“This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
“Remember, all I’m offering is the truth, nothing more.” The Matrix, 1999
Morpheus offers Neo the truth. It’s a key scene in the movie, a crucial moment. Do we want to know the truth–or would we rather just go on believing “whatever you want to believe”?
Recent, secular recognition that pornography is bad for us is evidence that some Americans see the truth about the harm porn causes. But does that mean we will act on this truth–or will we choose to look away?
The Kansas City Royals are trying to discourage porn usage among the team members. A recent seminar for players featured speakers from a “non-religious” organization called “Fight the New Drug,” a group that invites participants to make an “informed decision regarding pornography by raising awareness of its harmful effects using only science, facts, and personal accounts.”
They present porn as a drug–harmful, addictive, life-changing–and never for the better.
Royals’ General Manager Dayton Moore explains the organization’s interest in the subject: “We talk about pornography, and the effects of what that does to the minds of players and the distractions, and how that leads to abuse of—domestic abuse—to abuse of women.”
The Royals have legitimate concerns about porn distracting players enough to lower their game statistics, and prompting unsavory off-the-field misdeeds–public relations nightmares.
Apparently, the Royals’ owners think being anti-porn is good for the business of baseball.
Perhaps this awakening (I list other examples below) will prompt an acknowledgment that we are not socializing children to become adults who can “maintain intimate relationships” and avoid “deviant sexual behavior,” a category of actions that has become smaller as time passes.
Changing the way we teach children to socialize requires a turnaround in thinking. It requires the definition of “deviant behavior” to expand rather than contract. It requires us to restrain our sexual choices. And it requires parents to limit access to the dark recesses of the internet that are too easily accessible to children and teens.
But that’s not the direction we’ve been moving in for decades.
We’ve told kids to follow their inclinations. We’ve promoted the idea that anyone is entitled to have whatever kind of sex they desire, and at the frequency they desire. And we’ve let technology control us more than we control our use of it.
In the process, we’ve ignored how our souls and brains are wired. Our souls desire to receive and express love and respect. The essence of being human. Whether we can value ourselves and others in those ways depends on how our brains perceive others.
Brain scans show that a man merely looking at a woman in a bikini sees her as an object–no longer as a person:
“Researchers used brain scans to show that when straight men looked at pictures of women in bikinis, areas of the brain that normally light up in anticipation of using tools, like spanners and screwdrivers, were activated.
“Scans of some of the men found that a part of the brain associated with empathy for other people’s emotions and wishes shut down after looking at the pictures.”
That’s what happens to a brain just from looking at women in bikinis. Imagine what happens when men or women, boys or girls, see people completely undressed and engaging in sex acts–nothing evoking love and respect–only that which objectifies the other person.
But society isn’t telling women to be on guard against this male perception. The drumbeat message encouraging people to satisfy themselves plays on. And porn is the pill that solidifies selfishness over regard for others.
Past generations of America washed the blue pill down with the waters of the Sexual Revolution. Yet, the red pill is ever before us. And each new generation gets to choose.
Ross Douthat: We can deal with “our widespread isolation and unhappiness and sterility . . . by reviving or adapting older ideas about the virtues of monogamy and chastity and permanence and the special respect owed to the celibate.”
Secular seminar leaders can tell us science and their personal experiences, but it is faith in Christ that shows us this wiring of our souls that makes us completely human. Christ calls us to love and respect for our sacred selves and sacred others.
Will today’s children have the understanding they need to make the right choice? Or will they swallow the blue pill and live lives of false belief, never embracing the truth?
The Church is Morpheus, and all we offer is the truth.
The truth they will miss in making the wrong choice is the essence of what it means to be human.
And in losing that, they will have lost all.
More: The Florida State House recently passed a resolution asserting that pornography is a health risk. Florida’s Senate will soon consider similar legislation. The Utah Legislature also passed similar legislation in 2016.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
I did not know about the Royals and their decision toward anti-porn. Very interesting.
I hadn’t known either. I hope the players accept the message well. Thanks and God bless!
Nancy, I love this part: “Yet, the red pill is ever before us. And each new generation gets to choose.” Sometimes it feels as if the choice has been made and there’s no going back. You remind me that there is hope in making our own choices. And as more and more make those choices, society changes.
Thank for commenting, Annie! God bless!
Nancy, such a powerful and eye-opening post. And this, “Changing the way we teach children to socialize requires a turnaround in thinking. It requires the definition of ‘deviant behavior’ to expand rather than contract. It requires us to restrain our sexual choices. And it requires parents to limit access to the dark recesses of the internet that are too easily accessible to children and teens.” Amen!
Thank you for commenting, Karen. God bless!
Good post above.
As John Stuart Mill (19th century British philosopher and social critic) opined, once a practice becomes engrained in the society, it is almost impossible to root it out. This, sadly, is true for abortion, and for porn. Porn and sexual deviance have been “normalized” in the sense that we cannot criticize these or condemn these. The deviants have “rights” after all. Christians need to work at reframing the debate.
It’s true that most cultures don’t turn on their own. But one aspect of Ronald Reagan’s success I’ve been considering lately is his optimism. When almost no one else thought it was possible, he knew the USSR was ripe to fall.
We have to also remember the Great Awakening and the Second Great Awakening. If we lose hope completely, we give up.
We can’t give up. God bless and thanks for commenting!
Wow, learned something new today especially about the Royals.
Me too, Yvonne! It’s a great perk from looking for topics–research and reading tell you all kinds of great information! God bless! And thanks for commenting!
Very interesting. I never knew this fact that you quote:
“Brain scans show that a man merely looking at a woman in a bikini sees her as an object–no longer as a person: “Researchers used brain scans to show that when straight men looked at pictures of women in bikinis, areas of the brain that normally light up in anticipation of using tools, like spanners and screwdrivers, were activated.”
This is a tough topic to write about, but a good one to share. It’s sad what children are being exposed to and even taught about sex. Sex, the act designed by God, was intended for beauty and love, but our culture has made it evil and selfish. In order for children to not be influenced by the culture, it takes intentional parents who protect and pray for their kids; and take the time to regularly inform them of the truth.
Informative blog post, Nancy!
Thank you, Marcie. Intentional parenting! Absolutely! God bless and thanks for commenting!
BIG fish here Nancy
Our enemy has many irons in the fire to dismantle the family unit and society as a whole and this one is right up there on the list.
Desensitizing by popularity is cunning and this subject is well established through social media and the popular people. Even just yesterday I was watching (friends), your American sitcom, and it was promoted as ” laughter and harmless fun ” but the seriousness of this and many other subjects are being dismissed as insignificant pastimes.
Everything bad for us is systematically being woven into the fabric of life today, even the laws that protect them are deliberately putting us in harm’s way.
You are a strong advocate for families in fairness and choice Nancy.
Great post, keep pulling the veils back people are listening.
Great post Nancy. I’m glad you commented on mine because it led me here! Sexual addiction and pornography is my area of ministry and everything you said here is spot on. I’m going to give you a flow a d hopefully you can flow back and we can encourage eachother! I’m looking forward to it.
Blessings!
Great to hear from you, Paul. It’s a bigger problem than we realize today. God bless! Thanks for participating!
Thank you for addressing these difficult topics. We may not be able to change everything all at once, but using our voices to speak truth to those who will hear us is so important!
That’s right, Emily. God builds His kingdom one heart at a time. God bless! Thanks for reading!
Such an intricate topic here. So many Christians avoid this because it’s taboo, and we feel like “this isn’t a problem” in Christian communities when it affects Christians and non-Christians alike as indicated by the Royals. Thanks for allowing God to use you to really unpack such a life-affecting topic.
Nearly 80 percent of American men 18 to 30 watch porn at least once a month. That is scary. The problem is much bigger than we imagine. And the church is not immune. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Dear Nancy!
Thank you for sharing this with us. Matrix, great movie. This is an important turnaround in our thinking. I agree with you when you write that we have forgotten how our souls and brains are wired.
God bless!
Edna Davidsen
Thanks for reading and commenting, Edna! God bless!
An important truth, Nancy. And yet so strangely opposed by contemporary culture, despite its undeniable ties to abuse and degradation.
Thanks for commenting, Mitch. Undeniable. absolutely. God bless!