Pornography as heroin

By: American Decency Staff

By Chris Johnson Like it or not, pornography is a part of today's American culture. What a few decades ago would have been purchased in shady parts of town by men with their collars turned up is now taught in Advertising 101. After all, "sex sells." As some of the statistics below show, sex sells a lot. This is a huge problem for our nation and our society. As Dr. Donald Hilton explains, pornography is more than just a bad habit, it is an addiction which can be as hard to shake as heroin. "Human sexual climax utilizes the same reward pathways as those mobilized during a heroin rush. If we fail to understand the implications of pornography's ability to re-program the brain structurally, neurochemically, and metabolically, we doom ourselves to continue to fail in treating this formidable disease." The statistics below show exactly how widespread this "disease" is. 1. 12% of the websites on the internet are pornographic. 2. Every second, $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography. 3. Every second, 28,258 internet users are viewing porn. 4. 40 million Americans are regular visitors to porn sites. 5. In the US, internet porn pulls in $2.84 billion per year. The entire worldwide industry is $4.9 billion. 6. 2.5 billion emails per day are pornographic. 7. 25% of all search engine requests are pornographic related. That's 68 million per day. 8. 35% of all internet downloads are pornographic. 9. Top pornographic search terms (in millions): sex -75%, adult dating – 30%, porn – 23% 10. Utah has the highest online porn subscription rate per thousand home broadband users: 5.47 11. 34% of internet users have experienced unwanted exposure to porn, either through pop-up ads, misdirected links, or emails. 12.There are 116,00 searches for "child pornography" each day. 13. The average age at which a child first sees porn is 11. 14. 20% of men admit to watching porn online at work. 13% of women do. 15. The least popular day of the year for viewing pornography is Thanksgiving. The most popular day of the week for viewing porn is Sunday. 16. According to comScore Media Metrix, there were 63.4 million unique visitors to adult websites in December of 2005, reaching 37.2% of the Internet audience. 17. According to the Florida Family Association, PornCrawler, their specialized software program, identified 20 U.S. companies that accounted for more than 70 percent of 297 million porn links on the Internet. 18. By the end of 2004, there were 420 million pages of pornography, and it is believed that the majority of these websites are owned by less than 50 companies (LaRue, Jan. "Obscenity and the First Amendment." Summit on Pornography. Rayburn House Office Building. Room 2322. May 19, 2005). 19. The Internet pornography industry generates $12 billion dollars in annual revenue, larger than the combined annual revenues of ABC, NBC, and CBS (Family Safe Media, January 10, 2006, http://www.familysafemedia.com/pornography_statistics.html ). 20. The largest group of viewers of Internet porn is children between ages 12 and 17 (Family Safe Media, December 15, 2005, http://www.familysafemedia.com/pornography_statistics.html ). 1- 20, via pinkcross.com 21. 70% of 18 to 24 year old men visit pornographic sites in a typical month. 66% of men in their 20s and 30s also report being regular users of pornography. 22. 40% of adults surveyed believe that pornography harms relationships between men and women. 23. According to 2004 IFR research, U.S. porn revenue exceeds the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC (6.2 billion). Porn revenue is larger than all combined revenues of all professional football, baseball and basketball franchises. The pornography industry, according to conservative estimates, brings in $57 billion per year, of which the United States is responsible for $12 billion. 24. One out of every six women grapples with addiction to pornography. 21-24, via purehope.net This is clearly a HUGE issue that does not get enough attention, but will inevitably have devastating consequences as the "porn generation" begins to drive society. The church, both as a whole and as the individuals who make it up, are the only defense against this wave of perversion. We have to pray that God would make us steadfast, that He would touch the hearts of His people, and that we could be the salt and light to our troubled nation. ========================================================== Your support is important to our ability to make a difference. Donate online at: https://secure4.afo.net/ada/donate.php American Decency Association is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. American Decency Association Bill Johnson, President P.O. Box 202 Fremont, MI 49412 ph: 231-924-4050 www.americandecency.org http://www.twitter.com/billwjohnson

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