The Hidden Threat of X Rated Content Rise in Churches: A Call to Church Leaders

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:15):
Welcome to Here is Eden, the space where there is
peace in the sense, growth and joy. You may now
leave your fear, your judgment and murmur at the gate. Disclaimer,
the atmosphere you're about to enter will suscitate questioning, opinions, conversations, thinking,

(00:40):
growth or not. Be informed that what you're about to
hear is not from an expert. And remember that the
greatest specialism an expert that there is is all of
him himself. Now, if you may, let's get comfortable and enjoy.
I am a loving souls. How are you doing? House life,

(01:03):
as your relationship with God, as your family, your work,
but most importantly, how are you doing? I hope you're
doing fine. If you are not, as I always say,
do not despair. They'll be briddy days coming. As for me,
I am doing great. I am so grateful, thankful for everything,
and it's a beautiful day. I woke up this morning

(01:25):
and I'm ready to go. For those of you who
do not know me, my name is Rita aka baby Face,
and I want to welcome you to this podcast that
is here is Eden. So for the regular listeners, I
want to wish you back yes, And for the new listeners,
w yes, welcome to Here is Eden, which mission is

(01:50):
to serve and respond to the needs of Christian celibate
and where we also talk about relationship in general. If
you find value into this topic, I believe you would
also like the previous in the next episode, so do
not hesitate to link up on my socials. My prayer
free today is I wish that you find anything within

(02:11):
what will be discussed, and that you enjoy, you grow,
and so altogether we learn. So if you are regular,
you know already how it goes. So before I can
keep on talking, I just want to give grace to
my father father in heavens. I just want to say
thank you, thank you for having given me life. Thank
you for everything. Less of me, Father, more of you.

(02:33):
I want you to be in the middle of this
conversation of today, take control of everything that will be
coming out of my mouth. As I always say, You
are worthy, our God and Lord, to be praised and
to receive glory, honor, and power, for you created all things,
and buy your will that were created and have there
being Amen. Amen, let's go summertime. Oh I remember that

(03:07):
day just like it was yesterday. I was only fourteen
years old, just minding my business. This was the time
when internet was just popping time. One houses had one
desktop computer in the middle of the house, whether it
was in the living room, the dining room, or an
office if you had that luxury. But the point is

(03:27):
one computer was shared amongst all the family members, so
having a computer in a shared space wasn't really ideal
to even think of navigating on forbidden website. So yeah,
before I tell you some more about that day that
has been my first exposure to X rated content, I'd
like to give you a quick background about my upbringing

(03:50):
if you care to listen. Raised in an African household
with a present and involved father and mother, and where
the fear of God was instilled in me. Since I
can remember, all I cared about before that day was
being outside at the park with my friends, playing basketball, tag,
hide and seek, go to the mall, do window shopping
as I had no money and was fully dependent to

(04:11):
my parents. Spent time with my siblings, annoying them and
being creative and skillful at it. And I think you
get the point an innocent child when it came to
that knowledge of the world all right now that it
kind of get a glimpse as to who I was
as a kid at fourteen years old. Let's get back

(04:32):
to that summer day, would you. So, just like any
other day, I was done with my chores in the house,
and since the computer was free, I decided to search
for a famous pop singer of the time, you know,
regular teenager stuff. As I was looking for her. Can
remember what I typed in, but one thing is for sure,
it was not what I've witnessed on that day. So

(04:54):
as it started lugging and searching, what followed next was brutal.
The obscene images began to fly by. There were so
many that kept on coming one after another, that through
my panic, I struggled to close them quickly. I remember
not just being shocked as I was taken off guard,

(05:15):
but I was so scared that any of my parents
would come by and find me ends in a pudding. Oh,
I certainly look guilty. I cannot imagine the shame that
I would have felt. Though I was framed and innocent,
the fact is I knew that this didn't align with
a child of God. Fast forward, I succeeded to close

(05:36):
them all and the whole computer to that matter, and
I got up with my heart in my thought, my
spirit troubled, my innocence altered. This is my story when
access to the Internet was limited. Today, the average age
that a child is first exposed to X rayed content

(05:57):
is eleven years old joall, and ninety four percent of
children by the age of fourteen will see adult content.
My concern and wonder is what is the impact of
increased X rated content exposure on children, adults, relationships, our brain, body,
and the whole society in the future. What can and

(06:21):
should we do so without any further delay, Please allow
me to introduce to you to this topic, X rated content,
this idol that is creeping up and holding hostage over
fifty percent of church leaders and their members. Well. First

(06:44):
and foremost, I would like to insist that this episode's
purpose is not only to create awareness about how rempant
and devastating are the effects of X rated contents exposure
on health, mental health, and our society in general. But
I want most importantly to create a safe space where
anyone struggling with porn, whether you'll define your consumption of

(07:05):
it as compulsive or just an unhealthy habit, or in
some cases an addiction, meaning an uncontrollable need to watch it,
despite its adverse consequences that I'll address later on this episode.
I want you to know that you are not alone
and that you should not stay isolated in your struggle.

(07:25):
You'd be surprised to see and hear how many people
have been trapped in this net, and out of the
fear to be judged or the shame to be labeled
as anything, they remain quiet and try their best to
overcome this plague on their own. But my friends, this
is the enemy's plan, isolate to better control and dominate. Yeah.

(07:47):
I'll talk to Christians for a minute, but this can
apply to anyone out there. My fellow believers in Christ,
Please do not isolate yourselves. It is together that the
body of is powerful. Try imagining yourself one day not
being able to use your pinky, your big toal, or

(08:07):
your eyes because let's say they've been injured, or not
being able to smell, taste, or feel. You'd realize quickly
how important are every part of your body and their
function to ensu your wholeness, and how limited you would be.
This is why we should always work together as a
unit in preparation of how the Kingdom of our father

(08:29):
in heavens would look like isolating ourselves will also hinder
our spiritual growth. We were not created to be alone.
We need one another to support, encourage, uplift, teach, correct build,
help and better each other. So, though it might feel shameful,

(08:50):
we cannot let this courage any longer destroy marriages, families
and lives. So find someone trustworthy who can keep you
account for your behavior, and let's seek for help and
speak up before it's too late for your information. Physical

(09:16):
intimacy and pleasure were created by God, but it was
intended to be enjoyed between a husband and his wife.
But the devil, in his counterfeiting way, as always, succeeded
in perverting this gift of God and replaced it with
superficial and immoral carnal desires and lust. But like anything
in the right context, it produces the appropriate fruits. Many

(09:40):
people think that this problem affects mostly men. If that's you, well,
let me disappoint you and shock you. Sorry. Women, teenagers,
and children find themselves also cut in this web, and
the numbers are overwhelming. The easy access to the Internet,
the materials broadcasting this type of content has definitely contributed

(10:04):
to the current alarming situation. Not only that over forty
million Americans are regular visitors to adult sites, did you
know that the adult content industry's annual revenue is more
than the NFL, NBA, and MLB combined? Mm hm, that's
crazy for the people who don't know what these acronyms

(10:27):
stand for. NFL stands for National Football League, NBA National
Basketball Association, and MLB Major League Baseball. When you think
that you're done being shocked, here it is. It is
also more than big popular TV networks combined, ABC, CBS,
and NBC together. Now you get how big this is.

(10:51):
What all of this means is that way too many
people are cut in that web. Almost half of American
families reported and country and problems in their household because
of it. To be more specific, forty seven percent. A
little over half of American divorces fifty six percent, to
be specific, involved one party having an obsessive interest in

(11:14):
X rated websites. What's disturbing is that social media or
many other platforms, seems to portray promiscurity as fun, exhilarating, cool,
the way to be. But how can it be when
it divides and breaks families and lives. Now, my Christian

(11:47):
folks might be like, well, that has nothing to do
with us. These numbers and this affliction are sadly touching
people who do not know God nor fear God. As
for us, we know better, therefore we're safe. Well, sorry,
but you're wrong. Many studies have sadly reported a disturbing

(12:09):
reality in churches amongst our highly favored and blessed brothers
and sisters, appearances are deceitful, my people. Ninety three percent
of pastors acknowledge that X rated content is a problem
within churches, but only seven percent of them have drawn
up plans and put means into place to address this

(12:31):
evil which is eating away at the homes of their congregations.
My question is why so few felt it was important
to help their members. Is it because over fifty percent
of pastors themselves struggle with this addictions, so they don't
feel worthy enough of saying anything to another going through
the same. Do they want to be freed from it,

(12:55):
or they're too ashamed to confess and admit about their struggle.
I would hope not that nothing is put in place
and that this topic is not discussed and looked at
more seriously. From the fear to offend people and risk
losing members. Oh that'd be devastating if selfishness and greediness

(13:16):
were the reasons. Oh well, half of active church members,
meaning going to church, are struggling with this behavior. Something
needs to be done. Why do I believe that something
needs to be done? Well, I realize that not everybody
involved in this behavior finds it problematic. Some people actually

(13:38):
do enjoy this way of living. But for those who've
been troubled from it, who've been eating away with guilt
and desire to change. While I'm talking to you, X
rated content have a really negative side effects on health
mental health relationships are person and society in general. Firstly,

(13:59):
though you may nothing to ever be addicted to it,
studies say otherwise. These images that any expose themselves to
stimulate and impact the brain similarly to any addictive drug,
as it would trigger an increased amount of dopamine, which
is known as a pleasure chemical. Dopamine will be secreted

(14:20):
in activities such as eating, physical intimacy, exercise, etcetera. Though
with adult content the brain would respond differently. Normally, after
an activity secreting dopamine, the brain would turn up the
dopamine secretion with X rated content. Over time, the brain
builds up a tolerance to the excess dopamine, a little

(14:42):
bit like sugar addiction or any addictive drug, and it
will require more of that triggering factor to achieve the
same level of perceived pleasure. In this context, you'll need
to watch more and maybe seek for different type of
content to get content or se satisfied. Therefore, in children

(15:03):
or teenagers, it is even more so detrimental, as their
brains response to the four times more than adults do.
You see how this can become problematic in relationship. It

(15:23):
has been reported that some relationships, though when partners watch
X rated contents, suffered still and divorced or broke up
because they were not fulfilled. The risk of comparison, fantasy,
or decreased satisfaction would be noted among people consuming this
stuff if you didn't know. This content have been also

(15:44):
associated with sexual dysfunction for both men and women. So
while you think that you're watching it to learn to
become a great performer, it might well impact you negatively,
so beware also the constant exposure to it, as many
scenes contain physical violence, can normalize abuse. Therefore, desensitize many

(16:07):
people to attacks or violence made on certain individuals, whether
it is against women or miners. Furthermore, these practices denigrate
certain ethnic groups and encourage false stereotypes. So as you
can see, it is not just fun and pleasure. By
the way, if you're interested to read more about the

(16:29):
stats for this matter, check out the Barn Group and
Covenant Eyes research studies. After all of this is now
known and shared, what can we do to overcome this
problem that has crippled the church and our society. Well, first,
realize that you are loved and that, just like any

(16:50):
of us, we will fall from our sinful nature. So
do not isolate yourself and seek for help. If you
don't have any trustworthy person around you, there are different
Christian associations out there that can guide you through this struggle. Then, secondly,
recognizing the problem would help alleviate the shameful feeling or

(17:14):
the guilt of being a bad person. Feeling is a
sign of life, so feeling remorseful is a step to repentance. Thirdly,
I heard a pastor once talk about a group they
had created I believe of men of God, where they
held each other accountable and touch the base regularly with
each other to make sure that they were holding strong

(17:37):
and not struggling with sexual immorality. I believe that anyone
can create such a group, whether it is small, big,
just creator group where you can hold each other accountable.
The idea is not to stay alone dealing with it,
but to rely on a community of people sharing the
same hurdle. Fourth understand that that it is not going

(18:00):
to be easy, but through persistent and consistent prayers, wonderful
results will be produced. I don't know this is what
I could think of, but if you all think of
anything else, please do not hesitate to share with us.
They are my friends. What a topic hunt. I had
been wanting to talk about it for a while now

(18:23):
because I really do believe that it needs to be
talked about more and that there are many people out
there who might feel ashamed, less than unworthy alone. Listen,
if you want to change, there is a way, and
you are not alone. Throughout the Bible, we have seen
strong men of God struggling with the same challenges David Solomon,

(18:46):
Samson and many other kings. That tells you that this
trial has been with us for thousands of years, and
that men alone without God cannot see through it. I
hope that you have learned anything and that He has
created awareness in you to be careful because it could
happen to anybody. No one is safe. As for me,

(19:09):
I am deeply humbled and honored to have been able
to discuss it with you, and hopefully it helps anybody
out there. On that note, I wish you to have
an amazing day, evening night, or simply have an amazing
time and stay safe. As I always say, stay beautifully,

(19:31):
peacefully and confidently blessed because you know, because you are
a unique creation of Lom. Stay blessed, my friends,

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