A furtive glance. An awkward, “Hello.” A double date. Walks in the park. Long talks on the phone. Holding hands. Exchanging love letters. Meeting the parents. A proposal of marriage! For many people of previous generations, moments such as these were among the building blocks used to form loving, committed relationships that culminated in marriage, sexual intimacy, and the children from which the generations of a family were grown.        

In recent decades, however, such steppingstones to committed sexual relationships have become increasingly rare. Many factors have contributed to the short-circuiting of relationship building and marriage formation in our contemporary culture, but arguably the most devastating has been the mainstreaming of pornography.^[1]

While forms of pornography have existed for millennia (such as petroglyphs, carvings, and on pottery, etc.), with the development of new technologies like the printing press, camera, VCRs, and ultimately the Internet and smartphones, pornography’s accessibility massively increased. In the past seventy-five years, its presence has encroached from seedy bookstores and movie theaters to our living room TVs and home computers, and eventually, to the phones we carry around in our back pockets. 

The migration of pornography from the back alley to devices we use every day has brought with it a cultural mainstreaming of pornography unimaginable only a few decades ago. The astonishing level of pornography’s popularity is demonstrated by data from just one pornography site which reported that there were 42 billion visits to its site—115 million visits per day—and more that 6.83 million new videos uploaded to its site in 2019.^[2] Users of pornography are not only adults but also children and teens. A recent survey of 13- to 17-year-olds reported that 73% had consumed pornography; 15% of these were 10 or younger when they first saw pornography, and 54% were 13 years old or younger.^[3]

This cultural mainstreaming of pornography tragically extends to the Church. A 2024 study found that 54% of Christians (75% men; 40% women) reported viewing pornography compared to 68% of non-Christians.^[4] Further the report found that 49% of Christians who use pornography say they are comfortable doing so.^[5]

The widespread use of pornography has resulted in the transformation of cultural mores and the hypersexualization of nearly every sphere of life. Pornography has helped fuel the decline of courtship and dating rituals of previous generations, ushered in expectations of instant sexual gratification, and turned countless adults and children into voyeurs. 

The “pornification” of society has had devastating impacts on individuals and families, as well as those used to create it. The lives of adults and children have become mired in pornography addiction, countless marriages have been lost, and families fractured. Untold numbers of women, children, and men have been ruthlessly used to manufacture pornography, their pain and exploitation turned into the sexual gratification of others. Adults and children have learned to “mirror” pornography, presenting themselves to the world in ways that conform to the sexualized norms of pornography or even casually making and exchanging pornography of themselves. Sexual predators use pornography to initiate children into sexual behavior. Some pornography consumers spiral into other harmful behaviors like sexual exploitation of people in prostitution, consumption of child sexual abuse material (legally referred to as “child pornography”), or other abusive and violent material. 

Today, many proudly proclaim their pornography use and consider it a right. Others, particularly those who profess faith in God and Jesus, try to hide their struggle with pornography use. But no matter how secretive one is about using pornography, God knows.  

In sum, pornography provides a wide path that descends rapidly into darkness and persistent sin. Yet, there is no pit too deep or too dark for the love and mercy of God to reach.

References

1. ^ We define pornography as depictions of explicit nudity, genitalia, and sex acts intended to excite including commercially produced and self-produced material. Such material may include books, magazines, photographs, and audio-visual recordings.

2. ^ We have a copy of the original report, however we are not providing details about it since doing so would refer readers to a pornography site.

3. ^ Michael B. Robb and Supreet Mann, Teens & Pornography, (San Francisco, CA: Common Sense, 2023), https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/teens-and-pornography. Note: The study used a nonprobability-based sample.

4. ^ Leonardo Blair, “Majority of Practicing Christians Admit to Viewing Porn, Many Comfortable with the Habit: Study,” Washingtonstand.com, October 22, 2024, https://washingtonstand.com/news/majority-of-practicing-christians-admit-to-viewing-porn-many-comfortable-with-the-habit-study.

5. ^ Ibid.