The challenge of pornography use and how it is affecting society

By Steve Prokopchak

This is the first of two articles on the topic of sexual wholeness. This first article looks at the challenge of pornography use and how it is affecting society. The second article will present a biblical solution for dealing with pornography and walking in sexual wholeness.

Dr. Doug Weiss writes that there is a direct connection between one’s sexual behavior and destiny in Christ. He says, “God designed you and me to do amazing things for his kingdom, and our level of sexual purity will determine how useful we are. Sex and destiny are linked and this is why the devil works so hard to ensnare you in sexual sin.”1

Pornography is, by definition, “predominately sexually explicit material intended primarily for the purpose of sexual arousal.” The Bible uses the Greek word porneia, which means “whoredom, fornication, adultery or sexual immorality.” The word “pornography” is derived from this Greek word.

Let us establish from the beginning that when we look at pornography we are engaging in sexual immorality and dishonoring God’s design for intimacy within the confines of marriage: one man with one woman. Most importantly, pornography will never take us where God ultimately desires to take us in our walk with Him.

Statistics and the Issue of Pornography

We have watched many leaders in the church, in politics, and in the workforce being neutralized by immoral behavior. They were rising stars—but we no longer hear about, read about, or desire to emulate them.

A nationwide survey among churches in the United States revealed that in 2023, 65% of men and 57% of pastors have struggled with viewing pornography, either currently or in the past.2 But, the most shocking statistic was that eleven to seventeen-year-old boys reported being the greatest users at 85%. Nearly 57% of young girls were found to use pornography as reported by Covenant Eyes.3 They also report that one in five youth pastors and one in seven senior pastors in the United States use porn on a regular basis. Pornography in the United States is somewhere between a 4-billion to 12-billion-dollar industry—depending on the source of statistics.

Studies further show that forty million adults regularly visit internet pornography sites.4 More money is spent on pornography per year than pro baseball, pro basketball, pro football, and the Super Bowl combined. Sales of pornographic material on the internet surpass the cumulative sales of all other products sold online. Eleven thousand adult films are produced per year, which is twenty times the number of regular media films coming out of Hollywood. The issue of pornography use is sweeping through the church, with even the present younger generation being exposed and involved. It is an epidemic.

There are over 400 million pages of pornographic material available on over four million websites. 70% of porn is downloaded during work hours – 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

We could note that the present generation is the generation that is actively fighting sex trafficking more than any other. However, this generation is also consuming porn faster than any other. Something does not add up.

The stunning statistics continue*

  • 47% of American families report that pornography is a problem in their home.
  • In the last year, 165 billion porn sites were viewed.
  • 88% to 97% percent of American men report they have watched porn at some time, along with 83% of women.
  • Pornography increases marital infidelity rates by 300%.
  • The average age at which a child is first exposed to pornography is eleven years; 94% of children will see porn by age fourteen.
  • 60% of girls under eighteen years of age are exposed to pornography.
  • 56% of American divorces involve one party having an “obsessive interest” in pornographic websites.
  • 59% of pastors said that married men seek their help to overcome porn use.
  • 33% of women aged twenty-five and under search for porn at least once per month.
  • 55% of married men and 25% of married women say they watch porn at least once a month.
  • 7% of pastors say their church has a program to help people who are struggling with porn use.
  • 17.8 trillion hours of porn is consumed every year.
  • According to the SEMrush Traffic Analysis tool, as of May 2021, pornography sites receive more traffic in the U.S. than Twitter, Instagram, Netflix, Pinterest and LinkedIn combined.5

A Brief History of Porn

In 1948, Dr. Alfred Kinsey published a controversial but popular book on sexuality. He was one of the first scientists to openly discuss sexuality, and his books sold like crazy.

In 1950, 8% of Americans claimed to have viewed pornography. That statistic has grown to 76% in 2023.

In 1953, Hugh Heffner published his first copy of Playboy magazine. Heffner took advantage of changing sexual mores and began to print pornography alongside articles and essays written by respected authors. He presented porn as something harmless, respectable, and pleasurable.

In the 1980s, the technology of VCR tapes came along. Pornography could now be watched at home instead of in seedy theaters. It became a lot more accessible.

In the 1990s, porn hit the internet and was easily within reach via a few keystrokes. The online porn industry exploded. From 1998 to 2007, the industry grew by 1800%. By 2004, porn sites were getting three times more visits than Google, Yahoo! and MSN Search put together!

Pornography also began to take off in Hollywood movies and TV through pay-per-view channels. Between 1998 and 2005, the number of sex scenes on TV doubled. This was not just true of adult TV; it happened on teen TV as well. Today, almost all commercial products are marketed through advertising that uses sex or sexual images.

Statistics and the Pornhub Website

Statistics tell us that 35% of all internet downloads are porn related. No matter where you are when you’re online, porn sites are only two to three clicks away.

Further facts concerning the Pornhub site:

  • One in three videos are violent in nature.
  • The top one hundred popular videos average 65.4 million views.
  • 50% of the Pornhub videos feature incestuous video content.
  • The most popular video has 230 million views while the least popular video has 40 million views.

With over 60% of the porn sites hosted in the U.S., no other country in the world produces more pornography.

The Conditioning Process

Conditioning is the process of training someone to accept certain circumstances or behave in a certain way. It is a process of becoming accustomed to something, almost without thinking about it or realizing it. Conditioning often develops as a result of reinforcement such as a reward for a specific response. Conditioning in children starts, for example, as soon as boys are given guns to play with or girls are given dolls.

Psychologists tell us of a five-step process of conditioning toward pornography.

First step – introduction or exposure: This occurs from exposure to sexual abuse as found in magazines, videos, TV, or a computer. There is some form of introduction to sexual abuse, often from a “friend.” This often takes place during childhood.

Second step – habit/compulsion leading to addiction: Those who continually and frequently expose themselves to pornography find they have to continually return for more–for another high. This begins a chemical process we will talk about in depth later. (See “How the brain undergoes change” below.)

Third step – intensification: The previous highs are not enough and the user looks for more exotic forms of sexual behavior for stimulation.

Fourth step – desensitization: What is abnormal becomes normal. Nothing is too shocking or aberrant. The concern of hurting others gets lost in the pursuit of the next sexual experience.

Fifth step – acting upon one’s own fantasy/imaginations: Eventually, we enact what we have seen and what we find pleasurable. Many look for ways to fulfill desires from a spouse, a prostitute, or a minor. Too often, this results in rape. In one survey of former prostitutes, 80% said that customers had shown them images of porn to illustrate what they expected from the sexual experience.

How the Brain Undergoes Change

Studies indicate that when we are involved in sexual activity, the brain releases a chemical called oxytocin, along with other chemicals. Oxytocin can be called the glue to human bonding. For example, oxytocin is also released as a mother holds her new infant against her skin to breast-feed the child, creating an emotional bond.

When we watch pornography, powerful neurotransmitters such as dopamine (a chemical released in the “reward center” of the brain) are also released. Our brain then takes those pornographic images and creates a bond, actually interfering with human bonding and sexuality.

The Word of God exhorts us, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do” (1 Peter 1:13-15).

Dr. Tim Jennings, a neuropsychologist, says that any type of repetitive behavior create trails in our brain that “fire” on automatic sequence.6 So, men and women who truly love Jesus with all of their heart can be in sexual bondage from the enemy due to viewing pornography repeatedly. We should also note that God desires us to bond with our life mate sexually, while the enemy desires us to be in bondage to sexually explicit material.

How Does This Actually Work?

Like any drug or potentially addictive substance, when dopamine is released, the reward center in the brain gets involved. For example, the reward system tells you that you feel good after a satisfying meal or a good workout. It reconnects with that good feeling each time you are involved in those activities. (By the way, our brains are naturally hardwired to motivate us to do certain things that will keep us healthy.)

However, the brain can also become rewired toward pleasure by experiencing intense pleasure. It does this with the help of a protein called DeltaFosB. This protein builds new brain connections so we can remember the experience and later repeat it. The more frequently we repeat something, the more permanent the nerve connection becomes and the more we crave the given experience.

Here is the tricky part of this process. DeltaFosB also remembers forms of connections to details associated with the experience. These associations are called “cues.” For example, a smoker might be cued by the smell of cigarette smoke, or an alcoholic may have pathways triggered by the sight of a bottle. For addicts, the whole world starts to feel like a collection of cues and triggers leading them back to their addiction. When a pathway becomes sensitized, it is easily triggered by cues that show up on a daily basis.

This creates an irony, especially for a believer who has an addiction. The user of porn, drugs, or alcohol wants and craves it more and more, all the while liking it less and less. Pornography use is an escalating behavior because those who consume it begin to develop a tolerance. Once that happens, more and more porn is needed or more hardcore porn is pursued for the same level of resultant pleasure. Unfortunately, pornographers are right there, ready and waiting with the increasingly edgy material.

Often the pornography access is “free,” until this increased desire for more and more can lead one to spend money on pornography. This creates personal financial issues that only complicate the situation. Every second of every day, $3,075 is spent on porn. With virtual reality on the scene, it is projected that VR will be a one-billion-dollar business by the year 2025. VR porn will boost porn site revenues immeasurably.

Escalation of Pornography Use

Escalation takes place because we tell ourselves we’re simply being entertained with something harmless. After all, God created men and women and sex. But meanwhile, our brains are busy building connections between feelings of arousal and whatever is happening on the screen. The more porn is used and becomes familiar, the more extreme forms of it are necessary to become aroused.

In a survey of 1,500 young adult men, 56% said their tastes in porn had become “increasingly extreme or deviant.” Eventually, porn can also change attitudes that support violence toward women and sexual aggression. Despite the fact that pornography is unrealistic and glorifies violence and sexism, 53% of boys and 39% of girls believe that porn is realistic in its depiction of sex.7 This demonstrates how deceptive pornography is and how it can alter our very sense of normalcy.

In married partners, tastes related to the sexual experience change so much that someone who is addicted to porn is often not able to respond sexually to their actual partners. Many times, this leads to a trip to the doctor for ED treatment (erectile dysfunction). Thirty years ago, the use of ED was almost always due to a man’s aging or medication use. It was unheard of among men under age thirty-five. Today, chronic ED is affecting men in their teens and 20s. This increase is directly related to internet porn consumption.

Pornography has a powerful ability to form long-lasting pathways in the brain. Hardly any other activity can compete with it, not even actual sex with a real-life partner. Porn can actually overpower the brain’s natural ability to have real sex! Imagine those people who are sitting in front of a computer at 3:00 a.m. in a porn-filled trance. Not even sleep can compete with this brain pathway of pleasure, reward center approval, dopamine and desire for more. Like a well-used trail in the woods, the pathway for porn becomes wider and more used until one begins to think, “This feels so good, let’s do it again and again.”

Teenagers and Porn

You can only imagine how compulsive pornography becomes, especially in younger brains like those of teenagers. This is mainly because a teen’s reward center is two to four times more powerful than that of an adult. Pornography is a “dream come true” of sights and sounds and erotica. It isn’t long until the young mind can become addicted.

Visualize a situation in which teens get their sex education from pornography sites on the internet. Researchers find that people who have seen a significant amount of porn are more likely to start having sex sooner, have sex with more partners, and engage in riskier sexual behavior. Pornography sites do not come with a warning of the ill health that results from their use. That would be like hiring a cigarette salesperson to teach a health class on healthy smoking habits. I can only imagine no one would hear about the cancer statistics or how smoking shortens one’s life expectancy.

Porn Warps Our Ideas about Sex

Just as harmful as the explicit images in pornography are the things it does not show. Pornography does not show all the aspects of healthy sex like talking and connecting through communication, emotional connections by cuddling, loving, meaningful touch, and serving one another with other-centered pleasure.

You will never find a warning about the consequences of unprotected sex when viewing pornography. For example, none of the sites mention the possibility of sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, cervical cancer, bruises, or parasites. In pornography, no matter how another person is being treated, it is made to look like it feels good, is desirable, and is never really harmful. Even though women are being beaten, whipped, yelled at, or harmed in other ways, the result is almost always the same: the victim responds with pleasure or does not respond at all.

Dr. Gary Brooks, a psychology professor who studies the effects of porn, stated, “Boys who are initiated into sex through [pornography] become indoctrinated in a way that can potentially stay with them for the rest of their lives.”8 Dr. Abraham Morgentaler, associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and director of Men’s Health Boston says, “A lot of the men who grow up now watching internet porn learn their sexuality and how to become stimulated … in a way that is not mimicked by actual sex.”9

Porn Is Killing Marriages: Here’s How

Have you ever woken up in the morning and thought, “I wonder how I can destroy or undermine my marriage today? I wonder how I can give my spouse a huge dose of insecurity?” Probably not, but that is exactly what pornography does to your relationship with your spouse. Pornography viewing diminishes trust in marriage relationships. It increases promiscuity and takes one’s attention away from the marriage and the family. Further, it opens the door to locating or meeting a new sexual partner while spending time on the internet.

Most women see no acceptable role for porn within their own committed marriage relationships. Following a 30-year study of the effects of pornography, researchers Jennings, Bryant, and Dolf Zillman at the University of Alabama found that “consuming pornography makes many individuals less satisfied with their own partners’ physical appearance, sexual performance, sexual curiosity and affection. Over time, many users grow more callous toward females in general, less likely to value monogamy and marriage and more likely to develop distorted perceptions of sexuality. They are also found to be significantly less intimate with their partners and less satisfied with their romantic lives. Lastly, more end up cheating on their partners.”10

We already noted how porn re-wires the brain. Another harmful issue in marriage is that porn consumption leads to less satisfaction and interest in one’s partner. Users actually become less responsive in real-life sexual interactions. Think about it. Men and women in porn look amazing, young, their lifelong best. After all, they are surgically enhanced and airbrushed to perfection. One author wrote, “Today, real naked women are just bad porn.”

What Happens in the Soul Realm with Porn Use?

Viewing pornography opens the door of our soul and spirit to spiritual oppression, confusion, hopelessness, hurt, control, and the domination of evil. Women feel betrayed, rejected, humiliated, unattractive, abandoned, lonely, worthless, angered, and shame-filled by husbands who use porn. They are being cheated on, really. Women feel as though they cannot compete with the images their husbands are viewing. Pornography presents an illusion that a woman will do anything to please a man, yet in the real world such an attitude is merely fantasy. This brings insecurities to her and can destroy her self-esteem. She will question her attractiveness and her adequacy as a lover. She can eventually think and believe that porn is more important to her husband than she is to him, which might be true. It is the ultimate sexual betrayal.

Men, however, often view pornography as an innocent harmless fantasy, a fix for loneliness, or a solution to having a sexual partner who does not provide what he desires. Men are quick to rationalize and justify their behavior, calling it the “normal behavior” of a man who is visually aroused. They connect with the women in porn who are “always available,” and are trapped by a desire to be perpetually aroused. The women presented in pornography are young, attractive, and anxious to please. She is never bored or annoyed and never has a bad day. How can she compare to the wife and mother who has wrestled with a toddler all day, worked in a tense job situation or is simply dealing with aging parents who are draining all her energy?

When people condition their brains to be aroused by these totally exaggerated versions of sex, they have real problems when it comes time to actually get between the sheets. Basically, porn is to real sex as Spam is to steak—a cheap, exaggerated imitation. Porn is not only reducing men’s ability to have good sex, it is taking away their ability to have sex at all.

Porn kills real love because it is fake. Every page, every site, every movie is fake. It is not real! Porn users become cynical about love and become less committed to their partners, yet it is all built on lies. These might be lies such as, “It’s just watching people have sex and sex is natural,” “Porn is just an innocent distraction; it is harmless,” or “Porn provides a safe way to learn about sex.” As if in a delusion, some would actually argue that porn hurts no one. How untrue!

A not-so-obvious soul wound of pornography is that most relationships become affected by the changes that take place in the brain. It can distort the way consumers see people, their friends, family members, coworkers, a neighbor’s daughter or son, one’s own daughter ,and even strangers on the street. How? Porn tells consumers that people are objects with the sole purpose of providing sexual satisfaction. That directly relates to making a human life the sum of body parts, discarding his or her true worth and value.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there. The porn user becomes a self-hater, also. It is a downward spiral of addiction to false images, false love, and a false life.

Pornographers’ Dark Secrets

In pornography subjects are dominated, beaten, sexually abused, humiliated–and it’s all based on consent and contract. But to many, this is modern-day slavery or human trafficking. Human trafficking is buying and selling humans, or moving humans so they can be used for a profit. The estimated number of slaves around the world is 21 to 32 million. About 22% of those are trafficked for sex acts. It is even more horrifying that the average age of minors who are being trafficked—and filmed—is 12.8 years.11

Often pornography and sex trafficking are one in the same. It is reported that nearly half of sex trafficking victims claim that they were used as subjects in pornographic films. These persons come from around the world lured by false offers like, “Come to America to start your modeling career. Come start a new life.”

What Does This Mean for Us?

By viewing pornography, you are supporting the porn industry and helping it to grow. You are contributing to the sexual exploitation of victims caught in this dark world. You are adding to the sin of human trafficking. You are saying “yes” to a multi-billion-dollar industry that feeds and preys on innocent men, women, and children and that can even lead to their abduction or death. You are learning to see and treat women and men as sex objects. You are destroying those trapped in this industry (which today includes more teenage girls than ever), your marriage, your own family, and yourself. You are even supporting child abduction. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children recorded reports of 69 million images of child sexual abuse material (a.k.a. child porn) in 2019.12 There is clearly a connection between missing children and pornography.

Yes, you excuse it and rationalize it. You tell yourself it’s not that bad. Just a quick look; it’s a natural desire . Some of you even change your theology to tell yourself, or try to convince yourself, that pornography is actually okay with God.

But I’m Not Addicted!

You might have messages going to your brain right now saying, “It could all be true, but that person is not me.”

How do you know if you are addicted? Here are some guidelines.13

  • You feel controlled, out of control, and powerless to resist the temptation to use pornography.
  • You have and are experiencing an escalation in frequency and use of pornography.
  • You are lying about your use.
  • You are preoccupied with sexual thoughts and fantasies.
  • You tell yourself that your situation is not as bad as others or try to downplay your use.
  • You have unsuccessfully tried to stop ongoing use.
  • You lose interest in sex and find pornography more exciting.
  • You lose attraction to your real-life partner.
  • You begin to project and demand in your sex life what you view on porn sites.

Answers Are Available

As discouraging and disgusting as all this may sound, we know that it is possible to break free from addiction to pornography. We need to give hope and tell people that there is a path to change and freedom. There is no sin that Jesus did not die for. Our spirit and our minds need to be cleansed by the blood that our Savior shed on the cross. Freedom is available.

We will explain more about the road to freedom in the next article.

Endnotes

  1. https://www.covenanteyes.com/2018/01/02/your-sexual-purity-isnt-just-about-you/
  2. https://www.barna.com/the-porn-phenomenon/
  3. https://www.covenanteyes.com/2015/04/10/10-shocking-stats-about-teens-and-pornography/
  4. https://blog.gitnux.com/porn-addiction-statistics/
  5. https://www.semrush.com/analytics/traffic/
  6. https://churchgrowthmagazine.com/the-number-one-reason-for-porn
  7. https://www.covenanteyes.com/
  8. https://fightthenewdrug.org/this-years-most-popular-genre-of-porn-is-pretty-messed-up/
  9. https://fightthenewdrug.org/porn-is-taking-away-mens-ability-to-have-actual-sex/
  10. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229739107_Pornography’s_Impact_on_Sexual_Satisfaction1#/
  11. https://www.ctdatacollaborative.org/story/age-victims-children-and-adults
  12. https://www.missingkids.org/ourwork/ncmecdata
  13. https://www.foryourmarriage.org/?s=pornography

Bibliography

*The following sources were used for data and statistics throughout the article.

The Porn Phenomenon by Barna

Fight the New Drug

Covenant Eyes

SEM Rush

Learn more in the book Identity: the Distinctiveness of You by Steve Prokopchak. Check it out here!

Read part II of this article here: Sexual Wholeness: Overcoming Pornography