Hijacking the Brain — How Pornography Works

Posted by Randy in Culture War on February 3rd, 2010 | Comments

“The simplest explanation for why men view pornography (or solicit prostitutes) is that they are driven to seek out sexual intimacy,” he explains. The urge for sexual intimacy is God-given and essential to the male, he acknowledges, but it is easily misdirected. Men are tempted to seek “a shortcut to sexual pleasure via pornography” and now find this shortcut easily accessed.

In a fallen world, pornography becomes more than a distraction and a distortion of God’s intention for human sexuality. It comes as an addictive poison…

And then, enough is never enough. “If I take the same dose of a drug over and over and my body begins to tolerate it, I will need to take a higher dose of the drug in order for it to have the same effect that it did with a lower dose the first time,” Struthers reminds us. So, the experience of viewing pornography and acting out on it creates a demand in the brain for more and more, just to achieve the same level of pleasure in the brain.

Patrick Eklektos

Sarah B. I am not sure what you are saying... but I do know you are comparing intimacy within holy matrimony to porn. Which is quite simply not the case. Now, to be fair, I don't know if you are a married woman... I am a man as yet unwed, thusly I cannot argue overmuch from experience within the laurels of matrimonial vows. However, as a student of the Word of the Lord and as one who has been set free from the bondage of this slavery into the freedom of the slavery of Christ, I shall thereto establish myself as an authority.
Quite simply, we will have to note that the things of this world, especially sin have a special luster about them and have also an addictive air. Infact, I think the term addiction is too trite for this issue. Quite simply, porn is a bondage, a slavery, a dungeon inescapable. I am afraid that I do not believe that this sin cannot be so simply categorized. We are infact beings made for such intimacy, but Porn is so much more than the bestial desire to have that natural desire fulfilled (this seems to me a simplistic evolutionary way to look at this sin or any sin); rather, if we probe the deep recesses of the hearts and minds of the men who are so "addicted" we will find what Porn is. It is a couple of things, 1.) yes, it is the satisfaction of one's physical desires, which Mohler covered well and on which I shan't comment further, 2.) it is also a fantasy (unreal and enjoyed for that reason), 3.) and lastly it is forbidden.
On the point that it is a fantasy, men are seeking what is not real and for that it is desirable. Porn is attractive and binding thusly as it is a level of perfection, they long for it. Let me use the example of a child at the supper table. If given to his own devices, he would eat only the "good parts" and pick out all the vegetables. Now, if this same child were as unrestrained as modern men, he would fill his plate to overflowing with sugar, candy, and all that appeals to his flesh at the moment. Do any of you recall Easter candy? Was one piece ever enough? This "Fantasy" with only its "sweet" parts is much more desirable to a soul that lusts after the wicked desires of its own folly.
And the point stated lastly can be defined in the garden. Eve saw that the forbidden fruit was good to look on. Our wicked hearts want what is not ours to have; this is, to its core, lust. It comes back to the proverb that the "grass is greener on the other side." However it becomes more powerful in its allure, its bondage, and its "addiction" with that our hearts know it is wrong (for God's Laws are written on our hearts). And in our wickedness, we go after that which is not ours to have. And just as all the treasures of this world turn to dust, so Porn does when once we think we have grasped it. this leaves our carnal hearts still wanting thus leading to more and more sin, never seeming to reach a limit to the depravity of their soul.
This SallyB, is nothing like marriage. In a truly sanctified and God honouring marriage, the Man is not the same, the desires are not the same, the object is not the same. There is a marked difference. Hence the reason you will see marriages bound by this sin are under such strain. And for them as who's hearts are pierced by these words and who are seeking an escape, you can find none but in Christ Jesus. You must turn and repent of your sin and trust Him to the work of Sanctification. The matter of freedom from this bondage is simple, you must love Christ more. And since porn consumes all of you, you must love and serve Christ with every fiber of your being. John 8:31&32; ALL of Romans 6; Galatians 5:1

Soli Deo Gloria

Jerimiah1

I am not going to say much other than a few thing's. I have been blessed to be married for 15 year's. I think the struggle about sex in my marriage is sometimes more now than it ever has been. The Lord is the wisest being in the whole universe. He uses these thing's for His glory. He allow's these thing's to happen to test us to see if we stand or fail. They reveal our selfishness even though we know Him. But these guy's here need to read 1st Thess.4 1-8 talk's about controling your own vessel in sanctification and honor not in the passion of lust like the heathen who do not know God. He who reject's this command does not reject man but God, Who give's us His Holy Spirit.

SallyB

So how is the need for "a higher dose in order to have the same effect" different for porn than it is for marital sex? Do those who have sex with their spouse need "higher doses" to gain the same effect? Is that what leads to extra-marital affairs? I don't think so.

The same is true with porn. For some, the "higher dose" is needed, over time. But certainly not for all.