This Is War.

                                                       

**Disclaimer: Adult-Only Post.**

If you are under the age of, say 18, show this to your momma right now.

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A few days ago, a friend and I were shopping with my girls when I spotted these gift books called "Porn for Women".
These are little gift books and coupon books depicting buff looking men doing household chores, changing diapers, cooking, etc. It looks like they've been around a while, but I'm just noticing.

All photos are copyrighted material by Cambridge Women's Pornography Cooperative. All credit goes to them and whatnot.

Sounds fab, right?! 

Listen, my Love Language is Acts of Service, so I can certainly appreciate the beauty of a man that knows how to handle a mop. I heart this. There are few things more lovely than my Spouse unloading a dishwasher or putting away laundry.

Now, the books in this series, as far as I can tell, are not pornographic in the sense that there is nudity other than the occasional male bare chest.

Still, let us define pornography, shall we?

Dictionary.Com defines pornography as "obscene writings, drawings, photographs, or the like, especially those having not artistic merit."

The New World Dictionary defines it a bit differently:
--n
1. writings, pictures, films, etc, designed to stimulate sexual excitement.
2. the production of such material.

"Designed to stimulate sexual excitement."

I get that these books are sort of tongue in cheek. I understand that they are for fun. The books depict men doing helpful household chores. These acts of service are encouraging, supportive, and helpful. Yay for encouraging, supporting and being helpful! It is essentially the nonchalant use of the word porn that I have such issue with.

According to the site Porn Harms,

America is suffering an untreated pandemic of harm from pornography. According to many studies, children and adults are developing life-long addictions to pornography; American children begin consuming hardcore pornography at an average age of 11 and act out what they see on siblings, neighbors, and friends; four out of five 16 year-olds regularly access pornography online; growing numbers of men in their twenties are developing “porn-induced sexual dysfunction;” girls consuming pornography are several times more likely to engage in group sex than those who do not; 56% of divorces now cite Internet pornography as a factor in the breakup of the marriage. More on harm can be found at PornHarmsResearch.com.

Make no mistake, we are at war with the porn industry. War. 

Books like this, seemingly harmless, just desensitize us to porn and we momentarily smile, maybe chuckle, and forget that pornography is destructive. I remember when my friend, Joy, first told me that the use of the words pimp and pimping as compliments was so dangerous. 

Pimps are slave-owners. They are criminals who beat, starve, and sell our brothers and sisters and we should have never allowed the phrase "pimp my ride" to fly. Pornography even  perpetuates the slave trade. We can't say that porn is helpful in relationships, but modern slavery is wrong. They work together. We can't let anything about pornography be fun or positive or anything less than an abomination.

We can't.
We no longer have the luxury of nonchalance when it comes to unhealthy sexual practices.
We no longer have the luxury of just shrugging things off as 'in fun'.
We no longer have the luxury or the right to 'lighten up'. (A phrase I detest, by the way.)

We need to call pornography what it is: a tool by your enemy and mine meant to destroy you and me, our families and children.

We are at war. This is a battle. This is how I fight it.

But you, Man of God, flee from all this, and pursue 
righteousness, godliness, faith, love, 

endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. 
Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called 

when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 

1 Timothy 6:11-12