No one in his right mind would ever purposefully eat daily doses of arsenic. It's poison. When consumed, it eventually causes the heart to stop beating, and the brain dies.
Pornography has a similar effect.
While it may not cause your heart to stop beating, it will, without a doubt, cause your heart to stop feeling. It creates a deadness in the brain. Porn is poison.
Here's how pornography destroys futures
1. It causes divorce
When pornography takes over, spousal love is suffocated. If a partner doesn't stop viewing pornography, there is a high possibility the marriage will end in divorce. In testimony to the United States Senate, Dr. Jill Manning reported that "56 percent of divorce cases involved one party having an obsessive interest in pornographic websites." There can be no place for two different lovers in a marriage. Too many addicts choose to give up on their spouses rather than give up pornography.
2. It's addictive
There's a reason why some experts have called pornography "the drug of the new millennium." It has been suggested that pornography is far more addictive and destructive than hard drugs like heroin and cocaine, working in the same way as a chemical drug - only with more power because it deals with carnal thoughts and behaviors. It takes over a person's thinking.
3. It spoils intimate relationships
Pornography's portrayals are fake. The subjects are actors. There is no love involved. Porn paints a false picture of intimacy. A spouse cannot live up to this untrue image, and marital intimacy becomes less fulfilling. Pornography kills the beautiful tenderness of marital affection. It leaves victims lonely, unable to enjoy normal relationships with their spouses.
4. It negatively affects your brain
Research suggests that pornography causes ADHD, social anxiety, depression, performance anxiety and OCD. In a TED talk from physiology teacher, Gary Wilson, titled "The great porn experiment," Wilson addresses the effects of pornography on the brain. Since watching porn releases dopamine, he states that "too much dopamine can override our natural satiation mechanisms." The result is that the brain experiences physical changes, including a numbed pleasure response that causes real intimacy to become unfulfilling. This change also creates hyperreactivity to pornographic material, causing an insatiable appetite for it. Will power is eroded. When this happens, all that matters is viewing more pornography.
5. It causes you to lose respect for women
The continual viewing of pornography promotes the degradation of women. Porn promotes the falsehood that women are objects with which to fulfill carnal pleasure.
6. It causes you to lose respect for men
Sadly, more and more women are viewing pornography, and it is equally tragic for them. Pornography relegates men into objects much like it relegates women into objects. It harms the view women have of men, focusing only on carnal behavior, blinding women to the fact that good men are so much more. Men's goodness will be seen less and less as women view pornography more and more.
7. It diminishes connection with your children
Research shows that pornography use is linked to the "devaluation of marriage and child rearing" and that children from homes where parents view porn suffer "decreased parental time and attention." How can your thoughts and concerns be for your children when you are addicted to pornography? When pornography consumes one's thoughts, it leaves no room for other meaningful relationships.
8. It ruins careers and leads to job loss
When your mind is so absorbed in pornography, you lose the ability to concentrate on your work. While most companies forbid pornography use on the job, porn's continual use away from work will gradually take over your mind, leaving little room for things that matter - like earning a living. According to the Family Research Council, "when viewing pornography becomes an addiction, 40 percent of sex addicts lose their spouses, 58 percent suffer considerable financial losses, and about a third lose their jobs."
9. It involves you in the crime of abusing women and children
When you view pornography, you contribute to its success and financially pave the way for its producers to go further and further into perversions that involve teen and child abuse. You would probably be among those who say you would never sexually abuse a child, and yet, by viewing pornography, you are participating in the promotion of such behavior. Mark B. Kastleman, author of "The Drug of the New Millennium," suggests that, like any other drug users, porn users seek out material that is more and more extreme to achieve their "highs." He writes, "And when images were no longer enough, many turned to acting out what they had seen in pornography."
10. It deadens your spiritual senses
Your love of God and His holy word will be diminished. Anyone involved in porn knows it's a violation of God's commandments. It is plain and simple Internet adultery.
11. It sets a terrible example for children
Eventually, children find out about a parent's porn use. It may be accidental. They may overhear a conversation or run into sites, videos or magazines when you are not at home. They may see you viewing pornography when you're not aware. Sin can be hidden just so long. When children see that parents view pornography, they believe such behavior is OK. Then we have yet another generation headed for heartbreak.
12. It causes shame and self-deprecation
You cannot feel good about yourself when you are doing something you know is wrong. You have a conscience, and you will know you are doing something wrong when you view porn. That's when self-loathing sets in and self-respect plummets.
The good news
Pornography addiction is curable. Anyone who wants to change can get help. For help battling pornography addiction, read "Taking the power away from porn - for good." Find hope as you rally with others working to "fight the new drug." Together, we can end pornography's reign and build a better future for our families.
