In a world where there’s now the term “fake news,” anyone making any claim must be ready to defend it with solid evidence. Online communities pop up daily questioning long-held scientific theories. Convention centers host gatherings of people who question historical events and add to their conspiracy theories.
Consider this, there are claims that Finland doesn’t exist, that NASA knows about a second sun in our solar system and is keeping it a secret, and that our world is hollow. Then there are the arguments that the moon isn’t real, that President Obama could control the weather, and that The Beatles never existed.
Despite years of fraudulent fuzzy photos, those who believe the Loch Ness monster exists have never been more passionate. In fact, 2017 recorded the most “sightings” of “Nessie.”
Silly, right?
It’s easy to point our fingers at others and criticize them for believing sensational things. But, what about you? It’s likely at least one time in your life you believed something that wasn’t true, told to you by someone who truly believed it. I remember my history teachers telling me how those in Christopher Columbus’ day believed the world was flat and that people thought he was crazy for traveling to “the end of the earth.” Turns out, that’s not true. In fact, there may be more people who believe in a flat earth now than there was in 1492.
Remember George Washington chopping down the cherry tree? And his wooden teeth? Sorry, both false.
Microwaves cook food from the inside out? Nope.
I don’t believe those who repeat these myths are being malicious. I believe they are simply repeating something they were told by someone they trusted. However, this demonstrates the importance of truth being able to back up what you believe.
We live in a world where even the most obvious facts are called into question, and we must be able to defend those realities to truly help others.
That doesn’t mean we should avoid argument. It’s important to first understand where someone is coming from and then try to be understood. Open, honest, and respectful debate is rare these days. Thanks to social media, most disagreements result in name-calling and hurt feelings. I have a poster hanging up in my office that lists various logical fallacies. It’s a big poster, and it doesn’t cover them all. It’s a reminder to me to have solid arguments at the ready at all times. Preparation is key.
Weak Arguments That Porn Is Wrong
It’s no secret that I believe porn is bad. In fact, everyone who works at Covenant Eyes believes porn is bad for individuals, families, relationships, and society. Several organizations, with various religious affiliations or no religious affiliation at all, believe this too.
But why?
Here are some that are not rooted in fact:
- “Well, I just don’t like it.”
- “It’s gross.”
- “Only losers watch that.”
- “You’re underage.”
- “It’s wrong because you got caught.”
We must do better than this. None of these arguments hold water and those in your circle of influence need better arguments if you expect to convince them.
What the Updated Porn Stats Reveal
Finding facts to articulate can be difficult. That’s why Covenant Eyes created Porn Stats: a quick reference guide pointing out hundreds of facts relating to the issue of pornography. Originally released in 2013 and first updated in 2015, Porn Stats serves as a guide for the most important data relating to pornography. However, with any data, it grows stale over time.
This week, Covenant Eyes released a 2018 update to Porn Stats. This update includes the groundbreaking 2016 Barna report “The Porn Phenomenon,” co-sponsored by Covenant Eyes and Josh McDowell Ministry. “The Porn Phenomenon” revealed most teens and young adults believe not recycling is more immoral than watching pornography. It was written about in several national publications like CNET, CBN, National Catholic Register, Faithwire, and Protect Young Minds.
The 2018 update includes more than 50 new facts regarding pornography and society. That’s up from 250+ in the 2013 and 2015 editions. Also included in the update is information not available prior to 2015 regarding sexting, virtual reality porn, and porn-induced erectile dysfunction (PIED).
The 2018 edition of Porn Stats reveals the most common perspective of porn today: indifference. The overwhelming majority of the population believes pornography is neither good nor bad for society. But consider this, 90% of teenagers and 96% of young adults talk to their friends about porn using encouraging, accepting, or neutral language. That’s quite different from older age groups. This reveals those who believe porn is bad are not articulating well the reasons why they believe porn is bad.
Be Prepared to Share the Facts
Think passing along factual information to the next generation isn’t important? Consider this staggering statistic: recent reports say more than 20% of American millennials and more than 10% of American adults in general were unaware of the Holocaust. It takes only one generation to fail in passing along its values and they are lost. History often repeats itself because we fail to learn from it, and in some cases, we fail to learn about it at all.
How about you? What are your best arguments supporting your position on porn? I bet they can be better, and I bet Porn Stats can help you.
After reviewing the document, please take a moment and answer these questions in the comment section below this blogpost:
- What statistic did you find the most compelling that supported your position?
- Where are there still weak points in your/others arguments on porn?
- What quote within the document did you think was the most persuasive for those who may disagree with your position?
- What aspect of porn was not touched on in the document that needs to be covered in the future?
It’s our goal at Covenant Eyes to equip you with the most recent and factual information available regarding the problem of internet pornography. The point of Porn Stats is to prepare more people to be able to say, “Porn is morally wrong, and I can tell you why.”
Very oddly written article. The content failed to tell us How To strengthen our antiporn argument. It only stated that we need to do so. I do think a clear and consice list of ways to support the case that porn is dangerous and debilitating to users and their loved ones should have been written along with supporting links.
Thank you for the feedback. When the author returns to the office, I will share it with him to address.
Chris
After reading that I’m still searching for the reasoning promised as to why pornography is wrong or bad.
Thank you for the cool article. I love the way it writen… thank you