Note: The following commentary contains information that may not be suitable for children.
A teenage girl was recalling what her childhood had been like—a childhood marred by porn. “When I was eight years old,” she wrote, “my father made me look at [pornographic] pictures” involving sex acts he wanted her to perform. “I went along with him, not knowing any better,” she said.
For years this girl’s father raped her while using these pictures—and at age 16, she had a sexually transmitted disease. “I may die of this disease,” she wrote sadly. “Pornography has ruined my life.”
So much for the claim—often made by porn advocates—that pornography is a victimless crime. This week is White Ribbon against Pornography Week—a good time to remind ourselves of how destructive porn is.
The numbers are staggering. Porn is a 10-billion-dollar-a-year industry. One study revealed that more than 32 million individuals visited an Internet porn site in just one month. Some 800 million pornographic DVDs are rented each month. Other surveys reveal that one in five children on the Internet receives a sexual solicitation.
Christians are not immune to the siren call of porn. A Focus on the Family poll found that 17 percent of Christian adults have visited sexually oriented sites.
There is no longer any doubt that pornography inspires crime. Most child molesters admit that they consume hard-core porn on a regular basis.
And those who create porn are now victimizing even the youngest children. Police who seize pornographic films and pictures note that they are seeing X-rated images of toddlers and even babies—this is sickening.
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