FIGHT the NEW DRUG
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Your brain is the powerhouse of your body. We all have one but we use it at different capacities. It is one of the most valuable things we possess. Thankfully we have skulls to protect our brain, but some people have done some pretty dumb things to put themselves at risk of losing this precious gift!
Let me tell you about another risk to your brain, a new drug. Pornography. It is just as addictive as hard drugs such as heroin or cocaine. You might be thinking, “But how is it like a drug? You can't sniff it or smoke it!”
Scientists are just beginning to understand how exposure to pornography affects you. Pornographic images go into your brain through your eyes and trigger a release of chemicals such as dopamine, oxytocin and serotonin. Your brain becomes overloaded with chemicals. If you keep viewing porn, you build up a tolerance and you require more of it to create the same rush. Your brain then becomes dependent on the rush of chemicals and you begin to believe that you can't live without it.
The frontal lobes are the decision-making centres of your brain. Viewing pornography damages that part of the brain. Your life begins to revolve around getting a fix. All you can think of is satisfying your addiction. All this happens when you think you are still in control.
You may be thinking, I can view porn and stay in control! But why risk it? After your first exposure, your brain rewires itself.
An ex-hard drug addict and porn addict says his porn addiction was harder to break than his drug addiction.
Nobody likes to talk about this topic. It's uncomfortable to talk about, but it's not a question of if you, or your children, will be exposed to it, but when. You need to know how pervasive this new drug is and how much of a threat it is to your family.
Stages of Addiction
Anyone who considers pornography to be harmless 'entertainment', should consider the insidious 'slippery slope' of the continued viewing of pornography. Dr. Victor Cline, a clinical psychologist at the University of Utah, USA, described the four-step process whereby a person becomes addicted to porn:
Step 1: Addiction to the material and repeated return to it for sexual excitement. Cline says this addiction is so powerful that his severely affected clients have to use medications such as Depo Prover to try to reduce the sex drive and eliminate sex fantasies and may need to attend Sexaholics Anonymous for up to four nights a week to achieve sobriety and break the stranglehold of their addiction. Virtually no casual user/viewer of porn is exempt from the addictive effect of exposure to it. The accessibility and apparent anonymity of porn on the Internet increase the danger.
Step 2: Escalation in the individual's need for more explicit, deviant and sexually shocking material to achieve the same level of sexual stimulation.
Step 3: Desensitisation towards initially gross and shocking material so that, in time, this material becomes acceptable and desirable to the viewer.
Step 4: Increased tendency to start 'acting out' sexual activities seen in porn. Not everyone who views porn will rape, but the likelihood of committing rape goes up. Don't you see how viewing porn can enslave you and possibly lead you to harm others, even those you love?
Watching Porn is Viewing Abused, Drugged Prostitutes
Research indicates that about 60 - 80% of women, who work in the sex industry were sexually abused as children. It is very rare to find 'porn stars' who started out of a freely chosen desire. Along with poverty, broken families and lack of education, childhood abuse is very common. Many 'porn star' actresses admit they experienced sexual abuse, physical abuse and neglect by parents. Some were raped by relatives and molested by neighbours. Then some of them ended up as teenage runaways and were picked up by pimps. They were taught at a young age that sex makes them valuable. They only escape one circle of abuse by entering another; they can't run from the pain so they go towards it. Fast forward a few years and they find themselves drunk and drugged on a porn set, as they re-live the same abuse they experienced growing up. Ex-porn performer, Shelley Lubben, has documented how hundreds of 'porn performers' that she knows of, committed suicide.
Free Speech or Sex Slavery?
Former Senior Advisor on Trafficking for the Office for Democracy and Global Affairs US State Department, Laura J. Lederer, summarised the link between porn, prostitution and trafficking in the following four points:
1. Some types of pornography actually use trafficked victims, some of which were recruited via fake job advertisements.
2. Some traffickers film acts that their victims are forced to perform.
3. Pornography is used in sex trafficking and the sex industry to train women and children what to do.
4. Pornography creates and provides rationalisations for exploiters as to how and why their sexually exploitive behaviours are acceptable.
If you view or buy porn, you are helping to support and fund modern-day slavery (human trafficking is slavery)!
How to Block Porn on Your Internet-Enabled Device (Phone, Tablet, Laptop etc.)
A free app that you can download to block and filter all pornographic websites, is Safe Surfer. Other more sophisticated apps are available for a monthly fee that can enable you, as a parent, to monitor your children’s online activity and even, for example, to block social media websites at certain times of the day, or as much as necessary.
Those in South Africa, can visit and contact www.imemovement.co.za. If you want an internet accountability service (which tracks websites visited and sends these to an accountability partner), visit www.covenanteyes.com for these and other helpful resources. Also, see www.purehope.net for articles and resources on cultivating a pure lifestyle for and with your family.
Do You Need a New Heart?
Jesus said, "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Matthew 5:28. The breaking of God’s Law is serious. God says that murderers, thieves, liars and idolaters deserve to spend eternity in hell (Revelation 21:8).
Because we have sinned, we deserve the wrath of God. But God in His mercy has made a way of escape. He sent His Son Jesus Christ to live a perfect life and die as a substitute for sinners like you and me! Jesus endured the punishment we deserve on the Cross. Three days later, He rose from the dead, proving He has authority to make Atonement for your sin. Repent (turn from your sins) and trust in the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ as your hope. All who do so will live forever! God will grant you a new heart, with new desires to follow, honour and obey Him.
“Jesus said: 'Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.' They answered Him, 'We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?' Jesus replied, 'Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.'” John 8:32-36
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.” Philippians 4:8
Become a Fighter!
Addicted? Need help? Call STOP: 081-720-7181, Doctors for Life: 032-481-5550.
View the DVD, Digital Cocaine, or read the book, available for purchase from www.ChristianLibertyBooks.co.za.
For youth resources, including articles and videos, you can share on social media, visit www.FightTheNewDrug.org. Invite Africa Christian Action to give a Fight the New Drug presentation at your school assembly or youth group.
Participate in our Women’s Day Outreaches
On Monday, 10 August 2020, Women’s Day, Africa Christian Action will be setting up literature tables in different shopping malls in the Cape Town area. We will be offering free literature from our tables to all interested people, primarily focusing on informing and motivating people to make a difference in stopping human trafficking.
Cape Town: Volunteers Needed!
Contact us if you would like to get involved in any of the planned outreaches in various shopping malls. If possible, join us for a morning, or afternoon shift. The morning shift starts at 9:00 am. The afternoon shift starts at 12:00 noon. We will slot you in at a time that is convenient for you. This is a great opportunity for one-on-one Evangelism, discussions and counselling.
To download Stop the Traffick leaflet in tract form, in colour, click here, in black and white, click here.
Click here to view and share our video: Stop Human Trafficking.
Africa Christian Action
PO Box 23632
Claremont 7735
Cape Town South Africa
Tel: 021-689 4480
info@christianaction.org.za
www.christianaction.org.za
www.livingstonefellowship.co.za
See also:
Trade of Innocents DVD (available from www.ChristianLibertyBooks.co.za)
The Christian Liberation of Women tract
Exposing and Opposing Slavery Today video
Women’s Day Awareness Campaigns Against Human Trafficking
Slavery Today – Setting the Captives Free
