudes, emotional insensitivity in sexual settings, and a variety of influences on sexual offenses.⁴ The majority of this research has been broadly psychological, looking at scores on tests and screening tools, but more recently brain researchers have the ability to look into the brain while someone is viewing pornographic materials and see what effects it has on its activity.

SEDUCTION OF THE BRAIN

There are few people today who would deny that the brain is the primary organ of psychological experience. While we can debate the place of the soul, the brain’s involvement in how we live and have our being is undeniable. The brain is constantly changing in response to what it is being given to process. The things that we see, smell, hear, taste, touch, and experience throughout our day affect it and modify it. The brain’s ability to be modified—to learn—helps us process information and integrate these experiences with our memories in order to choose appropriate responses. The brain integrates what it is being fed into memories, making sense of the world, and developing our sense of self. If the brain is being fed Scripture, it should come as no surprise that it sees the world through the lens of Scripture. If it is being fed images of political conspiracies or violent sexuality, it should not come as any surprise that it begins to see the world through a filter of politics, depravity, or sensuality. For some, this view of the brain’s role is a relief; it helps them understand depression, anxiety, or addiction as a wiring problem. It is a fundamental part of how they are put together and can be extraordinarily helpful in understanding why they struggle. For others that knowledge leads to a fatalist view, or a “my-brain-made-me-do-it” defense, when they sin or act out. Because the human brain is the biological anchor of our psychological experience, it is helpful to understand how it operates. Knowing how it is wired together and where it is sensitive can help us understand why pornography affects people the way it does. The plasticity of the beautiful, complex brain can be a blessing or a curse. While the brain is malleable, it typically follows a set of rules in performing its functions. These rules govern how connections are made, how images are processed, how behaviors are executed, and how emotions are triggered. It is here in some of these circuits that pornography seems to be exploiting one of the brain’s Achilles’ heels: the naked human form.

There are few things in the world that can grab someone’s attention like the naked human body, and fewer still than naked bodies engaged in an intimate sexual act. One need look no further than prime time television, DVD sales, and the most frequently viewed websites to see that a great amount of time, energy, and resources take advantage of this fact of life. Sexuality and nakedness are used to entice us to watch, to buy, to follow, and to arouse us to any number of other actions. Our sexual nature provides a powerful impulse that tends to drive us. While it is true that not everyone who looks at sexually explicit images develops addictive or compulsive patterns of consumption and acting out, it is important to note that these images of nakedness and sexuality tap into a reflexive arousal response in many men, which can lead to devastating outcomes.

From time to time, brain scientists confirm something that we seem to know intuitively. The question, “Do men like looking at porn?” would seem to be one that common sense and straightforward observation would be sufficient to answer. If, however, one felt the need to actually prove it with brain imaging technology such as a multimillion dollar fMRI machine, then one can rest assured that there is actual scientific data to make this claim. In a small number of studies where people have had their brains imaged while viewing sexually explicit material, the effects on sexual response have been observed, resulting in several interesting findings.

PORN ON THE BRAIN

It should come as no surprise that the majority of pornography viewers are men. And while it is true that women also notice sexual cues in their environment, there seems to be a sensitivity to pornography that many men have built into their neurological wiring. The male brain seems to be built in such a way that visual cues that have sexual relevance (e.g., the naked female form, solicitous facial expressions) have a hypnotic effect on him. When these cues are detected, they trigger a cascade of neurological, chemical, and hormonal events.⁵ In some ways they are like the “hit” of a drug—there is a rush of sexual arousal and energy that accompanies it. How a man learns to deal with this energy and to form an appropriate response to it is part of becoming a mature adult. The psychological, behavioral, and emotional habits that form our sexual character will be based on the decisions we make. Whenever the sequence of arousal and response is activated, it forms a neurological memory that will influence future processing and response to sexual cues. As this pathway becomes activated and traveled, it becomes a preferred route—a mental journey—that is regularly trod. The consequences of this are far-reaching.⁶

Another relevant finding by those who are conducting brain research is in the area of what are being called mirror neurons. These neurons make up a circuit located in the frontal and parietal lobes (the region near the top of your head). These neurons are involved with the process for how to mimic a behavior. They contain a motor system that correlates to the planning out of a behavior. Consider this example: if you see someone grab a hammer and pound it, the same part of your brain that you would use to actually pound a hammer would also be activated. Other brain regions may hold that behavior in check, but you now have primed a neural circuit to hammer a nail. These neurons were originally called “monkey see, monkey do” neurons (they were first discovered in monkeys), and constitute the way we neurologically learn by observing others. Whenever we see a behavior, there is a silent echo; a neurological mirror of ourselves doing that behavior resides in the brain. This is a wonderful thing as we can learn by watching others, but it can also have negative effects, especially with respect to pornography.⁷

These mirror neurons are involved when someone views pornography because what they view, they vicariously experience and learn from. As men watch the sexually charged scene onscreen, they vicariously “mirror” this, which triggers sexual arousal.⁸ This mirror neuron system triggers the arousal, which leads to sexual tension and a need for an outlet. The unfortunate reality is that when he acts out (often by masturbating), this leads to hormonal and neurological consequences, which are designed to bind him to the object he is focusing on. In God’s plan, this would be his wife, but for many men it is an image on a screen. Pornography thus enslaves the viewer to an image, hijacking the biological response intended to bond a man to his wife and therefore inevitably loosening that bond.

But it would be wrong to think of viewing pornography as just a simple circuit board. The human brain is not like a computer; it has a chemical soup in which it operates and functions. There are hormones and brain chemicals (known as neurotransmitters), which provide the chemical medium for brain activity. Viewing pornography does not just activate circuits; it generates feelings intended for sexual longing, desire, love, and romance. It also alters the chemical medium of the entire body in profound ways. These chemicals include the neurotransmitters that brain cells use to communicate with each other, as well as the hormones the body and the brain produce in response to sexual arousal and sexual activity.

THE BIG FIVE

In men, there are five noteworthy chemicals involved in sexual arousal and response. Testosterone is the male hormone that seems to drive sexual interest. It has long been known that castrating animals (removal of the testes that produce the majority of testosterone in males) is an effective way to decrease sex drive and castration also reduces interest in sex in men as well (i.e., eunuchs). Testosterone seems to be an enabler of sex drive and its production is triggered by the brain through a hormonal process that can be adjusted throughout the day in response to what is going on in the environment. When sexual cues are identified by the brain, a surge of testosterone production is triggered. This testosterone surge heightens sexual anticipation and prepares the body for sexual encounters. What is fascinating is that these cues can be produced by pornography or through sexual fantasizing. So it’s not just what you see that causes the testosterone surge to increase sexual interest, it is also what you dwell on that can produce the surge as well.

A second player in the cavalcade of chemicals is dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is known to underlie all drugs of addiction. Dopamine seems to play an important role in helping people identify what things in their environment are significant. This chemical is going to be the primary reason why craving occurs. Often dopamine is referred to as a pleasure chemical. Its levels are increased when we do things that generally perpetuate our lives and the survival of our species. For example, satisfying hunger by eating a meal, satisfying thirst by drinking water, and satisfying the sex drive by engaging in intercourse all are correlated with heightened dopamine levels. External or internal sexual cues can trigger the release of dopamine in key brain regions that are also sensitive to testosterone. The key element to remember here is that dopamine is directing us toward resolving the tension that is being produced by the sexual images and anticipation of sexual release. It provides the rush that men feel when they view pornography.

Another neurotransmitter involved in heightening this rush is norepinephrine. It has two functions in the development of sexual addictions. First, norepinephrine is a significant player in promoting sexual arousal. It is a cousin to adrenaline chemically, and it is involved in helping the body prepare for sexual activity. In addition to preparing the body, it also is readying the brain to remember how the sexual drive is being met. Norepinephrine helps to store the memories of this event. It should come as no surprise that many men who can’t remember what they had for breakfast last week can still remember the image of the first Playboy centerfold that they ever saw.  Norepinephrine serves to help store these memories and get these images stuck in the brain because, presumably, they were memories that were important to be stored.

While dopamine and norepinephrine may provide the immediate rush that men get from viewing porn, the key event in determining whether or not viewing becomes a habitual pattern is going to be the release of endogenous opiates produced during sexual release (most notably in response to orgasm). Many men will report that this experience is accompanied by feelings of transcendence and euphoria that are known to be related to the release of endogenous opiates. It has been known for decades that the brain produces its own opiates that are involved in pain relief and pleasure. Street drugs such as heroin and medicines such as morphine can produce feelings of euphoria and reduce pain. This ability of orgasm to produce euphoria or release from sexual tension is what provides the psychological reward to the sexual drive. The release of endogenous opiates during masturbation or sexual activity with a partner is part of a larger sequence of sexual arousal and response. Viewing pornography provides the stimuli that help prepare the body for sexual response. When the viewer sexually acts out, resulting in orgasm, it gets stored as a behavior that is known to have a significant payoff. That significant payoff is the release of opiates that provide the chemical substrate for the psychological experience of orgasm.

While the payoff for orgasm is powerful, it is not an easy thing to achieve. The highs of orgasm are not available on demand. In the real world with real people, considerable effort has to go into cultivating a relationship that may result in a sexual encounter. A great deal of neurological effort, hormonal preparation, and appropriate behaviors usually precede this high. Here is where pornography hijacks God’s intended pattern of sexual attraction, arousal, and response.

Viewing pornography for sexual arousal and using it to produce the release and euphoria of orgasm provides a merely transient fix to any number of psychological problems. Whether it is depression, poor self-esteem, anger, or any other number of things that cause a person to feel a need for relief or release, pornography becomes part of the ritual that is used to get a short-term fix. Like eating candy to satisfy hunger, pornography can feel like a healthy way to satisfy the drive for intimacy. In truth, it provides no nourishment whatsoever, and results in a greater degree of need. Even in the absence of acting out, the images have such a robust, salient character that they are stored as memories that can produce a warped sense of sexuality and objectification.

SO NOW WHAT?

How do we avoid falling into despair once we realize that the use of pornography can produce long-lasting neurological and hormonal effects on the brain? It is important to remember that the guidelines we are given in Scripture about how to conduct ourselves sexually are fairly straightforward.

When we follow these guidelines, we will be more likely to develop minds that focus on those things that are good and noble, right, and pure. When we choose not to follow these guidelines and act in a way that is sexually immoral, we are affected—our thoughts and bodies become polluted. The same can be said for watching immorality, that is to say, viewing pornography. It corrupts and pollutes our brains as it attempts to make sense of humanity’s sexual nature. But if we choose to follow the guidelines of Scripture, we will find that we are better able to appreciate the image of God in each person and have a healthy view of sexuality where we honor one another rather than consume each other.

This is not only a spiritual reality, but also a neurological one. When a husband and wife restrict themselves to each other, directing their sexual energies toward one another, they will find that they occupy each other’s thoughts. They will find that they will be more closely bound to each other. This is God’s plan for a husband and wife—that they will image God’s exclusive love for His people as they exclusively set this part of themselves (their reproductive nature) aside for one another. For the single person, realizing that needs for intimacy can be met in ways beyond sexual gratification is an important process. When someone is deceived into thinking that sexual intimacy (i.e., sexual intercourse) is a necessary part of living a life worth living, it comes as no surprise that pornography, masturbation, or promiscuity become a cycle of unmet needs and unfulfilled promises of intimacy, love, and connectedness.

These neurological habits of compulsion and depravity were not established overnight and the expectation is that they will not be changed overnight. But if we can appreciate that God uses our embodied nature and the laws that govern it to our benefit and His glory, then we should also appreciate that God can reveal Himself in a unique way through our brokenness. In other words, He exhibits both His grace and power through the process of redemption as we continue to walk with Him by faith. If we understand that our sexuality need not hinder us as we pursue sanctification but instead can be harnessed and used to propel us forward, we then can also see that it plays a critical in our life’s purpose, which is to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). By moving beyond the lie of pornography—that people are nothing more than sexual objects to be consumed—we can appreciate each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. We can begin to move beyond objectification and false intimacy to real relationships, which honor the dignity of each person.

Sexual intimacy is a complex neurochemical, hormonal, and spiritual event. It is one of the most powerful God-given means by which human beings form attachments. The question “Who or what are you bound to?” has to be asked in the arena of sexuality, and it has a neurobiological answer. There is no such thing as “just looking” at porn. There can be no doubt that it affects us neurologically in long-lasting ways. How we choose to exercise that knowledge—for sanctification or for depravity—is up to each one of us.

William M. Struthers, Ph.D., is associate professor of psychology at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, where he teaches courses on behavioral neuroscience, men and addictions, and psychopharmacology. His research is in the area of sexuality, neuroethics, the biological bases of personhood, and the nature of integration in psychology.

NOTES

1. Rob Tannenbaum, “Interview with John Mayer,” Playboy Magazine (March 2010).
2. Read Mercer Schuchardt, “Hugh Hefner’s Hollow Victory: How the Playboy Magnate Won the Culture War, Lost His Soul, and Left Us with a Mess to Clean Up,” Christianity Today, December 2003, 50–54.
3. Todd G. Morrison et al., “Exposure to Sexually Explicit Material and Variations in Body Esteem, Genital Attitudes, and Sexual Esteem among a Sample of Canadian Men,” TheJournal of Men’s Studies 14, 2 (Spring 2006): 209–22.
4. Gail Dines, Robert Jensen, and Ann Russo, Pornography: The Production and Consumption of Inequality (London: Routledge, 1998).
5. Harold Mouras et al., “Brain Processing of Visual Sexual Stimuli in Healthy Men: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study,” Neuroimage 20, 2 (October 2003): 855–69.
6. William M. Struthers, Wired for Intimacy: How Pornography Hijacks the Male Brain (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2009).
7. Justin H. G. Williams et al., “Imitation, Mirror Neurons and Autism,” Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 25, 4 (June 2001): 287; Sarah Archibald, “Mirror Image,” NatureReviews Neuroscience 7, 4 (January 2006).
8. Harold Mouras et al., “Activation of Mirror-Neuron System by Erotic Video Clips Predicts Degree of Induced Erection: An fMRI Study,” Neuroimage 42, 3 (September 2008): 1142–50.

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SYNOPSIS

Millions of people view pornographic magazines, videotapes, DVDs, and Web sites each month. What appears to be a secular problem, however, is also prevalent among Christians. Because pornography has a dependency that weakens the individual; it causes a disruption of the “one-flesh” union that weakens marriages; and it results in a distortion in thinking that weakens the ability to relate and function.

Bondage to sexual sin is a tyrant that will demand more and more territory. It can be overcome, however, by choosing to take three steps of action: First, truly repent of the sin and separate yourself from it. Second, establish a pattern of discipleship through Bible study and prayer. Third, establish a relationship in which you can be accountable to another believer. By choosing to do battle now, you can avoid a full-scale war later.

“The light of the body is they eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matt. 6:22-23)¹

I remember clearly, and with inexpressible regret, the night I walked into an adult bookstore and entangled myself in the use of pornography. I was a 23-year-old former minister at the time, well on my way toward a fully backslidden state, and I was considering whether to indulge in the many sexual sins that I had, at that point, only allowed myself to imagine. That evening in the spring of 1978, my decision was sealed when I embraced what I now call the “dark magic.”

The “magical” qualities of pornography were obvious and immediate. One glance around that roomful of graphic sexual images sent a rush through my system very much like a narcotic response. The longer I gazed, the more intoxicated I became, and over the next few hours the porn brought me temporary escape and exhilaration. I’d found a new drug, and it seemed to work beyond my expectations.

The darker aspects of this newfound magic soon became clear to me. I revisited the same porn shop nightly for the next two weeks. I then spiraled into the use of prostitutes, an affair with a married woman, homosexuality, and a five-year habit of reckless, degrading sexual practices. It began with the use of pornography, a product I continued to consume during my backslidden years, and which I have come to regard much the way an addict regards a drug — a destructive vice I have to strenuously avoid, always remembering its lethal impact on my life.

THE PROBLEM THAT GROWS UNNOTICED

That same lethal impact is being felt on a broader level today as pornography’s availability has reached levels unimaginable 25 years ago. Through cable, videotape and DVD products, and the Internet, virtually anyone wanting to view porn is able to do so with minimal effort. The statistics on porn usage, therefore, while tragic, shouldn’t be surprising:

• During the single month of January 2002, 27.5 million Internet users visited pornographic Web sites.²
• Americans spent an estimated $220 million on pornographic Web sites in 2001, according to a New York-based Internet research firm. (The same firm, Jupiter Media Metrix, noted that the $220 million figure was up from $148 million in 1999; Americans are expected to spend $320 million annually on porn sites by the year 2005.)³
• In a national survey polling 1,031 adults, Zogby International and Focus on the Family found that 20 percent of the respondents had recently visited a pornographic site.⁴

Every month millions of people stop what they’re doing to look at erotic images and, in most cases, pretend that they are sexually interacting with the women or men on display. It makes St. John’s description of the world — a place dominated by the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes (1 John 2:16)
— chillingly relevant.

What, at first glance, appears to be a secular problem is, in fact, a problem more commonly found among Christians than any of us would care to admit. Over 18 percent of the men polled in the Zogby/Focus survey cited above, for example, identified themselves as Christian believers.⁵ The Promise Keepers Men’s Conference conducted an informal poll during its 1996 rally and this poll yielded even more dismal results when one out of three men in attendance admitted they “struggled” with pornography.⁶ Finally, the Colorado-based Focus on the Family organization reports that 7 out of 10 pastors who call their toll-free help line claim to be addicted to porn.⁷

The use of pornography is not restricted to men, either, as is often assumed. Thirty-four percent of the readers of the popular magazine Today’s Christian Woman admitted to the use of Internet pornography,⁸ and the Zogby/Focus poll indicated one out of every six women surveyed viewed pornography regularly.⁹ James P. Draper, president of Life Way Christian Resources, was hardly exaggerating when he stated, “It appears the sin of choice among Christians today is pornography.”¹⁰

Considering the prevalence of pornography use among Christians, it’s time we examine the effect it’s having on individuals and families within the church and on our Christian witness in a secular and increasingly sexualized culture.

DEFINING PORNOGRAPHY

Webster defines pornography as “obscene literature or art.” This leaves the term “obscene” open to interpretation since a good deal of socially acceptable material may be obscene to some while artistic to others. The legal definition of obscenity, however, as established by the U. S. Supreme Court in 1973, narrows the term:

1.     While applying contemporary community standards and taken as a whole, it is something that the average person would consider appeals to prurient interest.

2.     The work (or material) depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way as specifically defined by the applicable state law.

3.     The work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value.¹¹

By this three-part standard, sexually explicit videotapes, DVDs, magazines, and Web sites qualify as porn. Honesty and common sense will also allow that any visual material used to incite an erotic response, even if the material is not generally considered obscene, becomes a form of pornography to the individual who uses it to that end. For the purposes of this article, however, we’ll use the Supreme Court’s definition as a reference point.

THE LETHAL EFFECTS OF PORNOGRAPHY

The use of pornography, I believe, weakens the church today in three significant ways: First, it creates a dependency on pornography that weakens the individual believer. Second, it causes a disruption of the “one-flesh” union that weakens Christian marriages. Third, it results in a distortion in thinking that weakens a Christian’s ability to relate and function.

A Dependency That Weakens the Individual Believer

The value of personal freedom is an ongoing biblical theme. Adam was created under God’s authority with the freedom to choose, manage, and procreate (Gen. 1:27–30); Israel’s slavery was an evil that God sent Moses to confront and dismantle (Exod. 3–15); Jesus began His public ministry by announcing He had come, among other things, to set captives free (Luke 4:18); and Paul asserted that liberty is what God has called us to, that Christian liberty should be protected, and that bondage is to be avoided (Gal. 5:1, 13). The Judeo-Christian ethic places a high premium on personal freedom and condemns anything that restricts or prohibits a person from reaching his or her God-given potential. If liberty is good, it stands to reason that addiction — a dependence on a certain behavior or experience — is bad; and if something can be shown to be addictive, that in itself becomes a strong argument against it.

There are limits to this argument, to be sure. Most would agree that caffeine is an addictive substance, and yet coffee drinking is generally not frowned on; nor is the use of sugar, which many consider a relatively addictive substance. What distinguishes these substances from cocaine or heroin is the degree to which their use impairs a person’s freedom and productivity.

A woman who drinks three cups of coffee daily, for example, is different than a woman with a thousand-dollar-a-day heroin habit. Both of them may be, in the strictest sense, dependent on their drug of choice, and so their freedom is impaired. The coffee drinker is not, however, in virtually all cases, significantly and functionally impaired by her drug. She can operate on the job, maintain focus and stability, and manage personal responsibilities quite well despite her habit. The heroin user, in contrast, is rendered largely dysfunctional by her drug, will often resort to illegal activities to support her use of it, and is affected by heroin in such a way that it becomes increasingly difficult for her to sustain even the most primary human relationships. Both women are in bondage to some degree, but there’s a huge contrast in the nature of their bondage and in its impact on their general abilities.

The nature of immorality and its impact on a person’s abilities are described in Scripture as “enslaving”: “His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins” (Prov. 5:22). Peter described the false promise of freedom through immorality: “They allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness….While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption; for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage” (2 Pet. 2:18–19).

Bondage to a sexual sin — a growing dependency on the sin, similar to dependency on a drug — often goes unrecognized because addiction to a behavior is a relatively new concept to many people. Most mental health professionals agree that people can become addicted to chemicals. Many of them also recognize the possibility of becoming addicted to an experience. Those who believe in this possibility — myself included — believe addiction to an experience, such as gambling or the use of porn, follows a threefold pattern: the discovery of a hyperstimulating experience, the repetition of the experience, and an eventual dependence on the experience as a means of functioning or coping.

Discovery, Repetition, Dependence

When pornography is viewed for the first time — discovered, as it were — the viewer experiences a unique rush, accompanied by a strong sexual fantasy. The viewer is not, after all, simply enjoying the sight of another person’s body, potent as that pleasure might be. He is also creating an imaginary bond with the image he’s viewing, enjoying a false but potent connection in which he orchestrates and controls the entire sexual encounter. He has, in short, discovered a powerful and rewarding product, and like any consumer, he will be inclined to repeat its use until he no longer simply enjoys it but becomes dependent on it.

Christian counselor Robert Ellis describes this hyperstimulating experience much as one would describe a narcotic rush: “Use of pornography creates an exotic combination of internal stimulants which cascade through the bloodstream like liquid flesh. They create a sense of relief, excitement, exhilaration or pleasure — when these pleasurable, relieving surges get grooved into association with pornography, the flesh gains control over the spirit and the problem becomes one of addiction. It is not uncommon for pornography to elicit internal surges as addictive as cocaine.”¹²

This “addictive as cocaine” experience is shared by millions of pornography’s consumers, as evidenced by the National Council on Sexual Addiction Compulsivity, which estimates between six to eight percent of Americans display symptoms of sexual addiction (percentages that translate into 16 to 21 million citizens).¹³ Indeed, an MSNBC poll showed that in a sampling of 38,000 respondents, one out of every ten persons surveyed indicated they were addicted to sex on the Internet.¹⁴

Any form of sexual sin is serious, whether or not the person committing it is “addicted” to the sin or indulging it only on occasion; but when a person becomes dependent on that behavior as a source of comfort or relief, the problem of sin is now accompanied by the problem of bondage. When numerous Christians have come under such bondage, the entire church, like a body with parts that are diseased or crippled, must suffer.

A Disruption That Weakens Christian Marriages

Further problems are created when the use of pornography invades Christian marriages. It will eventually disrupt the unity, both sexual and emotional, that is vitally crucial to stable marital life.

When a group of Pharisees questioned Jesus on the ethics of divorce (Matt. 19:4–6), He articulated a basic standard for the human sexual experience: sexual union is to be heterosexual (“He made them male and female”), independent (“a man shall leave father and mother”), and monogamous (“one flesh”). Paul added that within the sanctity of a monogamous and permanent commitment, husband and wife are to attend to each other’s sexual needs (1 Cor. 7:4–5) and reserve their sexual energies for each other, thus preserving the uniqueness of their bond and avoiding moral transgressions (1 Cor. 7:2).

The benefits of a “one-flesh” union are confirmed elsewhere in Scripture. A cursory look at Old and New Testament figures confirms the wisdom of monogamy and the chaos introduced by infidelity, polygamy, or loss of sexual control, all of which play key roles in some of the Bible’s greatest tragedies. Witness the bitter rivalry between Abraham’s wife and her maid and the painful repercussions that result, the foolish loss of judgment that came with Herod’s sexual obsession with his stepdaughter, the death of a child and permanent family curse caused by David’s adultery, and the spiritual decline of Solomon’s faith because of his appetite for foreign women. A fundamental lesson emerges: The one-flesh union provides psychological safety to individuals, stabilizes the family, and enhances productivity and order within the community.

Jesus further clarified the concept of the one-flesh union when He declared that adultery is not limited to actions but can also occur in the heart: “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matt. 5:27–28). Pornography, which necessitates lusting after strangers, accordingly disrupts the one-flesh union, depriving husband and wife of the very benefits the Bible promises to those who remain monogamous.

In concurrence with the Bible, a growing number of secular theorists are also celebrating the wisdom of monogamous commitment. Studies show that it enhances the life span of men and women who practice it¹⁵ and that the quality of life improves in proportion to the practice of fidelity. Drug and alcohol abuse dropped significantly among married test subjects in a University of Chicago study, and monogamous individuals made more money, had twice as much sex as their nonmonogamous counterparts, and experienced half the domestic violence of those studied who either lived together unmarried or lived alone.¹⁶

In light of this, pornography is shown to be especially crippling to marriages, as it damages the ability of its users to maintain an ongoing, committed union. The claim that it is a harmless product and practice belies the biblical and secular evidence that it violates the one-flesh standard. The man using pornography violates this standard, whether he is married or single. If he is single, he violates it by engaging in random sexual fantasies with the innumerable women he views in magazines or pornographic Web sites. He is, in essence, attempting to enjoy the ecstasy of sexual union without any of its commitments or responsibilities and thus creates a false, temporal bond with phantoms. Since a one-flesh union is both authentic and exclusive, he is falling far short of the biblical standard.

When a married man uses porn, he violates the Matthew 5 standard as well: the sexual energy he has pledged to reserve for his wife is now being invested into his private fantasies. He is, in essence, embezzling from his spouse what is rightfully hers, and is instead spending it irresponsibly, much as a gambler steals funds from his employer to support his habit. What properly belongs to one person is thus stolen, making the term “cheating” all the more applicable.

Secular studies confirm the crippling effect of pornography on a person’s ability to maintain a monogamous bond. Researchers Dolf Zimmerman and Jennings Bryant, for example, noted that continued exposure to pornography increased its user’s desires for sexual contacts and behaviors outside their marriages,¹⁷ and author Diana Russell found that pornography leads men and women to experience conflict, suffering, and sexual dissatisfaction.¹⁸

Common sense would lead to the same conclusion. Each of us contains a limited amount of sexual/emotional energy, which will either be reserved for a monogamous bond or spent elsewhere. Our ability to sustain a bond with one partner cannot help but be impacted by the level of energy we’ve reserved for that partnership.

As a counselor, I see this principle played out repeatedly. When a husband engages in the use of pornography, his wife almost always notices a certain detachment on his part: less time, less sexual interaction, less attention. She suffers; he embezzles; everyone loses. Pornography systematically weakens marriages within the body of Christ, for it disrupts the bonds crucial to a healthy marriage.

A Distortion That Darkens the Christian Mind

The eye is indeed the lamp of the body (Matt. 6:22–23). If a person’s eye is perpetually exposed to darkness, there comes an inevitable distortion in that person’s thinking. It is in this darkening of the mind that pornography makes its leap from an act that is morally repugnant to one that has frightening consequences. “Evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Cor. 15:33), Paul warned, and the impact on the mind of a Christian consistently exposed to the wrong types of communication is immeasurable.

Zimmerman and Bryant, for example, found that continued exposure to pornography affected a male viewer’s basic beliefs about sexuality in general and women in particular.¹⁹ They likewise noted that exposure to porn increased its viewers’ desires for deviant behaviors, such as sado-masochism, and also desensitized their attitudes toward rape. Psychologist Edward Donnerstein of the University of Wisconsin came to similar conclusions, noting that even brief exposure to violent forms of pornography led to antisocial attitude and behavior.²⁰ Clinical psychologist Victor Kline concurs, noting that men who consume pornography on a regular basis experienced increased aggression in attitude and behavior, noticed an increase in “rape fantasies,” and felt increased indifference toward women in general.²¹

Like any drug, pornography’s effects vary according to the general health of the individual who uses it. In other words, while a person will be adversely affected by using an illegal drug, the specific effect will probably vary from person to person. A person already predisposed toward violence may well become more violent when intoxicated; a person more inclined to depression may find himself acutely suicidal when under the influence. Similarly, not every porn user becomes a rapist or sexual deviant, but there can be no question of its adverse effects on the user’s thinking.

I can testify to this first hand, both as a former user of pornography and as a counselor. Having discovered the “dark magic,” I found myself increasingly withdrawn from genuine interpersonal relationships and more isolated, defensive, and detached. Accustomed to the false world of phantom relations, I found real relations less and less tolerable. I also developed a callousness toward women, which I repeatedly see in my clients. They existed for me — I visually used them daily via magazines and videos; I controlled them in my fantasy world; and I became less tolerant of any defects in real women as I spent more time in the company of unreal, though perfect, images of women. I had discovered a world in which both I and all around me would be perfect. In the shadowlands of pornographic imagery, people existed for my pleasure, and I existed to rule and indulge. In short, I had adopted a mindset so far away from the mind of Christ that I decided to usurp His authority for my own, thus completing the darkening of my mind.

C. S. Lewis alluded to this self-idolatry when he described the world of sexual fantasy as being “a harem of imaginary brides. And this harem, once admitted, works against a man ever getting out and really uniting with a real woman. For the harem is always accessible, always subservient, calls for no sacrifices or adjustments, and can be endowed with erotic and psychological attributes which no real woman can rival. In the end, they become merely the medium through which he increasingly adores himself.”²²

PIERCING THE DARKNESS

When a person is angry enough, scared enough, or frustrated enough, that person will take action. So it is with pornography. If you recognize its impact on your life, and you are sufficiently concerned to take action, that is the beginning of true change.

The journey away from pornography, like the journey away from sexual sin in general, is so simple it escapes many people. It can be reduced to three simple principles: repentance, discipleship, and accountability.

Repentance: Reject the behavior by separating yourself from it. If you have not separated yourself from it, you haven’t repented. In practical terms, that may mean purchasing a filtering device (or switching to an Internet service provider that prohibits pornographic material from coming through), or doing away with the Internet altogether. It may mean discontinuing the cable service on your television. In short, do whatever is necessary to separate yourself from the behavior on which you’ve become dependent.

Discipleship: Establish yourself in the daily discipline of prayer and Bible study. If you do not have a regular devotional life, begin now by naming a book of the Bible you can begin reading today. If you haven’t read the Bible before, or you’ve been out of the habit for a while, let me suggest the following books, and read them in this order to get you started: the Gospel of John, Romans, Ephesians, James, and Proverbs. Follow up these daily readings with a time of prayer, following the model of prayer Christ taught in Matthew 6:9–13. Prayer and the reading of Scripture are requirements for anyone wanting to renew his or her mind; they will diffuse the power of deeply ingrained sexual images.

Accountability: Start a relationship with at least one believer who knows about your use of pornography. Have this person ask you, on a weekly basis, whether you’ve repeated this behavior and how well you’ve resisted the temptations to repeat it. Remember, sexual sin thrives in the dark. A large part of recovery from it lies in your willingness to keep your private behavior in the light of another believer’s scrutiny and prayers. This, like the daily discipline of prayer and Scripture reading, is required if you’re serious about your repentance.

A BATTLE WORTH FIGHTING

After the English Parliament’s 1938 appeasement in Czechoslovakia, Winston Churchill saw the danger of choosing peace when honor and common sense called for battle. “You have been given the choice between war and dishonor,” he said. “You have chosen dishonor, and you will have war!” History, of course, would confirm his prophetic warning: refusing to fight an honorable battle may afford a temporary peace, but in the long run it’s too costly. Delaying a necessary battle may well result in a devastating, full-scale war.

Every person who has become involved in sexual sin makes a decision between battle and dishonor. As always, dishonor looks like an easier choice. Dishonor means making peace with your sin. It means telling yourself that after so many years, it’s become such a part of your life that trying to cut it out would be too traumatic and too uncomfortable. It would mean saying goodbye to a reliable (though destructive) friend, and the battle to abstain from this “friend,” with all the temptations and struggles it would involve, seems too demanding, so a dishonorable compromise is therefore reached when a person decides to live in peaceful coexistence with his (or her) sexual sin.

Tyrants, however, never coexist peacefully; by their nature, they demand increased territory, fewer limitations, and more captives. The sin a person decides not to go to war against soon demands more territory. It begins invading career, family, health, and reputation. Now the person finds that what could have been a brief skirmish, if it had been attended to earlier, has become full-blown war. He chose dishonor over battle. In the end, he winds up with both.

If your mind has become a battlefield — darkened by the use of pornography, which has distorted your basic attitudes toward life — you have already yielded a good deal of territory, and your willingness to concede it has already cost a terrible price to you, your loved ones, and the church. God grant that today you find yourself ready to abandon the dark and see again how wonderful the true light can be.

NOTES

1. All Bible quotations are from the King James Version unless otherwise noted.
2. Marilyn Elias, “Cybersex Follows Mars, Venus Patterns,” USA Today, February 26, 2002.
3. Ibid.
4. “Zogby/Focus Survey Reveals Shocking Internet Sex Statistics,” Legal Facts (Family Research Council), vol. 2, no. 3, March 30, 2000, cited in National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families Web site, “Current Statistics,” http://php.eos.net/nationalcoalition/stat.phtml?ID=53.
5. Ibid.
6. “Pornography among Christians?” Los Angeles Times, March 30, 2001.
7. Ibid.
8. Ramona Richards, “Dirty Little Secret,” ChristianityToday.com, http://www.christianitytoday.com/tcw/ 2003/005/5.58.html.
9. Zogby.
10. James P. Draper, quoted in Tim Wilkins, “First Person: How to Surf the Internet and Avoid Wiping Out to Porn,” Baptist Press News, October 30, 2003.
11. Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973).
12. Robert Ellis, “The Chemical Science of Pornography,” AFA Online, http://www.afa.net/pornography/re011303.asp.
13. Alvin Cooper, et al., “Online Sexual Compulsivity: Getting Tangled in the Net,” Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity 6, 2 (1999): 79–104.
14. Linda Carroll, “Addicted to Online Porn,” June 27, 2000, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3078769/.
15. Christina Hoff Sommers, The War against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2000), http://www.andtheylivedhappilyeverafter.com/ 48.htm.
16. Ibid.
17. Dolf Zimmerman and Jennings Bryant, “Pornography, Sexual Callousness, and the Trivialization of Rape,” cited in “The Documented Effects of Pornography,” The Forerunner, http://www.forerunner.com/forerunner/X0388_Effects_of_Pornograp.html.
18. Diana Russell, “Rape and Marriage,” cited in “The Documented Effects of Pornography.”
19. Zimmerman and Bryant.
20. Edward Donnerstein, “Pornography and Violence against Women,” cited in “The Documented Effects of Pornography.”
21. Victor Kline, “The Effects of Pornography,” C.A.S.E, http://www.c-a-s-e.net/The Effects of Porn.htm.
22. C. S. Lewis, quoted in Laurie Hall, An Affair of the Mind (Colorado Springs, CO: Focus on the Family, 1998), 111.