Wednesday, November 4, 2015

An Open Letter

I believe your reaction to that story - and your quick judgement about the root cause - is wrong . I also feel it is better to discuss this here, anonymously, rather than directly on your post. Please take time to read what I have to say and, if you doubt my numbers, feel free to Google. There are links near the end that also support my position. Just like taking the time to verify most Facebook memes, the info is all out there.

I truly think your post could have used a little more careful thought, rather than blaming it all on the fact that some kid's exposure to porn led him to do what he did. As a personal example, though I have never spent one red cent for viewing porn online, I have seen it in the past (in the days before internet). Yet I have never had any urge to do something of the kind he is charged with. There HAS TO BE something else going on psychologically in this case and in the others you mentioned.

Let's look at some facts: Estimates of online porn use in the US by males varies, depending upon the survey, anywhere from 30 - 70% and 17 - 30% among females (and, at least as recently as 2009, Utah leading the charge in this country).

Think about those numbers for a moment. Using the low end of the scale, when you walk down the street in your town, something like one out of every three men you see has viewed/purchased online porn. And roughly one in five women has, as well. I can just about guarantee that SOMEONE in your church that you know and respect has, at some point in the past 15 years or so, purchased or viewed online porn (and if you looked at the Deseret News article I linked to earlier, you would have noted that the county where you grew up was near the top, so you almost certainly know someone there who has, too).

If merely watching porn makes one deviate, then there would be far more incidents like the one you posted about taking place. But there aren't. This argument is just as weak as the argument that playing violent video games or watching violent movies/TV makes one violent. Yet, while American kids are, statistically, more violent than other kids around the world, it is almost certain that it is not games and movies that make them that way, since violence among youths is not as extreme in either Europe or Asia. And European and Asian kids are playing the very same games and seeing many of the same films.

Without question, there is something larger at work here than simply looking at porn. Something in the home (see below), peer pressure at school or work, or something in the genes. But it is in no way caused just because someone was exposed to porn. And, if you read the articles linked below, you'll see the researchers are in agreement with what I am saying:

Scientific American
The Scientist

The second of these is adapted from a University of Hawaii study (linked) and contains this little, I think very important, tidbit (based upon interviews with imprisoned rapists):

"What does correlate highly with sex offense is a strict, repressive religious upbringing."

Sound anything like the guy on that "reality show" with the big family for, say, just one example?

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