I was just lazily skimming through my fave online mag, Darling, and came across an interesting article.

“Why We (Still) Need to Talk About Porn” An interview with Natale McAneney, Executive Director of Fight The New Drug by Darling’s Victoria Bardega.

“Hmmm, let me check this out” said She. I clicked and read that article…then skipped to links with even more receipts…then read stories of real women and men speaking out about abuse and the #MeToo movement…and even took some quizzes including one on the difference (or not!) between the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy and rape culture. For one thing, they both glamourise abuse and trivialise consent; bored housewife or not, Fifty Shades is cringeworthy disturbing.

I’ve included some excerpts from the article below but you can read the story in its entirety here.

I think the challenge most of us have with the issue of pornography or movies like Fifty Shades is this attitude of “…live-and-let-live”, you know? Not my circus, not my monkeys? “So you don’t watch porn? Good on you! Let those that want to watch it carry on, it’s their data!”

However the article on Darling made me think. There is a real, global challenge with sex abuse and human trafficking and it’s fueled in a big part by the existence of a thriving pornography industry….which we, the end users, are directly responsible for. Unfortunately. So, every time we click on a porn video we are a part of the problem? Alas brethren, we are. Lol. Are we not enabling evil then, by creating an atmosphere for not just sin (hard to believe in 2018, but fornication remains a sin, lol) but danger and abuse to thrive? Sure many young men and women end up in the cycle of pornography willingly or even due to a quick need for cash, but there is substantial evidence to show that a predominance of people in pornographic movies are unwilling or performing (partly or wholly) under duress or drugs or other more complex reasons.

Is this a legacy we want to be a part of?

An aside, some people argue that pornography in marriage is fine for Christians. I remember in pre-marriage counselling class, the pastors extended the meaning of the scripture, “Keep the marriage bed pure (Hebrews 13:4)” to mean that anything that is personally degrading to you or your spouse should be avoided in a Christian marriage. Hell, in a marriage in general tbh! Because essentially, God designed sex to be about purity, wholesomness and increased intimacy between two people in a covenant consecrated to Him, God. So the description and purpose of sex to its Creator is deeper and more meaningful than pornography would have us believe.

Still, why should we be invested in someone else’s sexual proclivities for goodness sake, when the price of fuel in Nigeria is STILL N230 per litre?! I hear you. Let me explain.

I recently witnessed an argument on a popular pastor’s Instagram page. She had posted her thoughts on the way that the white school shooter in the recent Florida high school shooting was described. She made the fair point that if it was a black teen, the media would likely have replaced the word ‘orphan’ they used to describe the white boy, with ‘thug’ or an equally deplorable term. And a commenter said in response- I summarise- “Can we not all just get along?!” And went on to wonder why a member of the body of Christ should fuel the already negative narrative by pointing out this tendency of the media to racially profile black teens.

Pastor Lindsey had to school sis right quick, y’all! She said Commenter’s response was moot because fighting injustice is a CRITICAL part of Christianity. You cannot pick and choose. Taking a stand against oppression is exactly what Jesus did in His time and what we are called to do in this time.

And that’s vital. We cannot cover ourselves with the cloak of righteousness to separate ourselves from the reality of the world.  Who will speak for the voiceless if not the Christian? Love is the foundation of our relationship with God. Loving is an action word and requires doing…not just being. Who will stand up to oppression, resist apathy and live intentionally? NO-BO-DY else is called and equipped to do this like the Christian.  Let’s do it.

#ForTheJesusCulture.

EXCERPTS:

Fight the New Drug is a nonprofit that exists to provide individuals the opportunity to make educated decisions regarding pornography. 

Fight the New Drug approaches the topics of pornography and trafficking using science, facts and personal accounts. If one really looks at the science surrounding this issue, it’s pretty difficult not to understand that pornography is harmful to individuals, relationships and society.

“That being said, we also feel very strongly that it is important to approach this topic without shame. Shaming those who struggle with pornography will only push this topic further into the dark and make it more taboo, and those struggling are much less likely to get help.”

#PornKillsLove

Ultimately, at the end of the day being anti-porn is being pro-sex and pro-love.

 In our society, there is often a “boys will be boys” mentality associated with things like young men and sexuality. This often gives us the perception that men and boys consume porn and women and girls don’t. This also drives much of the content produced in pornography, meaning that much of it is produced for heterosexual men and boys, and often exploits, objectifies and abuses women and girls as a result.

There are a couple of things wrong with this mentality [that men and boys consume porn and women and girls don’t]. 1. Women and girls do also consume pornography and can struggle with it to the same extent as men and boys. They often experience much more shame and isolation when struggling with porn as well, because they think they are the only female in the world struggling with this since our society has normalized this for males but not for females. 2. By perpetuating the idea that porn is for heterosexual men and boys, it perpetuates the idea that women and girls can and should be objectified and sexualized. This not only influences the ways that our society views women, but it’s also teaching young women and girls that their worth is equal to what they can sexually offer to a man.