Archives for October 2010

The Propaganda behind Pornography

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Oct 22 2
The propaganda behind the porn industry

Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position.  Some propaganda is obvious such as those used in Nazi Germany to bring Hitler from a political nobody to ruler of the country.  Other propaganda is hidden in plain sight barely noticed for what it is while it works to change the opinions of the population.  Perhaps all propaganda is barely noticeable until looking back and marking the change of opinion and the agents used to make it happen.  That is a whole other discussion, but now we will explore propaganda related to sexual issues.

Today, propaganda is hard at work to change the minds of the masses on the issues of homosexuality and pornography.  Take some time to be an active observer of the messages that are being sent about homosexuality for instance.  News stories are hammering away at the hypothesis that homosexuality is a tendency some folks are born with.  They have no choice so who are you to say it is wrong.  Television shows are featuring gay couples and characters as part of sitcoms.  Weaving homosexuals into TV programs makes them appear more mainstream and ‘normal’.  These shows evoke sympathy and acceptance of this lifestyle choice.

Propaganda to increase acceptance of pornography is active today.  How often do you hear references to internet pornography being dropped as punch line on a sitcom?  I have heard radio talk show hosts talk about internet pornography and how often they use it.  Do you think that articles about first amendment rights and spousal usage of pornography as healthy are propaganda?  There is still a stigma attached to pornography, but I see it slowly being eroded by the propaganda out there.

Whether you agree with me or not regarding propaganda being used to change minds about homosexuality and pornography, can you at least see the general decline or abandonment of values that once ruled?  There has been a breaking away from our moral bedrocks to become more ‘inclusive’ and more ‘tolerant’.  Those who take a stand against an activity that violates their moral and religious beliefs are labeled as haters and intolerant.  This whole issue is best saved for another article.

Breaking from our moral and religious beliefs and accepting the culture’s views does not happen over night.  Little by little our convictions are eroded by the constant propaganda all around us.  Allowing a steady flow of just a small bit of propaganda to our unconscious or unaware minds will plant seeds of doubt and eventually change us.  When we are exposed to something radically different from our convictions continually over time, our convictions can change and we could find ourselves doing and believing something that once was inconceivable.

We must actively look for these sources of propaganda and counteract them personally.  When we see a TV show with gay characters, we should avoid watching it.  If we hear a radio show talking about their favorite pornography websites, we need to change the station.  Don’t allow propaganda to influence your mind.

What do you think?  Is propaganda busily at work to change our minds and attitudes?

Escaping pain through porn

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Oct 2 0
using porn to escape reality

Escaping Pain Through Porn

Numbing the pain using porn as a drug.

I was just reminded this past weekend why some people turn to drugs, alcohol and pornography – to escape pain.  As humans we do everything we can to avoid pain.  It’s one of our instincts.

If we have a headache, we take aspirin or Tylenol.  If we are suffering with a cold we take various cold medicines.  When something inflicts pain we flinch and pull away.  How about when situations from the past or our current life cause pain?  Don’t we want to avoid that emotional or relational pain as well?

Avoiding emotional and relational pain from the past or in our current life is an instinct.  What we do to avoid this pain and cope with it is where we can get into trouble.  Sometimes these situations we are trying to cope with are out of our control and we don’t know how to process them or what to do.

Instead of dealing with the problems we tend to want to forget about them and avoid them.  Using pornography provides this escape and makes us feel good.  We tend to go from feeling pain, to avoiding pain to seeking pleasure.

Indulging in these pleasures makes the pain go away temporarily, and really compounds the pain in the end.  You know the list of consequences that go along with using pornography, but we don’t think of that when we are indulging.  It feels good so we just do it and have to keep doing it to maintain the pleasure and avoid the pain.  Pretty soon we have an addiction.

Breaking these addictions is necessary, but don’t forget about the underlying pain that you were avoiding in the first place.  Dealing with that pain is essential to staying addiction free.  If you don’t deal with the pain, you will fall right back into your addiction.

Seek professional help to pinpoint those sources of pain in your life.  They will help you clarify what is causing your pain and they will walk you through dealing with them instead of avoidance.

There is a saying “The only way out is through”.  Working your way out of addiction and pain will be tough, but it is necessary to achieve the freedom you want.  Freedom from addiction.  Freedom from trauma in the past.  Freedom from current life situations.