"Now porn is a ballooning industry — and maybe a harmful one —with no real opponents. What happened?”
In a recent article entitled “How the GOP Gave Up on Porn” in Nov/Dec 2018 of Politico Magazine, writer Tim Alberta lays out the sorry state of political neglect and the current state of pornographic material available to our children on the internet. As he states “Once, the fight against pornography was the beating heart of the American culture war. Now porn is a ballooning industry — and maybe a harmful one —with no real opponents. What happened?”
The efforts made in Congress through the 70’s and 80’s, prodded at times by both religious conservatives decrying the hyper-sexualizing of society and the radical left denouncing the objectification of women have fallen far short of stemming the tide of obscene on-line material. The truth is, despite federal laws on the books—as well as 25 state versions mandating filters in schools and libraries—efforts to shield children from explicit content have failed miserably. In our current political/secular world few benefits are perceived among lawmakers to advance new anti-pornography initiatives or enforce existing statues. Mr. Alberta reports that a variety of different causes were advocated for in the most recent Values Voter Summit. These included: expanded religious freedom, tighter abortion restrictions, counseling for relatives of ex-gays, paid family leave, single-gender college dormitories, refugee settlement programs, faith-based financial planning, the preservation of Social Security and much more. One issue, however, was not represented: pornography.
The viewpoints regarding the effects of pornography among adults, both single and married, vary among researchers and can be motivated by scholars and researchers with different ideological viewpoints. But a sociologist at the University of Oklahoma who has written over 50 peer-reviewed articles as well as two books about pornography asserts that sociologists are generally and increasingly in agreement that we are facing a multifaceted crisis. The statistics are grim. In 2016, a Christian research organization called The Barna Group released the results of a comprehensive online survey based on interviews with nearly 2,800 participants. The findings were stark: Forty-nine percent of children ages 13 to 17 consume pornography at least once a month, with a further 30 percent saying they did so less often. Only 21 percent said they had never viewed pornography.
A Utah legislator recently introduced a resolution labeling pornography “a public health
crisis.” It passed unanimously. He says the sole purpose for the resolution is to start a conversation about protecting minors, while holding the opinon that the American culture is past the point of no return when it comes to porn. Our core belief here at Freein13 is that escape from the trap that internet pornography creates for our young people can and must be combatted one user, one family, and one religious congregation at a time. Proper recognition of the trap, effective training of ecclesiastical leaders, and those serving as “accountability mentors” is paramount in facilitating the Escape. It IS time for action.