The Large Porn Bubble In The Middle Of The PP

[Jeanne]

39 minutes ago, Duncan said:

I don't think the Church is perfect and stuff like this is really defensible ( I know some people that think that the Church is all true, perfect, wonderful) But for me it is great and good but not perfect or all wonderful and things like that. To me it's not black or white it's more grey. People, regardless of who they are calling etc. are accountable before men and God

Thanks for your honest reply.  That is of good of you to be able to see things as they are and make a choice that is good for you!!

[dberrie2000]

On 3/2/2017 at 6:39 PM, JulieM said:

Is anyone else a bit puzzled by the bubble titled "porn" (the largest one in the center of the power point recently leaked)?  

There seems to almost be an obsession with the leaders on this topic.

Do people really leave the church over porn?  I happen to believe there are very few actual porn addicts in the church...

 

Hi Julie:

My wife and I taught the addiction recovery class for 4 years. Where do you arrive at the conclusion that only a few members are actual addicts? The stats we received from the Church, is that 70% of adult males in the LDS church regularly access pornography. (call it what one might) We figured about 80-90% of our attendees were porn addicts.

Anyone who waves their hand at pornography is not up on the latest info concerning porn and the damage it can have on the brain.(and I'm not claiming you are)

I spent 7 years on the High Council (which is also the judiciary arm for the Melchizedek priesthood)--and we could almost predict where the rudiments of the story of those who were tried according to adultery, were going to start, IE--pornography.

I don't believe porn addicts are necessarily bad people--but, if they don't find help--their addiction, in all likelihood, will progress to other areas, of a more serious nature. One thing I am sure of--once one begins to access pornography--the Spirit will withdraw, in a short order.

[Five Solas]

1 hour ago, dberrie2000 said:

 The stats we received from the Church, is that 70% of adult males in the LDS church regularly access pornography.

Is that 70% across the board, meaning actives, inactives (~2/3rds of the population), temple recommend holders & those who don't qualify? 

Or should it be taken to mean the overwhelming majority of inactives/non-temple recommend holders are porn addicts and the men you meet in an LDS church and/or in an LDS temple are by & large keeping themselves pure (who, when combined with all male members of record work out to be a mathematical average of 70%)? 

If the former, then you're essentially saying 70% of LDS adult males are demonstrable liars (see the questions for a temple recommend, advancing in the priesthood, etc.).  I'm sure that would make a lot of folks on this forum uncomfortable, to say the least. 

--Erik

[dberrie2000]

1 hour ago, Five Solas said:

Is that 70% across the board, meaning actives, inactives (~2/3rds of the population), temple recommend holders & those who don't qualify? 

Or should it be taken to mean the overwhelming majority of inactives/non-temple recommend holders are porn addicts and the men you meet in an LDS church and/or in an LDS temple are by & large keeping themselves pure (who, when combined with all male members of record work out to be a mathematical average of 70%)? 

If the former, then you're essentially saying 70% of LDS adult males are demonstrable liars (see the questions for a temple recommend, advancing in the priesthood, etc.).  I'm sure that would make a lot of folks on this forum uncomfortable, to say the least. 

--Erik

Hi Solas:

The stats we received from the LDS church stated 70% of adult males--without any distinction. That does not, IMO--necessarily mean 70% of less actives, 70% of temple recommend holders, 70% of actives, etc., across the board. There wasn't any specific breakdown of those individual categories.

It is my conviction that some temple recommend holders regularly access pornography, some Bishops, some Stake Presidents, some General Authorities, etc.--same.

As the church now realizes--porn touches nearly every corner of our leadership, to some degree, regardless of how uncomfortable it makes us feel. It's a plague.

As a side note--temple recommend holders do not typically follow typical stats for the general population, but it does not mean they are immune to their influence either.

As Christ testified to--there would come the days, that if not shortened--even the very elect would be deceived.

 

 

 

 

[MiserereNobis]

1 hour ago, dberrie2000 said:

The stats we received from the LDS church stated 70% of adult males--without any distinction. That does not, IMO--necessarily mean 70% of less actives, 70% of temple recommend holders, 70% of actives, etc., across the board. There wasn't any specific breakdown of those individual categories.

How would the LDS church know this number?

[rongo]

2 hours ago, MiserereNobis said:

How would the LDS church know this number?

Seconded. This sounds like "87% of statistics are made up" . . . 

There's no kind of apparatus for even gathering actual statistics on this. And random sampling from, say, addiction recovery groups would be like Kinsey gathering data from sex offenders in prison . . .  

All we, or Church headquarters, has on this is anecdotal evidence and personal experience --- which, for anyone and by any measure, would indicate that there is a big problem.

[Meadowchik]

10 hours ago, MormonVideoGame said:

No, to the contrary, it makes you desire her more.  It does help many couples 

It may depend on the person. 

[Calm]

2 hours ago, rongo said:

Seconded. This sounds like "87% of statistics are made up" . . . 

There's no kind of apparatus for even gathering actual statistics on this. And random sampling from, say, addiction recovery groups would be like Kinsey gathering data from sex offenders in prison . . .  

All we, or Church headquarters, has on this is anecdotal evidence and personal experience --- which, for anyone and by any measure, would indicate that there is a big problem.

I have heard of the Church running a lot of surveys over the years for a lot of topics.  I would not be surprised to find out they had done so with this.  They could give a few wards here and there a survey covering many things.  From the results I have seen, they seem to know what they are doing.

[Calm]

12 hours ago, MormonVideoGame said:

No, to the contrary, it makes you desire her more.  It does help many couples 

CFR that this increases sexual desire for one's spouse in healthy ways (not including wanting her to play act like the porn actors).

[Bernard Gui]

On March 4, 2017 at 7:18 AM, churchistrue said:

I read this sort of thing, and I really wonder what would happen if the church said, "we decided porn is no big deal, do it if you want, don't do it if you don't want to, try to focus your sexual attention to your spouse, but if you can't, keep it to fantasy, and don't worry about it.  Most of all stop talking about, stop going to to therapy over it, stop doing groups, stop talking about sobriety, stop shaming yourself, stop making it your martyrdom badge of honor.  likewise, women get over it, it's no worse than your addiction to romance novels or trash reality tv or online shopping or chocolate. he uses it to cope, you use it to cope.  everyone uses something to cope.  everyone just get over yourselves.  porn only has as much power as you give it."  Then all these poor men wouldn't have anything to hate themselves over.  They might all stop looking at it immediately.  I just wonder how much of the problem is all the extra guilt and shame we heap on top of it.  I don't know.  I'm probably wrong.  But it all just seems like a waste of energy.

 

Then I've wasted 9 years of my life trying to help families save whatever remains of their marriage when it is destroyed by porn addiction. Have you ever talked with a man who is addicted or a wife whose life is in chaos because of her husband's illness? I know dozens and it's bloody awful. 

This affliction is not unique to Mormons. This may help....

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125382361

Quote

Imagine a drug so powerful it can destroy a family simply by distorting a man's perception of his wife. Picture an addiction so lethal it has the potential to render an entire generation incapable of forming lasting marriages and so widespread that it produces more annual revenue — $97 billion worldwide in 2006 — than all of the leading technology companies combined. Consider a narcotic so insidious that it evades serious scientific study and legislative action for decades, thriving instead under the ever-expanding banner of the First Amendment.

According to an online statistics firm, an estimated 40 million people use this drug on a regular basis. It doesn't come in pill form. It can't be smoked, injected, or snorted. And yet neurological data suggest its effects on the brain are strikingly similar to those of synthetic drugs. Indeed, two authorities on the neurochemistry of addiction, Harvey Milkman and Stanley Sunderwirth, claim it is the ability of this drug to influence all three pleasure systems in the brain — arousal, satiation, and fantasy — that makes it "the piece de resistance among the addictions."

Anyone reading this and despairing that you can never be free, please take courage. It is not easy, but you can and you will!

Edited March 5, 2017 by Bernard Gui

[dberrie2000]

8 hours ago, MiserereNobis said:

How would the LDS church know this number?

Hi M--

I have no idea. I don't know how stats are compiled, and have never understood them, personally, and neither are they important to me. Interesting, perhaps.

But this I do know--pornography and the Spirit are not compatible. It can destroy families, and change lives, in a negative way.

[Rain]

On Thursday, March 02, 2017 at 4:39 PM, JulieM said:

Is anyone else a bit puzzled by the bubble titled "porn" (the largest one in the center of the power point recently leaked)?  

There seems to almost be an obsession with the leaders on this topic.

Do people really leave the church over porn?  I happen to believe there are very few actual porn addicts in the church and I hate how the youth are riddled with guilt over even viewing it occasionally.  

Anyway, I know this is a sensitive topic, but I doubt people leave to view porn and I feel it's the old "members leave to sin" rhetoric.

 

I am close with one family where the family broke up after he was big into porn, but kept his calling etc. He was after his wife to look more like his porn and then suddenly left her, trying to take the kids. Through all of this his wife began to doubt things and has basically left the church if not actually turned in her resignation. 

Porn may not be the direct reason why she left the church, but it did awful things to this family and is an indirect reason why none of the 6 of them are attending. So, yes, I can see why it would be a big concern to church leaders.

[Guest]

On March 2, 2017 at 7:00 PM, JLHPROF said:

I don't think it's that people leave to view porn.
It's that the numbers of those viewing porn, and therefore stuck in sin, are increasing.
 

Indeed, they seek to keep it a secret, from family, friends (those in their Wards) and continue to attend. This until their conscience is so "seared with a hot iron", and they can not longer endure the shame of being surrounded by those who seek to live the gospel. Being around the Spirit hurts..."...the wicked taketh the truth to be hard"...from the Book of Mormon, in 1st Nepji if I recall. 

Edit to add...

Porn often leads to adultery, and adultery is not victimless crime. Based on the entire industry or porn and strip clubs, they should both a crime, as they leave countless families in ruins, which is even more destructive to children in those marriages. I know this first hand, as it led my bio-father into becoming a bigamist and leavening my mother (his legal wife, and his three children) homeless for a time...less than a month from Christmas. Any man who would cheat on his wife, would cheat and lie to any employer, and any future wife. I know that those who do this can repent, and become true...and I hope they could or will. It took me many years to forgive him. I never saw him again until his funeral, so thankfully I was able to write him and forgive him before he died. The odd thing that caused me so much to difficultly to forgive, was due to a phone call while I was a teenager (I am the youngest) telling my mom he was saved, and apologized for what he did, but did not ask to speak to any of his children.

Edited March 6, 2017 by Bill "Papa" Lee

[Bernard Gui]

14 minutes ago, Bill "Papa" Lee said:

Indeed, they seek to keep it a secret, from family, friends (those in their Wards) and continue to attend. This until their conscience is so "seared with a hot iron", and they can not longer endure the shame of being surrounded by those who seek to life the gospel. Being around the Spirit hurts..."...the wicked taketh the truth to be hard"...from the Book of Mormon, in 1st Nepji if I recall. 

My experience is that some men manage to live with that searing for decades, and the addiction is finally revealed by accident such as leaving a computer page open or by a catastrophic action such as abandoning the family or having an affair. 

Edited March 5, 2017 by Bernard Gui

[RevTestament]

20 hours ago, MormonVideoGame said:

Read the new thread I started. 

 I am not going to debate pornography outside of the Church context or sin.

[RevTestament]

Some kind of filter seems to not be allowing me to post supporting research.

Edited March 5, 2017 by RevTestament

[Bernard Gui]

Some of us keep asking for statistics and proof. Here is an article with all the stats one could hope for and more. Perhaps this part of the debate can be put to rest. 

Or at least keep the doubters busy reading for a while. If one continues to believe this is just an insignificant issue just for Mormons and caused by the repression of the LDS Church, this should relieve the burden. If you struggle with this affliction hope and freedom are available.

Article from Webroot...

https://www.webroot.com/us/en/home/resources/tips/digital-family-life/internet-pornography-by-the-numbers

Quote

Internet pornography by the numbers; a significant threat to society

News media organizations often treat specific internet safety issues as fads – after being THE hot topic, issues fall out of favor becoming “old news” in spite of ongoing risks and threats. We’ve seen this with pornography, child predators, chat room risks, meeting strangers and, more recently, sexting. Today’s hot topic is cyberbullying, but given the nature of our media cycles, we should expect to see this join the ranks of “old news” by the end of the year. That isn’t to say these topics aren’t ongoing threats, just that they lose media attention.

Internet pornography was the first big internet safety topic to make news, and it has remained largely out of favor among the popular press ever since. But that doesn’t mean the issues and costs have vanished, or that “it’s just an issue among right-wing prudes.”

The societal costs of pornography are staggering. The financial cost to business productivity in the U.S. alone is estimated at $16.9 Billion annually ; but the human toll, particularly among our youth and in our families, is far greater.

According to Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D, psychologist and former Deputy Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary, “two recent reports, one by the American Psychological Association on hyper-sexualized girls, and the other by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy on the pornographic content of phone texting among teenagers, make clear that the digital revolution is being used by younger and younger children to dismantle the barriers that channel sexuality into family lifeⁱⁱ.

Pornography hurts adults, children, couples, families, and society. Among adolescents, pornography hinders the development of a healthy sexuality, and among adults, it distorts sexual attitudes and social realities. In families, pornography use leads to marital dissatisfaction, infidelity, separation, and divorce.”

Here are some of the most credible statistics available today on internet pornography. Note: at the end of this article there are links to three infographics that cover various aspects of the impact of pornography on families.

General pornography stats

• Every second 28,258 users are watching pornography on the internet
• Every second $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography on the internet
• Every second 372 people are typing the word "adult" into search engines
• 40 million American people regularly visit porn sites
• 35% of all internet downloads are related to pornography
• 25% of all search engine queries are related to pornography, or about 68 million search queries a day
• One third of porn viewers are women
• Search engines get 116,000 queries every day related to child pornography
• 34% of internet users have experienced unwanted exposure to pornographic content through ads, pop up ads, misdirected links or emails
• 2.5 billion emails sent or received every day contain porn
• Every 39 minutes a new pornography video is being created in the United States
• About 200,000 Americans are “porn addicts”

Youth pornography stats

• Teenagers with frequent exposure to sexual content on TV have a substantially greater likelihood of teenage pregnancy; and the likelihood of teen pregnancy was twice as high when the quantity of sexual content exposure within the viewing episodes was high^viii.
• Pornography viewing by teens disorients them during the developmental phase when they have to learn how to handle their sexuality and when they are most vulnerable to uncertainty about their sexual beliefs and moral values^ix
• A significant relationship also exists among teens between frequent pornography use and feelings of loneliness, including major depression^x
• Adolescents exposed to high levels of pornography have lower levels of sexual self-esteem^xi

Family/Marital pornography stats

• According to National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families, 2010, 47% of families in the United States reported that pornography is a problem in their home^xii.
• Pornography use increases the marital infidelity rate by more than 300%^xiii
• 40 percent of “sex addicts” lose their spouses, 58 percent suffer considerable financial losses, and about a third lose their jobs^xiv
• 68% of divorce cases involve one party meeting a new paramour over the internet while 56% involve one party having an “obsessive interest” in pornographic websites^xv

Additional resources:

• The effects of pornography on Individuals, marriage, family and community
• The internet porn 'epidemic': By the numbers
• Porn Addiction Stats - Pornography Addiction Statistics, Percentages, Numbers, & Info
• The Impact of Pornography on Marital Sex
• Effects of Pornography on Relationships

Video Resources:

• Your Brain On Porn
  • Your Brain on Porn Series - Part 1
  • Your Brain on Porn Series - Part 2
  • Your Brain on Porn Series - Part 3
  • Your Brain on Porn Series - Part 4
  • Your Brain on Porn Series - Part 5
  • Your Brain on Porn Series - Part 6
• Things you didn’t know about Porn – Entire Series for Kids

ⁱIn February 2010, the number of people using a work computer to visit sexually oriented website was as high as 28%, according to research conducted by The Nielsen Company. The average visit to a pornography site from a work computer was about 13 minutes, and the average worker spent one hour and 38 minutes on such sites during that month.

If we leverage data extracted on: March 30, 2012, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics we can use their average hourly earnings of $23.23 multiplied by 1hr.38min = a loss of ~$38/month per employee watching pornography at work. Multiplying the monthly total by 12 months shows a loss of $456 dollars each year from every employee that views pornography

The number of U.S. employees reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as of March 30th, 2012 was 132 million. If we divide this to represent 28% of employees using a work computer to visit pornographic sites up to ~37million employees viewing pornography. (There are many ways to pare down this number, for example by excluding some labor categories, but for the sake of the exercise we’re keeping it simple).

Thus, if 37 million employees are viewing the average amount of pornography cited by the Nielsen Company, the annual productivity loss to companies is a staggering $16.9 Billion dollars.

• ⁱⁱhttp://ncfamily.org/pdffiles/The_Effects_of_Pornography.pdf
• ⁱⁱⁱhttp://www.cnbc.com/id/31586577/?slide=2
• ^ivhttp://www.cnbc.com/id/31586577/?slide=2
• ^vhttp://www.cnbc.com/id/31586577/?slide=2
• ^vihttp://www.cnbc.com/id/31586577/?slide=2
• ^viihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_pornography_statistics#cite_note-Internet_Pornography_Statistics_-_Internet_Filter_Review-3
• ^viiiAnita Chandra, Steven C. Martino, Rebecca L. Collins, Marc N. Elliott, Sandra H. Berry, David E. Kanouse, and Angela Miu, “Does Watching Sex on Television Predict Teen Pregnancy? Findings from a Longitudinal Survey of Youth,” Pediatrics 122 (2008): 1047-1054 (1052).
• ^ixJochen Peter and Patti M. Valkenburg, “Adolescents’ Exposure to Sexually Explicit Internet Material, Sexual Uncertainty, and Attitudes Toward Uncommitted Sexual Exploration: Is There a Link?” Communication Research 35 (2008): 579-601 (581
• ^xMichele L. Ybarra and Kimberly J. Mitchell, “Exposure to Internet Pornography among Children and Adolescents: A National Survey,” CyberPsychology & Behavior 8 (2005): 473-86 (479). 10 Vincent Cyrus Yoder, Thomas B.Virden III, and Kiran Amin “Internet pornography and Loneliness: An Association?” Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity 12 (2005): 19-44 (30). This was a study of 400 individual Internet pornography users.
• ^xiTodd G. Morrison, Shannon R. Ellis, Melanie A. Morrison, Anomi Bearden, and Rebecca L. Harriman, “Exposure to Sexually Explicit Material and Variations in Body Esteem, Genital Attitudes, and Sexual Esteem Among a Sample of Canadian Men,” The Journal of Men’s Studies 14 (2006): 209-22 (216-7).
• ^xiihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_pornography_statistics#cite_note-Internet_Usage_bsecure-4
• ^xiiiSteven Stack, Ira Wasserman, and Roger Kern, “Adult Social Bonds and Use of Internet Pornography,” Social Science Quarterly 85 (2004): 75-88.
• ⁱⁱMary Anne Layden, Ph.D. (Center for Cognitive Therapy, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania), Testimony for U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, November 18, 2004, 2.
• ⁱⁱ“The Effects of Pornography on Individuals, Marriage, Family and Community,” by Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D, psychologist, and former Deputy Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary.

 

Edited March 5, 2017 by Bernard Gui

[RevTestament]

Quote

Brain Chemistry Research and Porn

Abstract: https://www.scribd.com/doc/32712148/Pornography-and-Addiction-Brain-Chemistry-Research-and-Porn-by-Marnia-Robinson

see link - I think some kind of word filter is preventing me from reposting material

There was one recent study in 2012-3 which found no connection between permanent brain changes and pornography use:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/women-who-stray/201307/your-brain-porn-its-not-addictive
But the study was based on EEG results alone - not physical chemical changes or MRIs, CAT scans, etc so your little comment asking "Do you know how to read an MRI scan? that is what I thought" doesn't apply at all. And no I don't really know how to read EEGs before you ask.
This story goes on to chide other studies on the subject, when it is like comparing apples to oranges - an EEG is supposed measure chemical brain changes? I wonder what school of medicine they went to?

A later study says:

Quote

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-porn-brain-changes-idUSKBN0E82BK20140528

By Andrew M. Seaman | NEW YORK
(Reuters Health) - Men who report watching a lot of pornography tend to have less volume and activity in regions of the brain linked to rewards and motivation, says a new German study.
The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, can't say watching porn caused the decrease in brain matter and activity, however.
It's not clear, for example, whether watching porn leads to brain changes or whether people born with certain brain types watch more porn, said Simone Kühn, the study’s lead author from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, in an email.

Quote

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-porn-brain-changes-idUSKBN0E82BK20140528
By Andrew M. Seaman | NEW YORK
(Reuters Health) - Men who report watching a lot of pornography tend to have less volume and activity in regions of the brain linked to rewards and motivation, says a new German study.
The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, can't say watching porn caused the decrease in brain matter and activity, however.
It's not clear, for example, whether watching porn leads to brain changes or whether people born with certain brain types watch more porn, said Simone Kühn, the study’s lead author from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, in an email.

Quote

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/porn-addiction-brain-study-article-1.1464814
A new British study finds that addiction to pornography leads to similar brain activity patterns found in alcohol and drug addicts.
Researchers from Cambridge University found that MRI scans of 19 addictive pornography users showed that the reward centers of the brain reacted to explicit images in a similar way that an alcoholic might respond to liquor or beer advertisements.
"We found greater activity in an area of the brain called the ventral striatum, which is a reward center, involved in processing reward, motivation and pleasure," lead scientist Dr. Valerie Voon told the Sunday Times in the UK.
"When an alcoholic sees an ad for a drink, their brain will light up in a certain way and they will be stimulated in a certain way. We are seeing this same kind of activity in users of pornography."

There is actual physical evidence that porn may be linked to permanent brain changes in its users - presumably including Church members. An EEG study does little to nothing to refute these studies. There is also clinical evidence for adverse affects such as erectile dysfunction. Church members need to be aware of this and warn youngsters before they start using.

Edited March 5, 2017 by RevTestament

[Duncan]

5 hours ago, Bill "Papa" Lee said:

Indeed, they seek to keep it a secret, from family, friends (those in their Wards) and continue to attend. This until their conscience is so "seared with a hot iron", and they can not longer endure the shame of being surrounded by those who seek to life the gospel. Being around the Spirit hurts..."...the wicked taketh the truth to be hard"...from the Book of Mormon, in 1st Nepji if I recall. 

Edit to add...

Porn often leads to adultery, and adultery is not q victimless crime. Based on the entire industry or porn and strip clubs, they should both a crime, as they leave countless families in ruins, which is even more destructive to children in those marriages. I know this first hand, as it led my bio-father into becoming a bigamist and leavening my mother (his legal wife, and his three children) homeless for a time...less than a month from Christmas. Any man who would cheat on his wife, would cheat and lie to any employer, and any future wife. I know that those who do this can repent, and become true...and I hope they could or will. It took me many years to forgive him. I never saw him again until his funeral, so thankfully I was able to write him and forgive him before he died. The odd thing that caused me so much to difficultly to forgive, was due to a phone call while I was a teenager (I am the youngest) telling my mom he was saved, and apologized for what he did, but did not ask to speak to any of his children.

I liked this not because you went through that situation but because of your willingness to share, it's appreciated!

[Teancum]

While I do not claim to be any where near an expert on this subject or other things that certainly are addictive I thought this article was interesting.  It even sites a BYU study.

 

http://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/04/pornography.aspx

[bluebell]

On 3/4/2017 at 8:18 AM, churchistrue said:

I read this sort of thing, and I really wonder what would happen if the church said, "we decided porn is no big deal, do it if you want, don't do it if you don't want to, try to focus your sexual attention to your spouse, but if you can't, keep it to fantasy, and don't worry about it.  Most of all stop talking about, stop going to to therapy over it, stop doing groups, stop talking about sobriety, stop shaming yourself, stop making it your martyrdom badge of honor.  likewise, women get over it, it's no worse than your addiction to romance novels or trash reality tv or online shopping or chocolate. he uses it to cope, you use it to cope.  everyone uses something to cope.  everyone just get over yourselves.  porn only has as much power as you give it."  Then all these poor men wouldn't have anything to hate themselves over.  They might all stop looking at it immediately.  I just wonder how much of the problem is all the extra guilt and shame we heap on top of it.  I don't know.  I'm probably wrong.  But it all just seems like a waste of energy.

 

Google atheists against porn sometime and you'll see that this is not a problem that only religious people deal with.  Of course not all atheists are against porn but it's an example of people who grew up believing, and believe themselves, that porn is no big deal.  It shows how many are starting to realize, for not being a big deal it sure is causing some big problems.

Here's an interesting article to get you started.

Edited March 6, 2017 by bluebell

[Calm]

21 minutes ago, bluebell said:

Google atheists against porn sometime and you'll see that this is a problem that only religious people deal with.

I think you mean "is not a problem that only"...

[MormonVideoGame]

15 hours ago, Calm said:

CFR that this increases sexual desire for one's spouse in healthy ways 

"North American neuroscientists Prause and Pfaus recently published a study in which pornography use was related to greater sexual desire for one’s partner"

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26185674

http://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/skeptical-of-the-porn-skeptics/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/all-about-sex/201112/porn-why-does-my-man-watch-is-he-sex-addict

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stacey-nelkin/5-reasons-why-watching-po_b_2766968.html

15 hours ago, Calm said:

(not including wanting her to play act like the porn actors).

CFR that most men who watch porn want their wives to act like porn actors. 

The reality is that almost all men watch porn. According to one researcher, “We started our research seeking men in their 20s who had never consumed pornography,” said Professor Simon Louis Lajeunesse. “We couldn’t find any.” 

"77 percent of Americans view porn once a month" 

http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue18494.html

So, do you like watching sports? Porn is like watching sports like wrestling, it is entertainment.

You have the right to believe that porn is a sin, it's your religious freedom. 

Edited March 5, 2017 by MormonVideoGame

[Duncan]

Here's what I don't understand. In the Church If a married fella has sex it's not an addiction, but if a non married guy uses porno, they still have the same body reaction, but sex is good and porn is bad. Why aren't both addictions if the body reacts the same to both stimuli? Your mind can tell the difference between the real thing and not real but your brain can't as evidenced by physiological reactions when a dude sees sexual things. I think we all know what reactions i'm talking about. If porn is an addiction is sex an addiction? If a non married guy goes a week without using it what would happen if a married guy went without a week without sex? I am not arguing for porn use at all just the set up you usually hear in Priesthood classes, "a chemical cocktail is released and it's addicting and you can't stop" so are there different chemical released when a married man has sex if the body reacts the same way? I don't get it

[Tacenda]

changed mind....

Edited March 6, 2017 by Tacenda