Not that I want this blog to be "all porn, all the time" as far as subject matter, this article was brought to my attention:
Here's an indicator of the problem, right in the lead paragraph:
Researchers have found that a whopping 30% of all Internet traffic involves pornographic sites, with the biggest one notching three times the page views of CNN or ESPN,...
What's more, people spend more time on porn pages, with average visits to other sites around five minutes, while porn site visitors average 15 minutes.
The toxicity of pornography has spread through advertising and even non-pornographic entertainment. There are many things now marketed through sex rather than extolling the virtues of the product itself.
Because of the internet's ability to deliver high-quality images at a high rate, pornography has never been easier to get. Also, images that elicit lust cross a wide array, from innocent images in ads or the posting of personal photos all the way to XXX-rated fetish sites.
The question then arises, does porn use have the equivalent of 'heavy drinking,' which implies someone who abuses alcohol to the point of appearing addicted, yet this person can quit at-will? While actual porn addiction is on the rise, there are many who simply abuse it because of its power and prevalence. There is so much porn out there that it is very hard to move around the internet even in search of basic news without coming across prurient images.
As with all other addictions, censoring the internet won't cure the underlying malady. It is good to keep porn under control, but an outright ban will likely be ineffective as a complete cure and will fuel yet another underground industry.
Our mission ought to be to offer people the hope of God's love when they abuse porn, so that they have a better alternative. The shame and guilt of porn usage cannot be erased: even people who regularly use porn don't want to be caught using it. Society cannot erase our human make-up. While our humanity is indeed made with a sexual component, we also understand that this desire is a complex and powerful (and therefore clumsy) element.
With the amount of porn on the internet, easier to get than a bottle of Jack Daniels and in many ways more powerful, we internet users need to be careful. This is true not just of those who identify as addicts, but even those who have not yet tested their own limits in this regard.
The toxicity of pornography has spread through advertising and even non-pornographic entertainment. There are many things now marketed through sex rather than extolling the virtues of the product itself.
Because of the internet's ability to deliver high-quality images at a high rate, pornography has never been easier to get. Also, images that elicit lust cross a wide array, from innocent images in ads or the posting of personal photos all the way to XXX-rated fetish sites.
The question then arises, does porn use have the equivalent of 'heavy drinking,' which implies someone who abuses alcohol to the point of appearing addicted, yet this person can quit at-will? While actual porn addiction is on the rise, there are many who simply abuse it because of its power and prevalence. There is so much porn out there that it is very hard to move around the internet even in search of basic news without coming across prurient images.
As with all other addictions, censoring the internet won't cure the underlying malady. It is good to keep porn under control, but an outright ban will likely be ineffective as a complete cure and will fuel yet another underground industry.
Our mission ought to be to offer people the hope of God's love when they abuse porn, so that they have a better alternative. The shame and guilt of porn usage cannot be erased: even people who regularly use porn don't want to be caught using it. Society cannot erase our human make-up. While our humanity is indeed made with a sexual component, we also understand that this desire is a complex and powerful (and therefore clumsy) element.
With the amount of porn on the internet, easier to get than a bottle of Jack Daniels and in many ways more powerful, we internet users need to be careful. This is true not just of those who identify as addicts, but even those who have not yet tested their own limits in this regard.
To give another example from Romania, some of the non-pornographic industries that are very "fruitful" here by marketing through sex are tv music channeles and various talk/get-together shows. It seems that over here censorship is not so harsh. Actually, it's so bad that the next logical step would be pure pornographic activity. And this is not on the net, it's right there on multiple channels at any time of the day.
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