Breaking Porn - 6 Steps to Breaking Pornography Addiction

Pornography, defined by the Encarta ® World English Dictionary, includes "films, magazines, writings, photographs, or other materials that are sexually explicit and intended to cause sexual arousal."

Notice that the definition doesn't say that the images must include nudity.  After all, many paintings and statues throughout history are of the naked body without being pornographic at all.  And many movie scenes are very much pornographic without showing a single nipple or vagina.  Black Snake Moan, for example.

I think the better definition is from the Catholic Catechism:

Pornography consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parties.

I once heard a man say, "I can't tell you specifically what pornography is, but I sure as heck know it when I see it."  I think we all do... especially men.  More often than not, when men ask, "What is pornography," they want to know when they are sinning and when they are not... or rather, they want to know what's excusable and what is not.  The answer, as we'll discuss later, has nothing to do with what pornography is.

Ultimately, the definition of pornography doesn't matter.  Not to most men anyway.  Certainly not to anyone who needs help breaking a pornography addiction.  It might be helpful for someone who is involved in some sort of public rating system.  As for us, we're concerned with a much deeper question.

When does it become a sin to look at a woman?  Where is the line between ‘appreciating the beauty of God's creation' and ‘lusting after another woman'?

There's plenty of controversy in that area.  Especially for the men who want to justify certain behavior.  I once talked to a group of men who insisted there was nothing wrong with a topless bar, as long as they didn't try to imagine themselves having sex with the waitresses.

I think for some men, the line might be rather blurry.  But for men who have been literally enslaved by the pornographic industry, the line is very sharp, clear, and easy to see.

The body of any woman other than your wife is off limits.

It doesn't matter whether you're looking at her or just thinking about her.  It doesn't matter if she's fully clothed, scantily clad, or completely naked.  If your focus is on her body, then it's a sin or you're putting yourself in the occasion of sin (which is a sin, in and of itself).

The following steps, if followed carefully, can lead any man out of the darkness of pornography addiction.