Out with the “Grey”, In with the “Old”

Undoubtedly, you’ve heard of the self-proclaimed “worldwide phenomenon”, “Fifty Shades of Grey.”  Whether it is in reference to the book series, various off-shoot parodies, re-enactments, productions, products, and so on, or the upcoming film, you’ve heard it.  I wonder, though, how many people actually know what all the hype is about.  If you’re not really up on the details, the facts will likely shock you.

Fifty Shades is, in a brief description, rape porn and BDSM porn.  BDSM, for those who may not know, is an acronym for Bondage, Discipline, Sadism, and Masochism.  This is also known by such names as slave porn, torture porn, domination porn, and so on.  [Any male believing that he is in control of reality, making a good decision, or ‘treating a woman right’ by these sorts of acts is greatly misled.]  Why then, is this series of books and now the upcoming movie (not to mention all of the “adult novelties” for sale based on the books) so popular, especially among women???  It boggles the mind, and clearly shows the broken nature of our world.  Folks are looking for authentic love, yet receiving a drastic counterfeit.

Does this definition sound like a free, total, faithful, fruitful gift of self to another, or something opposite?

I think it’s important to point out that “50” depicts violent porn as glamorous – a lie that most pornographers want the consumer to believe.  It’s ultimately the consumption of the lie of “Cultural Manliness” by women, believing that males like character Christian Grey are what they should be looking for in a man. I assure you, he is not.  “50” wants you to believe that what’s happening in the story (stalking, dominance, rape, and various other forms of dangerous and degrading sad0-masochistic sex) is normal, acceptable, and even beneficial to relationships.  How people believe these lies are beyond me, but obviously they do.

On February 14th, the Feast of St. Valentine, the movie form of “50” will be released in all markets.  I highly encourage all of my readers and supporters to 1. boycott the film and 2. have an open and concerned conversation with others in your life who may go to the film.  Support of this movie is in direct conflict with the Gospel Message.  Exploitation of individuals, especially women, and the degradation of human sexuality is absolutely sinful and should be avoided at all costs.  If you’re looking for an alternative, and want to support mainstream films that uphold human dignity and wholesome entertainment, please consider attending “Old Fashioned – the Movie” instead, also opening in theaters on February 14th.

I was recently invited to privately screen the film, and overall, I enjoyed it.  I made a date night out of the event with my wife, getting some of her favorite movie-foods, and creating a little “home theater” for us.  The film is a depiction of a man who, after turning away from a life of debauchery and exploitation, has chosen to have standards for himself and for any potential mate moving forward, for the goodness of his and her soul.  He is seen by other characters in the film as being “stuffy”, “prudish”, and, well… “old fashioned” (hence, the name of the film.)  I was impressed enough to encourage you to see it especially as an alternative against “50”.  Here’s the trailer:

Additionally, there is a responsibility here, for men to step to the plate and protect humanity.  Personally, should our local community-run theater choose to show this film, which I have already formally requested that they not do, I will likely be forced to take further action.  Let us pray that this does not happen.

For me and mine, we say “Out with the ‘Grey’, and In with the ‘Old’.”

TrueMan up!

If you or someone you know is struggling with an addiction to porn, download my “5 Step Guide to Overcoming an Addiction to Pornography & Masturbation” for free.

A Strong Link

As I stated in yesterday’s post, “Why Fight Porn”, I’m going to draw the correlation between pornography and many other social justice issues today.  I stated: “Tomorrow, I will dive into the reality of the effects of pornography, as well as the link pornography has to Life issues and social justice issues (such as divorce, rape, incest, abuse of women, domestic violence, etc.) and will attempt to create for you a strong correlation between these links.  The link between pornography (sexual hedonism and sexual utilitarianism) and many other serious issues is strong!”

Here goes:

People often believe that the sexual revolution of the 60’s is responsible for the state of where our culture is in regards to sexuality.  Although it played (and continues to play) a significant role, it had to start somewhere, right?  Let’s take a look at it.  In the 1930’s, a scientist by the name of Alfred Kinsey performed some “experiments” based on some absolutely atrocious and despicable sexual “experiments”, as he called them.  [I have written a small amount about Kinsey before, and may write more in the future.]  The important piece here is the scope of influence that Kinsey, and his works, had on individuals.  Many people, even Catholics, were influenced by his writings, coming to believe that sex was created for nothing more than the primal urge.  Kinsey believed that we all were born with a natural inclination to sex and that to suppress our natural inclinations and primal desires was to suppress nature and therefore not act in accordance with nature and science.  Why is this important?  Simply, Hugh Hefner.

While a student in college, Hugh Hefner, the infamous creator of the pornography industry, read Kinsey’s famous book, “Sexual Behavior in the Human Male”, printed in 1948.  This book led Hefner to write his thesis on the topic and later, he realized the influence of Kinsey on his decision, in 1953, to create Playboy.  Playboy was the start of the acceptance of soft-core pornography in our culture.  Up to this point in history, sexual hedonism and pornography was a black market type industry.  It was a very, very small industry (to use the word lightly) and a person had to work hard to search it out.  A socially respectable woman would never use pornography.  No socially respectable man would use pornography.  It was disgraceful.  With Playboy, and subsequent “publications” however, pornography became more mainstream and more acceptable.  Since the advent of Playboy, the rise of pornographic materials has spread like wild fire.  As we all know, with the invention of the internet, pornography has spread even more, and into almost every home in the US.  (This doesn’t even take into consideration the magazines/print porn, radio porn, tv porn, cell phone porn, hand-held gaming unit porn and so on.)

From the time of Kinsey, there is a spike in the following categories: divorce, rape, incest, child abuse, drug use, suicide (teen suicide, specifically), domestic violence, physical abuse, child abduction, use in and production of contraceptives, and most notably abortion.  Now, how can this be?  Follow me, I hope it makes perfect sense to you so that you can begin to fight for the truth.

With the “new” mindset, in the 50’s, that sex is utilitarian (merely for use) and hedonistic (pleasure for self), society began to let their guard down morally.  What was once morally reprehensible was now becoming accepted in certain circles, communities and cities.  As people began to explore sexually, marriages and families specifically began to suffer dramatically.  Now, because people are more “open” when it comes to sex, they allow more.  They experiment with more.  They accept more.  (The use of drugs becomes more prevalent during this time, too.)  So a man wouldn’t necessarily have to care about a relationship or responsibility with a woman, he could merely get his sexual pleasure taken care of and move on.  With this lack of responsibility sexually came the desire for contraception.  “If I’m going to sleep with anyone I want, I shouldn’t have to worry about the consequences of a pregnancy.  After all, I’m not in this for a child, or for love, or for life, I’m merely in it for sexual pleasure.”

So, as the desire for contraceptions increased, so too did the desire for abortions.  “Why should I have to keep this baby?  I wasn’t having sex to get pregnant, only for the pleasure.”  Now, as people are more open sexually, less responsible sexually, open to pornography use in the home and in their bedrooms, more willing to kill their unwanted children, and so forth, the family unit suffers big time.  Married couples then lost the responsibility towards one another and divorce increased.

Because of the use of pornography, which experts will tell you, becomes more and more perverted over time, men and women desire different things sexually.  When a man gets turned down by a woman, why shouldn’t he resort to beating her, raping her or other?  Why shouldn’t he go after “easy prey” and abuse children?  Why shouldn’t a number of other things just “naturally” (as Kinsey suggested) just happen and be “normal”?  Obviously, as you read this, if you’re a reasonable and logical human being, you can see the problems here.  It started with sexual disintegration and continues today with more problems than ever.

In review:

• sex was reduced to a primal urge
• pornography came on the scene
• morally reprehensible sexual activity and behavior became accepted
• sex became a recreation
• lack of sexual responsibility entered in
• because people didn’t want responsibility, contraceptives became mainstream
• contraceptives don’t work 100% so abortion was legalized and increased dramatically
• couples are struggling for purpose and divorce increased
• anger becomes mainstream and leads to abuse of all kinds
• people struggle in life when they don’t know their purpose, so they commit suicide
• on and on and on

As you can probably imagine, I could continue on with this list for a long time.  This doesn’t even begin to speak to the emotional or psychological effects on people, nor their relationship with God, nor the effect this entire topic has on the Church.  It’s really despicable what came about from the advent of pornography.  It’s not to say that these things may not have come about without pornography, but we’ll never know that.  Bottom line – we must eradicate pornography!

TrueMan up!

Why Fight Porn?

So what’s the big deal with porn, anyway?  Why do we put so much emphasis on how evil and dangerous porn is?  Why fight porn?

Ask any Catholic priest and he’ll tell you that the majority (majority NOT used lightly here) of male confessions heard in the confessional are oriented towards impurity, lust, sexual misbehavior/acting out and pornography abuse.  This is also not to say that many of the female confessions heard in the confessional don’t also cover these topics.  Many priests I have asked about this topic have told me that upward of 85-90% of the confessions they hear from men are linked to pornography abuse.  This is astonishing and could be, if viewed incorrectly, disheartening.  The devil is attempting to kill our souls, our culture and our Church from the inside out through the use of pornography.  Many believe that it is not a public problem, that if “I” use porn in the quiet of my own home, that it doesn’t effect anyone else.  This is FALSE.

Tomorrow, I will dive into the reality of the effects of pornography, as well as the link pornography has to Life issues and social justice issues (such as divorce, rape, incest, abuse of women, domestic violence, etc.) and will attempt to create for you a strong correlation between these links.  The link between pornography (sexual hedonism and sexual utilitarianism) and many other serious issues is strong!

Before we go, I urge all men to educate themselves on the truth!  Don’t take my word for things, don’t take any one single person’s word for anything.  Do your research and go into it unbiased and open to the truth, for the truth shall set you free!  (This comes from a guy who doubted a ton, thought he could make his own truth and eventually got hit upside the proverbial head with the proverbial 2×4.  Take it from me… do your research!)

TrueMan up!