Covenant Eyes has been helping people overcome porn for over 20 years. During that time, we’ve made some great friends and allies. One of those friends is Clay Olsen, founder of Fight the New Drug. If you haven’t heard of Fight the New Drug (FTND), it’s a non-religious and non-political organization that raises awareness about the harms of pornography. We recently chatted with Clay about FTND and some of the unique ways that this organization is taking a stand against pornography.
FTND is a non-religious and non-political organization.
We asked Clay what motivated him to start an organization that was fighting porn but wasn’t religiously or politically focused.
“[At the time] the only conversations happening were within specific types of churches over pulpits, or in very small segments of academia. But the vast majority of college-aged students were not having a discussion in something that could cross religious and political boundaries.”
With FTND, Clay recognized a tremendous opportunity to build unity around this issue.
“You know what? Everyone comes with their own ideas about their faith or their political perspective. Let’s put those aside and let’s look at the research. Let’s look at science and let’s go back, and we come to an understanding where we can kind of just start talking about the realities of individuals experiences, and you know and find common ground.”
While there are certainly spiritual reasons to think pornography is wrong, Clay believes you can persuade more people by focusing on the scientific evidence for the harms of pornography.
“Among the very few things the younger generation trusts science. Rather than saying ‘don’t do it because we said so,’ it’s providing the evidence for why [it’s wrong”.
While it’s common to hear people in the anti-porn movement bemoan the morals of the younger generations, Clay has none of this pessimism. He believes that young people hold a lot of values that are intrinsically anti-pornography.
“This rising generation—they are activists. They want to stand up for social wrongs and correct social wrongs. We can provide them the ammunition to rebel, not against society and their parents, and but against an industry that’s trying to take advantage of them. We can do that, and we’re gonna we’re gonna to spark a flame with the rising generation.”
How FTND captures the attention of today’s generation.
You may have seen people wearing “Porn kills love” t-shirts or noticed some of the FTND billboards that communicate their message. We asked Clay about his approach, and what FTND does to resonate with young people.
“So my background, I started a creative agency prior to starting Fight the New Drug. My mindset was like to treat it like a creative agency. We want to make things cool first, and informative second. If we can do that, we’re going to capture the attention of the rising generation.”
That’s the approach that FTND continues to take today, developing powerful campaigns that resonate across a polarized landscape.
“From very early, from the very early days we were producing t-shirts and slogans that that were a little in some cases provocative, or eye-catching. We have a variety of different options. Some they’re much more soft and tame, and others that are a little bit more in your face—like ‘porn kills love.'”
FTND educates people on the harms of pornography.
We asked Clay how exactly FTND works to educate people. He explained some of the different resources offered on fightthenewdrug.com.
“We have documentary series and other educational videos that are meant for churches, organizations, individuals, families.”
The documentary series is a powerful tool for anyone looking to grasp the harms of pornography. But FTND also has a podcast.
“The podcast name is Consider before Consuming, and so the focus is to to interview experts in the fields like Carolyn West and Dr. Don Hilton, and survivors and people that have defected from the industry and are telling their story, and people that have been abused are telling their stories. We focus on trying to really educate the younger generation and help them kind of connect in a way that they hadn’t previously.”
You can learn more about Clay’s work with Fight the New Drug by listening to the full podcast!
