A Generation Poisoned by Porn Speaks

<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW245121277 BCX4"> <p><span data-contrast="none">Not long ago, most non-Christians treated pornography as a harmless expression of sexual freedom. For half a century, Hugh Hefner’s</span> <em><span data-contrast= "none">Playboy</span></em> <span data-contrast="none">philosophy dominated, teaching people to wink at porn use. Children discovering a relative’s “stash” became a popular trope in TV and film and was played off for laughs.</span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">In the digital age, distribution and access became easier and instant, and the content grew darker. Finally, more people are admitting that, though it was never harmless, this content now poses a life-altering danger to those who stumble across it—especially children.</span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">In 2021, singer-songwriter Billie Eilish</span> <a href= "https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/billie-eilish-reveals-watched-porn-young-age-calls-disgrace-rcna8863"> <span data-contrast="none">confessed to being one of those children</span></a> <span data-contrast="none">harmed by pornography. In an interview, Eilish described her first encounter at age 11: “I think it really destroyed my brain and I feel incredibly devastated that I was exposed to so much porn,” she said. The things she saw on screen gave her nightmares and led to her “not saying no” to things she should have refused in her own relationships.</span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">Eilish was hardly a voice crying in the wilderness. In the wake of our collective reckoning with abuse and addiction,</span> <a href= "https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/07/porn-education-totally-unprepared-modern-porn/619464/"> <span data-contrast="none">it has become clea