Open and Honest Discussion Needed

                Families, communities, and nations are strengthened when youths and adults talk openly and honestly about pornography and its dangers.  Exposure to porn is more and more difficult in our sex obsessed society.  Statistics show that nearly 100% of our youth are exposed to pornography in some degree before they are 18 years old.  Children, youth, and adults are strengthened when they know how to avoid it and/or get help when needed.

                Total elimination of pornography would bless society but is nearly impossible to achieve at this point.  Our task now is to limit the damage done by the evil influence of pornography.  Even though exposure to porn does not lead to addiction to everyone, all of us need to be educated about sexual addiction.  Everyone who is educated about addiction to porn will be better equipped to rear their children and help other people avoid and/or deal with its influence.  One way to gain this education is to learn from those who are now dealing with the problem.

                Michelle Linford introduced a weekly series of articles written by wives of sex addicts.  These wives desire to share their knowledge and experience in the hope of helping others avoid the problems they have faced or are facing in their marriages.  Their posts will answer questions such as (1) When do the seeds of compulsive pornography use usually form?  (2) What does lust addiction look like?  (3) How do compulsive/addictive behaviors impact the brain?  (4) How does compulsive or addictive behavior impact marriage and family relationships and dynamics?  (5) What resources are available for loved ones of those with addiction?  (6) Why do they need resources at all if they aren’t the ones with the addiction?

                Another way to learn about the dangers of pornography is to be open and honest about pornography and its dangers.  I believe Utah is on the right track to exposing the dangers.  The Utah House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution calling pornography “a public health hazard leading to a broad spectrum of individual and public health impacts and societal harms.”  The House resolution follows one passed earlier by the Utah Senate.  The resolution does not seek to ban pornography but to keep children from being exposed to it.

                The resolution in Utah was “drafted” and supported by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), a Washington-based organization dedicated to “addressing the public health crisis of pornography and exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation.”

                According to Dawn Hawkins, executive director of NCOSE, “Pornography is a serious public health crisis facing our nation…. As pornography shapes the sexual templates of rising generations, violence and abuse of women and children becomes normalized.  The government must recognize the science that confirms the harms of pornography, similarly to how it recognized the damage to public health caused by tobacco.”

                I believe that knowledge is power.  If we are to protect our families and communities, we must learn about the dangers of pornography and join the war against it.  I know that families, communities, and nations can be strengthened by bringing the evil influence of pornography out into the open and having open and honest discussions about it.