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The Proliferation of Pornography and the Destruction of the American Family


The Proliferation of Pornography and the Destruction of the American Family

California Family Council is dedicated to preserving the ideals and values that strengthen the family and enrich family life. One of the ways we achieve this is to inform parents and future parents of some of the challenges and obstacles they face in successfully raising children in today’s society. A new report released last week identifies one of those challenges.
The comprehensive study outlining the devastating effects of the viewing of pornography on individuals, marriages, families and society was authored by Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D. and published by the Family Research Council. The in-depth report reveals the devastating results of pornography, and emphasizes the important role parents must play in protecting their children and preserving their families.
Here are some of the extensive study’s key findings:
Families:
  • 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 relations.
  • Both spouses perceive pornography viewing as tantamount to infidelity.
  • Pornography viewing leads to a loss of interest in good family relations.
Individuals:
  • 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.
  • Men who view pornography regularly have a higher tolerance for abnormal sexuality, including rape, sexual aggression, and sexual promiscuity.
  • Prolonged consumption of pornography by men produces stronger notions of women as commodities or as “sex objects.”
  • Pornography engenders greater sexual permissiveness, which in turn leads to a greater risk of out-of-wedlock births and STDs. These, in turn, lead to still more weaknesses and debilities.
  • Child-sex offenders are more likely to view pornography regularly or to be involved in its distribution.
Other Effects:
  • 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 presence of sexually oriented businesses significantly harms the surrounding community, leading to increases in crime and decreased property values.
  • The main defenses against pornography are a strong family unit, a good marriage and good relations between parents and children, and 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.
The study concludes by stating:
The key to countering these damaging patterns and to protecting against the effects of pornography is to foster relationships of affection and attachment in family. The first and most important relationship is between the father and the mother. The second is engaged parents who love their children. In today’s technological society, this means limiting, monitoring, and directing their children’s Internet use. This, in turn, provides an invaluable shield against Internet pornography, and allows room for healthy attitudes toward sexuality, which unfold in a natural and socially supported way.
In our over-sexualized culture, with a longer pre-marriage period, children need the capacity for abstinence if their sexuality is to be channeled into stable marriage, procreation, and healthy family life for their children. Strong families remain the best defense against the negative effects of pornography, especially when aided by regular religious worship with all the benefits it brings.
Pornography clearly undermines both marriage and the family, and has a host of ill effects. It is time for government to reassess its laissez-faire attitude towards the proliferation of pornography, especially on the Internet.
Our present and future families need protection from this insidious enemy of love, affection, and of family and social stability.
Helpful information for parents or individuals struggling with pornography can be obtained from Focus on the Family. Click here.
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