Key Scripture Passage: Job 31:1 (New Living Translation) “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman.”
Men’s ministries should become a safe place for men who are struggling with addiction to pornography. Pornography addiction should not be the only issue that a men’s ministry addresses … but the topic should not be ignored.
Pornography
Pornography targets mostly men and degrades women. Dawn Hawkins, Executive Director of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation says the harms of pornography are becoming clear in light of overwhelming scientific and social research. “In addition to its negative impacts on public health, pornography damages the equality of women in society,” Hawkins added. “A study analyzing scenes from popular pornography films revealed that 88% of the scenes depict acts of aggression against women. It is time for Americans, no matter their political affiliation, to take a stand for women’s equality and for human dignity. There can be no true equality in America when violence against women is considered sexy.”[1] According to data taken from Internet users who took part in the General Social Survey, the following are predictors of online pornography use:
- Men are 543% more likely to look at porn than females.
- Those who are happily married are 61% less likely to look at porn.
- Those who had committed adultery are 218% more likely to look at porn.
- Those with teen children are 45% less likely to look at porn. [2]
Human trafficking
Another social danger keeping men from becoming effective husbands, fathers, and friends is prostitution or human trafficking. It is now a $32 billion a year industry, which is $7 billion dollars more than McDonalds makes in a year.[3] When most people think of prostitution, they normally think of a male customer and a female client. Identification of male victims is difficult not only due to the lack of awareness, or focus, from law enforcement and service providers, but also the reluctance of boys to speak up. Still, males remain a largely invisible population within the dialogue on sex trafficking. According to a 2008 study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, boys comprised about 50 percent of sexually exploited children in a sample study done in New York, with most being domestic victims. However, the percentage of male victims may be higher due to the underreported and subversive nature of the crime. Summar Ghias, program specialist for the Chicago-based International Organization for Adolescents, states, “We’re conditioned as a community to identify female victims more readily,” she said, “because that has been the more prominent focus of the anti-trafficking movement.” [4]
There are many reasons why prostitution is a horrible practice.
- It promotes human trafficking and child prostitution.
- It increases the risk for HIV/AIDS to spread.
- It increases the abuse and displacement of immigrants.
- It increases the number of women who turn to drugs and alcohol in order to cope with the things done to them.
- It increases the number of unwanted pregnancies and, therefore, abortion rates rise. [5]
As men’s ministry leaders, we cannot afford to take the ostrich approach and stick our heads in the sand. This social issue is real. More young men are becoming addicted to pornography and prostitution, and they need the Scriptures, the power of the Holy Spirit and other Brothers in Christ to walk with them through this struggle.
© Dr. Paul Pettit
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
Dr. Paul Pettit is Director of Career Services; Adjunct Professor in Pastoral Ministries, Media Arts and Worship, and Educational Ministries and Leadership at Dallas Theological Seminary.
Resources for Dads
A five-time dad, Dr. Paul Pettit has become a spokesman for the responsible fatherhood movement. Dr. Pettit has founded Dynamic Dads which offers key resources to help Dads succeed in their unique role of fathering. His website provides curriculum for either existing small groups, or for forming a new Dynamic Dads group at your church.
1 http://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/statement-gop-considering-pornography-public-health-crisis/
2 Steven Stack, Ira Wasserman, and Roger Kern, “Adult social bonds and use of Internet pornography.” Social Science Quarterly 85 (March 2004): 75-88.
3 State of California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General. https://oag.ca.gov/human-trafficking
4 http://jjie.org/trafficked-boys-overlooked-underrepresented/106688/
5 https://purposefullyscarred.com/2012/12/08/the-dangers-of-legalizing-prostitution/
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