Pornography destroys people

That indeed seems like an unnecessary reminder. But with the present developments, validated by many recent studies and even by random observations, this reminder again has become very relevant and urgent.

Fact is together with the many advantages that the progress of technology has brought about, serious dangers and threats to the moral and spiritual lives of people have also multiplied.

A clear case in point is the Internet pornography. Some studies indicate more and more teeners and even young children, often without parental supervision, are into it.

American observers are establishing a link between this fact and the other fact that in the US alone, nearly 900,000 teen-age girls become pregnant each year.

Also, the rate of sexually transmitted diseases is higher now among teen-agers than among adults.

There are other consequences that researchers are trying to attribute to pornography.

These consequences include susceptibility to depression and suicide as well as to alcohol, marijuana and drugs.

In Australia, a hospital reports that the number of children engaged in sexually abusive behavior has increased dramatically, from 3 cases per year in the mid-90s to 28 in 2000 and to more than 70 in 2003.

In Canada, the police uncovered cases of sexual assault done by children on other children. Almost all the children involved were under 12. The aggressors said they were imitating what they saw in pornographic channels and the Internet.

A study has made the conclusion that "there is a modest to strong correlation between exposure to pornography and deviant activity by individuals."

Several studies have established the correlation between pornography and the following six trends:

- Increased marital distress, and risk of separation and divorce;
- Decreased marital intimacy and sexual satisfaction;
- Infidelity;
- Increased appetite for more graphic types of pornography and sexual activity associated with abusive, illegal or unsafe practice;
- Devaluation of monogamy, marriage and child-rearing;
- An increasing number of people struggling with compulsive and
addictive sexual behavior.

In the US, a meeting of lawyers has also pointed to pornography as a prominent culprit in the cases of family violence and divorce.

All these should alert us to be ever vigilant to the presence and the spread of pornography in our society. We should find effective ways in regulating the Internet cafes where pornography is readily available even to little children.

More than this, we should always promote and construct a culture of chastity and modesty, keeping in mind that these virtues are first of all God's gifts that need to be asked for with humility. To pursue them on our own, independently of God, is doomed to failure.

We have to understand that chastity is an affirmation of love, not a list of prohibitions, and its source and goal, its pattern and energy can only be derived from our intimate relationship with God. We would be fooling ourselves if we think otherwise.