The Modern Pornocracy

Forbidden Fruit from the Sistene Chapel

In 2019 the NFL generated 15.2 Billion dollars of revenue. That same year the porn industry generated 100 Billion dollars worldwide. Wonder why people get hooked?

I’m working on resources here, that I’ll continue to develop, along with the idea of a modern pornocracy – a neologism derived from the Greek “porne (prostitute), and kratos (to rule)”.

Pornography has never been more mainstream than it is today – we’re the first generation dealing with it at the level we are. Many pretend it doesn’t exist, but it touches almost every life in some way, shape, or form.

Consider the secrets people are capable of keeping, and the following which happen all the time:

  • Is your spouse and/or are your kids look at porn in secret.
  • Are they running an affiliate porn site?
  • Is your wife sexting for money in her free time?
  • Are your kids filming and running a porn channel on any number of popular porn websites?
  • Has your sweet, innocent child been exposed to porn by the time he or she is 7? Do they know how to deal with that terrible reality?
  • Do your kids have virtual reality gear for masturbation and/or interaction with others?
  • Does a substance use habit accompany hidden pornography habits?

“How do you ethically steer the thoughts and actions of two billion people’s minds every day?”

Tristan Harris, researcher for Google who speaks about the power of multi-billion dollar industries to form society. Porn is a 100 billion dollar a year, worldwide, enterprise and is responsible for some industry standards in video, audio and streaming technology.

Also, many people are getting in on the act with pornography whereas they used to be mere viewers. Cellphones create great and easy videos. Porn sites have affiliate links for everything from dating, to sex toys, to video uploads, to cam chats, to your imagination is the limit. Sexting is now a part-time job for people the world over, as is camming. Camming is, of course, slang for webcamming (or using a webcam for the sexual gratification of others and,) and is now described as a fun and easy source of revenue. Getting paid for sex?

Human Trafficking is Linked to Porn

Pornography and Exploitation – Sold No More

Why is the sexual exploitation of children increasing at such an alarming rate? What is driving the demand for sex with children, including babies and infants? One answer: the exponential rise in pornography, especially child pornography. No research can be conducted that would prove direct causality between child pornography and the sexual exploitation of children.

Desensitization to sexual experience, and the changes in brain chemistry that result from continued exposure to pornography (it’s an erototoxin, and we’re Wired for Intimacy,) are also linked to a greater incidence of paid sexual encounters, That’s the basics of sex-trafficking. The original meaning of the word pornography has to do with prostitution, which is of course the sale of oneself for sex.

1842, “ancient obscene painting, especially in temples of Bacchus,” from French pornographie, from Greek pornographos “(one) depicting prostitutes,” from graphein “to write” (see -graphy) + pornē “prostitute,” originally “bought, purchased” (with an original notion, probably of “female slave sold for prostitution”), related to pernanai “to sell” (from PIE *perə-, variant of root *per- (5) “to traffic in, to sell”).

https://www.etymonline.com/word/pornography

Via the Conquer Series, “Dr. Mahri Irvine, Adjunct Professional Lecturer at American University, said, “I really wish that people who watch porn knew more about that. Because I think they believe that they’re engaging in this activity in a very passive way. And they’re like, ‘Oh, I’m doing it in the privacy of my own home and this is just a video that I’m watching’. And they’re not associating it with the fact that pornography is very often the filmed rape of sex trafficking victims.

“Noel Bouché, Executive Director of pureHOPE, explained, “While pornographic content includes trafficked victims from around the world, porn consumers aren’t told anything about the performers, including which ones may have been trafficked from an early age. Regular users of internet pornography are likely consuming pornography that includes adult and child victims of sex trafficking.””

Porn Education

The following sites are a few of the many that are arising to help educate our seemingly sexually sophisticated, yet pornographically unsophisticated, generation.

1. Enough is Enough

Enough Is Enough:

The Enough Is Enough mission is to make the Internet Safer for Children and Families. Our initiatives include Internet Safety 101, Project Wilberforce, and others.

2. Fight the New Drug

Home – Fight the New Drug

Fight the New Drug is a non-religious and non-legislative nonprofit that exists to provide individuals the opportunity to make an informed decision regarding pornography by raising awareness on its harmful effects using only science, facts, and personal accounts.

3. Integrity Restored

IntegrityRestored.com

INTEGRITY CIRCLE COACHING ONLINE SESSIONS FOR YOU OR THOSE YOU CARE ABOUTTO UNDERSTAND AND COMBAT THE SCOURGE OF PORNOGRAPHY FROM THE GROUND UP INTEGRITY CIRCLE COACHING ONLINE SESSIONS FOR YOU OR THOSE YOU CARE ABOUT TO UNDERSTAND AND COMBAT THE SCOURGE OF PORNOGRAPHY FROM THE GROUND UP Stay up-to-date with all of Integrity Restored’s content and material.

4. The Conquer Series

Here’s how men are quitting porn

The Conquer Series is a 10-episode film series that’s taught millions of men how to quit porn. It’s the number one tool to break a porn addiction.

Louisiana and PornHub

The popular pornography website PornHub relies on Google Statistics to cull its data. Most visitors only spend about 10 minutes per visit to the massive depository of freely available pornographic material. But all the states whose residents stay the longest—more than 11 minutes per visit—are located in the politically conservative deep South:        

  • Mississippi
  • Alabama
  • South Carolina
  • Louisiana
  • Arkansas

Take note of that stat, parents, ladies, and gents.

Pornography and the Occult

Lots of people are pointing out the fact that the pornography industry has at its roots an occult reality. Rod Dreher has an article that provides a great start to looking at the reality of that matter. And lest we forget, a priest in the Archdiocese of New Orleans was recently caught filming a sex act with an avowed satanist atop the Altar, (though the Eucharist had allegedly been removed.)

Masturbation

Masturbation often accompanies participation in the consumption of pornography. Any number of websites and links exist to articles on the effects of masturbation. A simple article I’ve linked before is the one about science saying it’s time to stop masturbating so much. Science is on the side of genuine, real, relationships.

It’s, of course, easy for anyone to say “Well just stop!” “Just don’t do it!” “Don’t do that!” – but why? Why wouldn’t anyone want to do something that can feel so good and is entirely simple and easy to undertake? Are you’re being too religious and shaming everyone? (Those are common questions asked when the subject is brought up.)

No one is shaming anyone when it comes to porn and masturbation. Pornography is a 100+ billion dollar a year industry that wants people to get hooked, and instead of relying on the science of things, which thankfully more and more are doing, men and women show up at the doorsteps of priests and ministers looking for answers when all too often priests and ministers themselves are getting sucked into the quagmire as well, with few answers to the questions.

The answers lie in the science of sex, the reward centers of the brain, the hormonal responses of relationships. The matters can be complex and the answers aren’t simple. You can’t expect a hormonal people bombarded by sexual imagery and opportunity, and immersed in an entirely new sexual reality, to simply respond as if they’re St. Paul writing to the Romans.

Being Healthy

The Archdiocese of New Orleans hosts a 12 Step program for men seeking change out of a pornography habit, called the My House Men’s group. It’s patterned after the meetings of Sexaholics Anonymous, which has great phone meetings for daily strength and accountability.

My great friend Gary Leblanc works with men overcoming pornography (and other areas of spiritual import as well, in case your husband, friend, or co-worker is working with him and you’re suddenly concerned he may be overcoming a porn habit you don’t know about.)

Fr. Sean Kilcawley runs the Office of Marriage and Family Life in the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, and has any number of excellent videos on the subjects of pornography, masturbation, healing relationships, and approaches the matters from the scientific angle, the anthropological angle, and from the simple and holistic viewpoint of Faith, too.

Stay Healthy and Be Well

The world may be going crazy, but it doesn’t mean you have to be. Never let what everyone else is doing guide you into bad habits or poor choices.

Internet pornography is a new phenomenon, and no other generation has had to deal with it so far. We may as well continue to look at the science behind it and continue to make healthy choices. Be a pioneer, learn and grow, you can help many others, in wisdom, as the years go on.

+

The Rev. Kenneth Allen