So What's Wrong with Porn Anyway? (CATHOLIC English Version) - 8pg mini pamphlet - Bulk from $25

While many know they struggle with pornography, many others still question what is really wrong with it? This 8 page mini pamphlet outlines the many physical, relational and spiritual facts about how pornography affects everyone. 

PAMPHLET CONTENTS: 

So, What's Wrong with Porn Anyway?
(Excerpt from “40 Days to Freedom; Winning the Battle for Sexual Purity)

So, what's wrong with porn anyway? It doesn't hurt anyone, right? It's just me and the computer or my fantasy, right? Isn't looking at porn just part of my natural human expression?

I could just simply say no, that idea is wrong, but it goes way beyond that. Porn is critically damaging to yourself, to society, to relationships, and most of all to your eternal soul.

Below is just a partial list of problems that porn causes:

1.Human dignity: Simply put, pornography destroys human dignity and God's gift of sexuality. Every person has value and is worthy of great respect. Every person is also entitled to be free from slavery, manipulation, or exploitation. The simple act of “using” another person for personal gain or satisfaction, as occurs with the use of pornography, puts that person beneath the abuser. Simply put, pornography is a form of slavery. Proof of this is that female porn actresses have the highest suicide rate of those in any profession in history, as they reportedly feel like slaves and have no way out.  Looking at pornography invites this slavery and exploitation because the financial gain of the producers is so high and the demand is skyrocketing.

 2. Human trafficking: Human trafficking and sex slavery is heavily linked to pornography. There are countless stories of girls being coerced into having sex behind the camera. Fake modeling advertisements are used to lure teen girls (many under eighteen) across state lines only to realize too late that the job is having sex in front of a camera. The U.S State Department reported in 2014 that there were over 2,000 internet sites on child rape and torture sourced in the Unites States. With pornography growing in epic proportions and fueling the growth of prostitution, the demand translates to a billion-dollar industry for pimps and porn producers who are willing to do anything—including selling young girls into sex slavery—for profit. In 2012, the International Labour Organization estimated that there were nearly twenty-one million human/sex trafficking victims worldwide. The National Human Trafficking resource center reports that sex trafficking is a $150 billion industry.

 3.Addictive: The neuroscience of pornography demonstrates that it is highly addictive. Addiction is progressive in nature. The brain's dopamine receptors become overloaded when exposed to an addictive substance or behavior, causing them to shut down and requiring more of the substance or behavior to create the same effect. With pornography, this means that, in time, the user needs more explicit and intense images in a higher quantity, which in some cases leads to violent tastes and desires. Ultimately, images are not enough for the addict. Prostitution, affairs, massage parlors, and so on are the natural destination of the addiction.

4.Destroys love and relationships: Consuming porn is purely an act of self-gratification. The neuroscience of porn tells us that the neural pathways of the brain become rewritten with repeated exposure to pornography—in such a way that it attempts to bond to images on the screen or inanimate objects. This trains the brain to see women (or men) as objects rather than people. The brain sees body parts, not a person. The naturally designed act of sex is to completely give of oneself to another. This emptying of self (to a spouse, ideally) creates an intimate bond and union between the two people. This bond is necessary for a lasting and healthy relationship. Even watching porn with your spouse is damaging, as it connects an erotic image or scene on a screen—a self-gratifying experience—directly to your partner and by doing so trains your brain to see your partner as an object for your enjoyment. Even though unintentional, this is a violation of human dignity and is a form of slavery.

 5.Erectile dysfunction: Yes, you read this correctly. Porn use can cause erectile dysfunction. How? Dopamine activates the sexual centers in the hypothalamus of the brain, which sends signals to the erection center in the spinal cord, which in turn sends signals to cause an erection. The same process that causes pornography to be addictive—the overloading of dopamine receptors—causes these receptors to shut down. When this happens, erections are more difficult to maintain. A second factor of porn addiction leading to erectile dysfunction is that the average time spent on a porn scene or image is eighteen seconds. This trains the brain to be sort of hyperactive or ADHD and requires constantly changing images to maintain the dopamine flow in the brain that results in erection. This results in not being able to maintain an erection with a real person. Additionally, the process of masturbation creates a sensory training in the penis so that only self-stimulation will produce an erection. In short, (1) pornography trains the brain to prefer images on the screen to a real person, (2) a need to change the image (or person) every eighteen seconds, and (3) self-stimulation to obtain and maintain an erection.

 6.Side effects: Because of the neuroscience of sexual activity and the unnatural neural activity during the act of watching pornography and masturbating, the brain chemistry is altered and this causes a host of side effects. Here are just a few: anxiety, depression, alteration of sexual appetite and tastes, reduced IQ, isolation, distorted view of the opposite sex, decreased self-confidence, impaired pleasure experiences in basic day-to-day life, narcissism, distortion of authentic intimacy, feelings of rejection, abandonment and despair, and potentially violent behavior. Of course, not everyone experiences all of these effects, but the majority experience some of these at varying levels of intensity. The more time spent viewing pornography, the greater the incidence and intensity of these effects.

 7. Spiritual desolation: Porn is lust and lust is a major sin. As Jesus stated in Matthew 5:28, “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” The basis of porn is lust, so we can infer from Matthew 5:28 that Porn IS Adultery. Porn, lust, and adultery are all serious sins and these sins separate us from God, resulting in spiritual desolation. This can be rectified! How? Through confession and forgiveness. For Catholics, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is necessary. For non-Catholics, confession to God and to another person in accountability (ideally a pastor) is an absolute for removing darkness from the behavior and eventual freedom from enslavement.

Isn't Just a Little Okay?

King Solomon once asked, "Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?" (Proverbs 6:27). Knowing how pornography affects our brain chemistry and actually rewires the brain, does it even seem reasonable that you could repeatedly bring sexually arousing images into your head without consequences? Psychologists argue that those images can be “burned” into your mind. Emotional arousal causes the release of a hormone called epinephrine in your brain that chemically burns the pictures into your permanent memory. This effect is heightened if you combine pictures with masturbation.

Consider a study conducted by Dr. Dolf Zillmann of Indiana University and Dr. Jennings Bryant of the University of Alabama. Over a period of six weeks, the researchers worked with a controlled group of 160 college-age students.

After viewing the pornography, study subjects reported that they began to 1. Prefer sex without emotional involvement. 2. Devalue marriage. 3. Devalue the importance of children 4. Place reduced the importance of faithfulness. 5. View casual sex with increased acceptance Viewing a mere five hours of porn over six weeks produced this pivotal effect on their perceptions of the opposite sex and their moral belief systems! Additional studies also show that the neurologic effects of pornography are nearly identical to cocaine! Would you think cocaine or heroin is perfectly fine if consumed just a little? In light of the above data, it's safe to conclude that pornography is a problem.