Study Says Pornography Harms Families, Relationships and Kids
WASHINGTON --- Family Research Council (FRC) released a new study today that
comprehensively details the effects of pornography on marriages, children,
communities and individuals. Pat Fagan, Ph.D. authored the study and serves as
FRC’s Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Research on Marriage and
Religion.
Dr. Fagan made the following comments:
“This is a ground-breaking review of what pornography costs families trying
to create a life together. Men, women and sometimes even children are saturated
by sexual content, and more significantly, are told that it has no real effect.
It’s just a little amusement.
“Pornography corrodes the conscience, promotes distrust between husbands and
wives and debases untold thousands of young women. It is not harmless escapism
but relational and emotional poison.
“The fact that marriage rates are dropping steadily is well known. But the
impact of pornography use and its correlation to fractured families has been
little discussed. The data show that as pornography sales increase, the marriage
rate drops.
“As this academic review reveals, pornography is creating a debt of the
spirit and a cost in the lives of family members that rivals any deficit the
federal government is producing.
“The science is clear: children from families without married parents have
much higher poverty rates as well as poorer health and other socio-economic
difficulties. Nations with low marriage rates suffer the same fates. And
underlying the social trends is the impact of pornography on family formation.
It’s a quiet family killer.”
Among the study’s findings:
“Men who view pornography regularly have a higher tolerance for abnormal
sexuality, including rape, sexual aggression, and sexual promiscuity.
“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 engenders greater sexual permissiveness, which in turn leads to
a greater risk of out-of-wedlock births and STDs, which in turn lead to still
more weaknesses and debilities.
“The presence of sexually oriented businesses significantly harms the
surrounding community, leading to increases in crime and decreases in property
values.
“Child-sex offenders are more likely to view pornography regularly or to be
involved in its distribution.
“Pornography eliminates the warmth of affectionate family life, which is the
natural social nutrient for the growing child.
Click here to download the full study.
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Great Article. Please continue to spread the word about Pornography Addiction. The following article was published in our local news outlet about a couple and their fight to overcome addiction .
http://www.rhyllcroshaw.com/recovery-from-porn-addiction-is-possible /
You can learn more about the couple by visiting
http://salifeline.org/steven-and-rhyll-croshaw-speak-about-pornography-addiction /
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/12/how_much_porn_do_you_watch.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed %3A+scienceblogs%2Fpharyngula+(Pharyngula)&utm_content=Google+Reader
Well if porn really does all the harm this article (i'm not going to call it a study because it doesn't link to any such information that comes with a study) claims it does then we're in a lot of trouble. Turns out nearly everyone in the whole country is a sicko! Only a matter of time before everyone goes mad and starts having sex everywhere and uncontrollably raping people.
/end sarcasm
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/12/how_much_porn_do_you_watch.php
Sorry for the awkward link there.
First, "perverse" behavior, is, as has been commented, in the eye of the beholder. I've read literature written within the past twenty years by some fundamentalist preachers, for example, which say that the only "normal" sex position is "man on top", and that all others are a perversion of the "headship order"; some religious groups believe ANY divorce and remarriage is perversion. Fagan, of course, has his own code of what is "perverse" -- but is his code any more than his? Anything potentially encouraging conduct whic conflicts with what he believes is "normal" sexual behavior he is logically going to condemn as "perverse" and "harming society ".
Second, while he titles his study, " pornography ", he confuses the issue of pornography's alleged effects with the effects of cybersex and chatting. Cybersex is not pornography -- rather, cybersex is the online equivalent of meeting in a motel room, which has gone on among many not even interested in pornography through history. Is Fagan's point the effects of pornography, or the effects of cybersex?
Third, Fagan addresses all pornography as though it was the same. Child pornography and rape /violence pornography are hardly in the same class as mainstream hardcore pornography.
Fourth, he cites no statistics addressing this question: how many who use pornography actually become "addicted" to it, and how many experience sexual and/or marital and/or relational dysfunctions that were not previously existent after using pornography? No doubt, people become addicted or suffer problems from many things: drinking beer, reading romance novels, following football or NASCAR, clothes shopping, playing state lotteries, video games , even work (how many marriages fail due to workaholic spouses, for example?) Yet, the majority of people who indulge in the things listed DO NOT suffer addictions or harmful effects from those things -- but, since they are damaging to a few, should they likewise be branded along with mainstream pornography as "harmful" and eliminated by law ?
And also the fact that people get too used to something they can just put away without having to love and care for.
I was married to a Baptist pastor who was secretly addicted to pornography and eventually had long term adulterous affairs before I could not take it any longer and asked him to leave. It has nearly destroyed my 4 children and myself - except for God's faithfulness and love. Sadly the Vineyard church we were finally in supported him and told me I was in disobedience to the church leadership for getting divorced and so we lost of spiritual family too.
Of course pronography harms families, relationships and kids !!!
Many say the bible is outdated however It's nice to see this survey support these inspired scriptures:
"Deaden, therefore, your body members that are upon the earth as respects fornication, uncleanness, sexual appetite, hurtful desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry."—Colossians 3:5.
"Each one of you should know how to get possession of his own vessel in sanctification and honor."—1 Thessalonians 4:4. When we don't apply these scriptures as the watchtower states"The dangers of using pornography are real. It is harmful and destructive. It corrupts those who produce it and those who use it. It is an insult to men and women , a danger to children , and a practice that should be rejected ." Please don't deceive yourself pornography is poision.
This article is a group "reporting" on it's own study.
I agree that pornography can be harmful to people and relationships, and should be kept from children .
But "sexual promiscuity" is far from abnormal. Ten millennia of myriad puritan tyranny have failed to stem puberty's onset and the behavior it brings forth (presumably by god 's plan somewhow?).
The wording of this 'first hand' article belie's its lack of academic objectivity and prejudicial execution .
Nice fail.
It is patently rediculous to discredit this study on the narrow basis of "Ten millennia of myriad puritan tyranny have failed to stem puberty's onset and the behavior it brings forth (presumably by god 's plan somewhow?)."
Nice Fail indeed.
The plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data'.
Can't discredit the lack there of.
It does not even stay in context or describe any methodology, margin of error, or even source documentation.
It's crap.