Porn Addiction

Dear Victorious,

Do you really believe there can be such a thing as an addiction to pornography? Aren't addictions really biological and chemical-based?

Doubting Thomas

Dear Doubting,

You could research the definition of addiction and find controversy. There are multiple views about what addiction is. Quite honestly, I'm not a professional - so I am not even qualified to wade into that debate. However, I see basic human behaviors and I think that God reveals some truth to me about those behaviors. (Some of them have been my own!)

In our society, we get conditioned by the things we are exposed to. Things we think are wrong will not seem so wrong if we are continually exposed to them. Such is the case with pornography. It starts out subtle, and then creeps up on us and becomes hard core without our ever really realizing it. Lines we thought we wouldn't cross seem to disappear.

At the same time, we tend to believe lies. In other words, things that aren't true become real in our minds. Even if we know intellectually that they aren't true, we somehow find the emotional desire to want them to be true. Such is the case with pornography. It makes a promise - which of course it never, ever delivers on. And yet we want - for whatever reason - to believe that it will.

You might consider the fact that these two phenomenon aren't limited to pornography. They're characteristic of many things in our culture, our society and our lives that get an inappropriate role in our lives. TV shows, shopping, Internet, video games, gambling and other vices all behave the same way. A little gambling won't hurt anyone. Shopping just makes me feel better. And of course none of these things are biological or chemical-based.

I don't know if they are true addictions are not. But then maybe true addictions that are chemical based should be treated as if they are as bad as they really are - and for the liars that they really are.