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Those words sum up the lament from thousands of Christian men who seem enslaved by the silky, sexual images of pornography.

I recall my first experience with pornography. I must have been only about five years old. My brother and I were visiting at my grandmother's and some older neighborhood boys had a cartoon booklet. When they flipped the pages rapidly it showed a man's penis becoming erect. I didn't know what that was, but I certainly wasn't going to ask. By the time a junior high buddy showed me his Playboy, I knew what the pictures were. I was fascinated with the images, and still am. It's built into our male psyche to be powerfully drawn to sexual images. The fact is, men are wired to enjoy looking at naked women.

But how does the addictive nature come into play? Author and counselor Arch Hart, in his book Redeeming Male Sexuality, identifies two powerful brain chemicals that combine to produce the compulsive seeking behavior that's stimulated through pornography. One is the satisfying tension-relief of endorphins. These morphine-like molecules are released in the reward centers of the brain's hypothalamus to produce intense pleasure and relaxation. The second chemical is epinephrine, which creates arousal, alertness, increased energy, excitation, and an aggressive stance ready for risk-taking or conquest. Pornography arouses both these responses, which combine to hold the addictive features of risk-taking, excitement, and the endorphin pleasure explosion.

Couple these powerfully habituating chemicals with the forbidden aspect of lust and it provokes an enticing stimulus-response behavior. It's the typical male response to a "no trespassing" sign. Add in some stressful life factors that cause masculine self-doubt and the stage is set. It becomes an instant fix that reaffirms male potency and gives a tranquillizing, temporary relief of stress—without requiring any other-directed relational energy. That's why a man may masturbate to orgasm while looking at pornographic photos. It's no wonder that, according to sexual addictions expert Dr. Mark Laaser, statistics indicate alarming rates of use of the 350,000 porn sites on the Internet.

Fortunately, not every man becomes addicted. Although the potential's there, most men resist. For many men the exposure to that blatant immorality is distasteful. They recognize it cheapens the actors involved, women in general, and the men who drool over the images. There are also men who see the hypocrisy of professing Christianity while inviting those images into their souls. Some men simply respect their wife's feelings about pornography and resist out of their love. I think my liberation from pornography's appeal includes all these plus my disgust with the idea of giving money to an industry that spans the range from child pornography to "snuff" films. This so-called "victimless" entertainment leaves devastation and death in its wake.

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