- Feb 19, 2017
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I sinned yesterday by purposefully listening to some inappropriate content online. I knew listening to it was wrong of me to do, and the entire time before the act, my conscience was desperately trying to talk me out of it, but I ignored my conscience and did it anyways. This isn't the first time that I've acted against my conscience, and if I don't sit down and have an honest conversation with myself about why it's wrong to do that, it'll be more likely to happen again in the future. So I created this thread to have that honest conversation with myself. It will not be graphic, so as to not cause anyone else to slip. Without further ado, here is my post:
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Question 1: Why are these sorts of inappropriate materials wrong to look at/listen to?
My Answer: Because consuming this sort of material leads to the objectification of other people and skews my perception of other people as well as what relationships with other people should look like.
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Question 2: When you consume this type of material, are you hurting anyone?
My Answer: Yes I am. I am hurting myself spiritually by viewing or listening to such things because it separates me from God's design for human sexuality. I am also hurting myself psychologically because I am conditioning my brain to only have me respond to certain stimuli present in the media I consume, and the material can notoriously become more intense due to how a person's brain receptors become desensitized to what they're looking at or listening to over long periods of time. Finally, I am hurting others by consuming this type of media because it encourages the people or companies that produce this sort of content to make more of it. Inappropriate content is not a victimless crime, because even if you are not paying for the content, your viewership or clicks are being recorded as support.
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Question 3: What can I do to not look at or listen to inappropriate content?
Answer: There are many different ways of doing this. You can ask a friend to be your accountability partner or sign up for a program to stop consuming inappropriate materials. Some churches may have 12-step programs where you can discuss your struggles (non-graphically, of course). They also say that "idle hands are the Devil's Playground", so find something to do that doesn't involve consuming those materials. Find hobbies that you enjoy and try to do those instead, or find a new skill to develop. If necessary, put locks or protections on your electronics that will remind you of your commitment to not looking at inappropriate materials (since you will have to unlock them somehow in order to bypass them... unless you get someone else to set the passwords so you don't know them). Finally, you may want to consult a religious leader for further guidance. Praying to God for help and support is also a great idea as well.
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And, although short, that is my conversation with myself. I think I came up with a lot of good reasons and ideas, but if anyone else is struggling with this sort of thing as well, I'd highly encourage you to look at other helpful websites too such as "Covenant Eyes", "Fortify", and "Fight the New Drug". All of these resources tackle the topic of inappropriate content, how it affects people negatively, and what you can do to stop consuming it. If anyone read this far, thank you for listening to me talk to myself, and I hope it may have given you some ideas too. God bless us, everyone!
> > > > > >
Question 1: Why are these sorts of inappropriate materials wrong to look at/listen to?
My Answer: Because consuming this sort of material leads to the objectification of other people and skews my perception of other people as well as what relationships with other people should look like.
- - - - - - - -
Question 2: When you consume this type of material, are you hurting anyone?
My Answer: Yes I am. I am hurting myself spiritually by viewing or listening to such things because it separates me from God's design for human sexuality. I am also hurting myself psychologically because I am conditioning my brain to only have me respond to certain stimuli present in the media I consume, and the material can notoriously become more intense due to how a person's brain receptors become desensitized to what they're looking at or listening to over long periods of time. Finally, I am hurting others by consuming this type of media because it encourages the people or companies that produce this sort of content to make more of it. Inappropriate content is not a victimless crime, because even if you are not paying for the content, your viewership or clicks are being recorded as support.
- - - - - - - - -
Question 3: What can I do to not look at or listen to inappropriate content?
Answer: There are many different ways of doing this. You can ask a friend to be your accountability partner or sign up for a program to stop consuming inappropriate materials. Some churches may have 12-step programs where you can discuss your struggles (non-graphically, of course). They also say that "idle hands are the Devil's Playground", so find something to do that doesn't involve consuming those materials. Find hobbies that you enjoy and try to do those instead, or find a new skill to develop. If necessary, put locks or protections on your electronics that will remind you of your commitment to not looking at inappropriate materials (since you will have to unlock them somehow in order to bypass them... unless you get someone else to set the passwords so you don't know them). Finally, you may want to consult a religious leader for further guidance. Praying to God for help and support is also a great idea as well.
> > > > > > > >
And, although short, that is my conversation with myself. I think I came up with a lot of good reasons and ideas, but if anyone else is struggling with this sort of thing as well, I'd highly encourage you to look at other helpful websites too such as "Covenant Eyes", "Fortify", and "Fight the New Drug". All of these resources tackle the topic of inappropriate content, how it affects people negatively, and what you can do to stop consuming it. If anyone read this far, thank you for listening to me talk to myself, and I hope it may have given you some ideas too. God bless us, everyone!
Wish and pray you find your way through this. Apart from that I think in general there may be some lack of attention to addressing the question what healthy management of sexuality for singles looks like. (apart from the usual and still very true: being active, distraction, focus on God, learning to not use sexuality as a way to deal with difficult emotions, etc.)
