Posted on 10/23/2010 8:32:58 PM PDT by Salvation
There's a great piece in the National Catholic Register on the fight against pornography. The story focuses on Matthew Fradd. Fradd himself was addicted to porn before being freed from his addiction by the grace of God. He is now helping others. . .
OTTAWA, Ontario After successfully battling an addiction to pornography, Matthew Fradd has dedicated himself to helping others.
Porn is not just naughty its evil, said Fradd, a 27-year-old Australian living in Ottawa, Ontario. It emasculates men, degrades women and destroys marriages.
Fradd has begun his second year operating his anti-pornography website, ThePornEffect.com . He launched it on Aug. 14, 2009, on the feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe, patron of addicts, using $12,000 in seed money donated to him by a priest-friend.
Fradds is a lonely voice going against the culture on the issue, especially considering that nearly 25 million websites (12% of all websites) and 25% of all daily search-engine requests are pornography-related.
In addition, a surprising number of women are regular viewers of pornography. A third of those Americans regularly visiting porn websites are women.
A variety of polls have revealed that those active in Christian churches have difficulties with porn. Promise Keepers, one of the largest Christian mens conferences in the United States, asked men at their 2008 conferences in anonymous polls if they had viewed porn in the last week; 53% of the nearly 10,000 who responded admitted that they had.
Pornography is hard on marriages, too. In a 2002 survey of 350 members of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, an association of divorce attorneys, for example, 56% said obsessive interest in pornographic sites was a factor leading to marital breakups.
Fradds site features information about how pornography affects men, women and marriages, inspirational stories of individuals who have become porn-free, information on how to beat porn addictions, videos, and opportunities to offer support to those who want to be free of porn. Fradd launched the site, he explained, because while there are millions of websites that feature pornography, theres not a lot out there for men and women who are struggling to be free from porn.
Hooked at 8
Fradd, who is from southern Australia, got hooked on pornography at the age of 8 when he found some in his grandfathers shed. By age 12, he was stealing porn from neighborhood stores, and in his teen years, he had acquired a vast collection.
No one had to tell me it was a bad thing, he said. I knew it was shameful. I was hoping Id grow out of it.
What a story and what a minisitry he has undertaken! God bless him!
I have no idea about this at all, but it has been shared with me that this is one of the things that repeated might get mentioned in Confession.
Definitely and addiction.
Any thoughts out there?
I’m wondering if the use of pornography is more addictive and widespread that we ever imagined.
You didn't list this as a Caucus, but as it's a plauge to all mankind, may I as a Mormon, say I completely agree.
If I may add, Elder Jeffery R. Holland, LDS apostle, in an address earlier this year on the subject.
“Place No More for the Enemy of My Soul”
Placemark.
It most likely is. I have had more than a few bouts myself.
I’m fairly certain that you can function perfectly normal with the occasional viewing of such matters. The addiction issues aside considering if you become addicted could be an issue. Other issues of course are unrealistic expectations during intercourse and of course the cast of jersey shore...
but i did hear that the most porn is bought in the bible belt...don’t know how accurate that is
Oh, that’s a strange place for the most porn to be viewed.
Can one have a holiness of mind focused on God and eternal life when addidcted to anything?
I heard it on Colin Cowherd’s show. But then again i’m fairly certain people don’t really buy porn anymore they just download it from the internet.
It sounds like its probably and old outdated quote or something with flimsy evidence to support it but when said its meant to have the effect of hypocricy...i’ll check the authenticity of the quote
Porn is quite addictive. Breaking away from that addiction is as hard as any hard drug addiction. It can consume someone’s time at the rate of many hours a day, weekends on end. Just like any drug, the person gets desensitized to the images with time, and needs to go to harder and harder porn. However, unlike hard drugs, it is the most under-report of all addictions. Yet, I suspect that it affects more people than all other addictions combined.
Non-labeled threads are open threads.
**it is the most under-report of all addictions. Yet, I suspect that it affects more people than all other addictions combined.**
This is exactly why I posted the thread.
Internet pornography sells at $3,000 per second. That is over $4,000,000,000 per year. That is more than what the NFL, NBA, MLB and the NHL earn combined in a year.
Good for him.
Porn is extremely addicting and extremely hard to break because you are exposed to it everywhere and are only a click away online.
/s
that’s an incredible amount of money.
I don’t want to sound stupid here but what did men do before porn? Is the point that they should be using their imagination rather than actual images of women?
//Can one have a holiness of mind focused on God and eternal life when addidcted to anything//
The Bible says no and I believe it. I am trying to remember the passage but it seems to enrage gays who are in the church. To do so is to make that thing the persons god or golden calf as it were.
Something about the idolater the drunkard the effeminate shall not pass through the gates of heaven.
Good point. Or better yet, paying attention to their wives.
Who knows? Even primitive societies have pornographic images. It is about as old as civilisation itself.
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