Download Defining Pornography Biblically

PORNOGRAPHY
Hard-Core Sin
1 Peter 2:9, 11-12
Epidemic of Pornography
A Christian must…
• Abstain from every form of evil, 1 Ths. 5:22
• Be holy as God is holy, 1 Pet. 1:15-16
• Make “no provision for the flesh, to fulfill
its lusts” Rom. 13:14
• Not take fire into his bosom, Prov. 6:27
• Set nothing wicked before his eyes,
Psa. 101:3
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Effects of Pornography
Spiritual death (Rom. 6:23; Gal. 5:21)
Degrades society (Prov. 14:34)
(women, marriage, sexuality, family, etc.)
Trivializes violence and sex crimes
An addictive, self-perpetuating cycle
Contaminates the minds and lives of
our children, thus perpetuating its evil
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Defining Pornography
Legally:
• I may not succeed in defining
pornography, “but I know it when I
see it.” Justice Potter Stewart (Jacobellis v. Ohio, 1964)
• 1973: “Community standards” applied
to determine obscenity (Miller v. Calif.)
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Defining Pornography
Practically:
• Pornography is “predominantly sexually
explicit and intended primarily for the
purpose of sexual arousal.”
(Final Report of the Attorney General’s
Commission on Pornography, p. 8)
• “Sexually explicit pictures, writing or other
material whose primary purpose is to cause
sexual arousal.” (illusionsprogram.net)
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Defining Pornography
Biblically:
• Pornographic images contain,
depict and promote fornication
• Viewing pornography
contributes to further lust,
lewdness, fornication and violence
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Defining Pornography
Biblically:
• Derived from porneia (fornication),
Matt. 15:19; Rom. 1:29
• porneuo: to commit fornication
(1 Cor. 6:18)
• pornos: whoremonger, harlot
(Eph. 5:5)
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Defining Pornography
Biblically:
• Proceeds from heart (Matt. 15:19)
• Linked with “all unrighteousness”
and “wickedness” (Rom. 1:29)
• The body is not for it (1 Cor. 6:13)
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Defining Pornography
Biblically:
• Flee from it (1 Cor. 6:18)
• Not to be named among saints
(Eph. 5:3)
• Abstain from it (1 Ths. 4:3)
• Repent of it (2 Cor. 12:21)
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Pornography Fuels, Feeds
and Foments Evil Lusts
Lust of flesh and eyes, 1 Jno. 2:16
(2 Pet. 2:14)
Enticement to sin, Jas. 1:14-16
Emboldens acts of fornication,
uncleanness, passion and evil
desire, Colossians 3:5
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Pornography Fuels, Feeds
and Foments Evil Lusts
Gives occasion for lustful sins,
Matt. 5:28-29
Traits of pornography, 2 Cor. 12:21
Uncleanness: impurity of lustful living
(slaves of uncleanness, Rom. 6:19)
Fornication: sexual immorality
Lewdness: lasciviousness, unbridled lust,
excess…shamelessness (Rom. 13:13)
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Presence and Growth of
Pornography in America
Alarming Growth
1967: Total retail of all hard-core in U.S. no
more than $10 million (perhaps < $5 mil.)
1996: Americans spent $8 billion
1985-1996: Growth from 75 to 665 million
hard-core video rentals per year
2006: 957 million video sales and rentals
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Pornography Time Statistics
Every second
$3,075.64 is spent on pornography
Every second
28,258 Internet users are viewing pornography
Every second
372 Internet users are typing adult search terms
into search engines
Every 39 minutes
A new pornographic video is being created in the
United States
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Presence and Growth of
Pornography in America
Appalling Acceptability
Increasingly respectable
• “Soft-porn” on cable and satellite TV
• Sports Illustrated, Vogue, Cosmopolitan
• Victoria’s Secret “fashion shows”
Big business
• 2006: Total U.S. revenue - $13.3 billion
• 2006: Worldwide - $57 billion
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Presence and Growth of
Pornography in America
Appalling Acceptability
Terminology (“soft porn”)
• Adult film (victimless crime)
“I call it adult entertainment, not porn,
because we’re not sleazy guys walking
around selling chicks. I mean, in one
sense we are, but we’re not in there
watching it go on, we’re not watching
the girls.” (Andrew Strauss purveyor of pornography)
Presence and Growth of
Pornography in America
Appalling Acceptability
Viewed positively in marriage
“Has pornography affected your sex
life?” Of the 50 percent of those
surveyed that said pornography has
affected their sex lives, 72 percent
said it has been in a positive way.
(Oprah.com sex survey)
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Presence and Growth of
Pornography in America
Types of Pornography
Adult magazines
• More Playboy and Penthouse
circulated than Time and Newsweek
Videos
• 2006: 957 million rentals
• 1997: 25,000 hard-core video stores
• Hotel pay-per-view (hundreds of millions)
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Presence and Growth of
Pornography in America
Types of Pornography
Movies and Television
• About 900 theaters show porn films
• Movie ratings have softened
Internet
• No longer the “dirty little secret”
• Estimated 372 million porn web pages
•89% produced in U.S. (260 new sites/day)
Presence and Growth of
Pornography in America
Types of Pornography
Internet
• 12% of all websites are pornographic
• 25% of all search engine requests
• 35% of all downloads are
pornographic
• Every minute about 1.7 million Internet
users are viewing pornography
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Presence and Growth of
Pornography in America
Types of Pornography
Internet
• U.S. revenue in 2006 was $2.84
billion
• 72% Internet porn users are men
• 70% porn traffic occurs during
9-5 workday
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Presence and Growth of
Pornography in America
Things are Getting Worse!
About Internet pornography:
“Some of the stuff on there, I mean, I
wouldn’t even publish it.” (Larry Flynt,
founder of Hustler)
“But evil men and impostors will grow
worse and worse, deceiving and being
deceived.” (2 Tim. 3:13)
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Why does it Exist?
Refusal to respect God and one’s fellow
man, Rom. 1:21-29; Matt. 7:12; 22:37-39
Money. Porn is a commodity in demand,
and many are getting rich at the moral
expense of our nation, 1 Timothy 6:10
Lust: 2000 university study claimed at least
200,000 Americans are addicted to e-porn
(“A Lust for Profits”, 42) 1 John 2:16
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Why does it Exist?
Entertainment. Seeking to “escape the
real world,” they plunge themselves into
the bondage of sin, 2 Peter 2:19
Previous sexual abuse. “It is believed that
70% of women involved in pornography are
survivors of incest or child sexual abuse.”
“Quick Facts About Pornography”
http://www.unh.edu/sharpp/stats_facts_folder/pornography.htm
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Where does it Exist?
Mainstream media (movies, television,
magazines, books)
Advertising. cf. Fashion magazines,
men’s magazines, billboards, etc.
Hotel rooms. Pay-per-view porn movies
(several $100 millions per year)
The Internet.
• Chat rooms, YouTube.com, websites
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Where does it Exist?
Cell phones. Teenagers e-mailing photos
In your home? Psalm 101:2-4
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•
•
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On your computer
On your TV (cable, movie channels, PPV)
In magazines, catalogs, books
Monitor your children and yourself!
Cannot hide sin from God! Num. 32:23;
Heb. 4:13
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Remedy for and Protection
Against Pornography Prov. 4:23
Purify your heart, Jas. 4:7-8; Phil. 4:8
Make a covenant with eyes, Job 31:1
cf. King David, 2 Sam. 11:2; Matt. 5:28
Set nothing wicked before your eyes,
Psa. 101:3 (Rom. 13:14)
Teach your children God’s will about
sex (Heb. 13:4; 1 Cor. 7:1-5)
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Remedy for and Protection
Against Pornography Prov. 4:23
The cycle of lust, enticement, sin and
death can be broken! 2 Cor. 6:17-7:1
• Repent & sever contact, Matt. 5:29-30
• Use prayer, Jas. 5:13 (Phil. 4:6-7)
• Meditate on God’s word, Psa. 1:1-2
• Heed conscience, 1 Tim. 4:2; Eph. 4:19
• Obey God’s truth, Matt. 7:21
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Live soberly, righteously
and godly
For the grace of God that brings
salvation has appeared to all men,
teaching us that, denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we
should live soberly, righteously,
and godly in the present age…
(Titus 2:11-12)
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Abstain from lusts, live
honorably and do good works
Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and
pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which
war against the soul, having your conduct
honorable among the Gentiles, that when
they speak against you as evildoers, they
may, by your good works which they
observe, glorify God in the day of
visitation. (1 Peter 2:11-12)
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Set your mind on things
above
If then you were raised with Christ, Seek
those things which are above, where
Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
Set your mind on things above, not on
things on the earth. For you died, and
your Life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ who is our life appears, then
you also will appear with Him in glory.
Colossians 3:1-4
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Repentance and
Forgiveness is Possible!
…and I shall mourn for many who
have sinned before and have not
repented of the uncleanness,
fornication, and lewdness which
they have practiced.
2 Corinthians 12:21
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