faith-based support groups for men addicted to pornography

[Said1]

There are some addictions I just don't get. :huh:

Minister who was addicted to porn says case not rare
By Dave Ranney (Contact)

Thursday, July 21, 2005

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When the Rev. Darrell Brazell, an evangelical minister, first heard that police had found thousands of pornographic images on former Christian-school leader Martin K. Miller’s home computer, he wasn’t surprised.

“They said they found something like 6,000 images,” Brazell said. “That sounds like a lot, but it’s not. You can download that much in a very short amount of time.”

Brazell knows. He admitted to being addicted to pornography for 15 years.

“I suspect if there was a forensic examination of all the personal computers in Lawrence, some similar-size collections would show up in some very shocking places,” said Brazell, pastor at New Hope Fellowship, 1449 Kasold Drive.

Brazell, who said he’s been “clean” for five years, counsels and coordinates faith-based support groups for men addicted to pornography.

He said he’s met several times with Miller, who was convicted last month of strangling his wife, Mary E. Miller, 46, a librarian at Kansas University. Brazell did not meet Marty Miller until after the man was charged with first-degree murder and was free on bond.


Photo by Scott McClurg

Darren Brazell, pastor at New Hope Fellowship, was addicted to pornography for 15 years. Convicted killer Martin K. Miller says Brazell helped him overcome his own addiction.
During his trial, Miller credited Brazell with helping him overcome his addiction, noting that he had given up porn Sept. 15, which was almost two months after his wife was killed.

Miller also testified he first had a “problem” with pornography when he was 10 or 11 years old.

His ever-escalating addiction, Miller said, caused him to participate in an online adult dating service, which led to his having an extramarital affair with a Eudora woman that included role-playing, bondage, spanking and explicit photographs.

Prosecutors argued that Miller, a carpenter, wanted his wife out of the way so he’d be free to pursue sexual relationships with other women and so he could collect more than $300,000 in life-insurance money.

Clearly, Brazell said, Miller’s addiction to pornography caused him to act irrationally.

“That’s the bottom-line evidence of addiction: You do something you don’t want to do,” he said.

Continued

 

[rtwngAvngr]

"oh god, oh god, i'm gonna ..."

 

[Said1]

"oh god, oh god, i'm gonna ..."

Ew.

 

[rtwngAvngr]

sp

Ew.

You're half right.

 

[5stringJeff]

Porn causes the same chemical reaction in your brain that cocaine does. And we all know how addictive cocaine is.

 

[Powerman]

That's quite possibly the most ignorant and absurd thing I've ever heard in my life. Cocaine and Porn most certainly do not cause the same chemical reactions in the brain. I hope you were joking and aren't in fact that naive.

 

[Hobbit]

That's quite possibly the most ignorant and absurd thing I've ever heard in my life. Cocaine and Porn most certainly do not cause the same chemical reactions in the brain. I hope you were joking and aren't in fact that naive.

It's a scientific fact. Go look it up. Cocaine, of course, causes a few other chemical reactions in other places of the body, but the brain patterns of someone high on coke are almost identical to those of someone watching porn. I'll excuse you for the ignorant comment as it does sound a bit far-fetched, but it is true.

Now, on to the rest of my post.

Porn is quite addictive. I've seen people who were very devout and tried to do everything right, but they were sucked in by the ease of access with online porn and were simply unable to stop. It can ruin families, careers, and psyches. Easily accessable porn is a one of the most destructive forces at work in the American family structure, yet society teaches us that it's normal and healthy.

I'm not just spouting, either. I have a friend who has been married for a year. He got into porn, thinking it was perfectly normal. It started with just a few pictures of naked women, but eventually, that wasn't enough. Just like an addiction, the "normal dose" couldn't produce the results any more, so he moved on to more hardcore stuff. From there, it went to homosexual porn and eventually child porn. Now, he's on his way to prison for at least a decade for child porn and molestation, and it all started with a little habit that society said was 'perfectly normal and healthy.'

For more information on this topic, go to http://www.xxxchurch.org. They have a lot of information, plus the only effective porn blocker, accountability. If you sign up for it, your web activity is logged and sent by e-mail to two other people, and you get their web activity. It also sends a message if you disable the software.

 

[Powerman]

That's absurd. I know plenty of people who watch porn on a regular basis including myself and none of us are in any danger of turning into a gay person or a child molestor.


And as for this quote:
"Cocaine, of course, causes a few other chemical reactions in other places of the body"

How can something be different and the same. This is clearly just some nonsense made up by fundamentalist Christians. I've worked in a substance abuse clinic and dealt with cocaine addicts. You aren't going to fool me with this bullshit.

 

[Hobbit]

That's absurd. I know plenty of people who watch porn on a regular basis including myself and none of us are in any danger of turning into a gay person or a child molestor.


And as for this quote:
"Cocaine, of course, causes a few other chemical reactions in other places of the body"

How can something be different and the same. This is clearly just some nonsense made up by fundamentalist Christians. I've worked in a substance abuse clinic and dealt with cocaine addicts. You aren't going to fool me with this bullshit.

I'm not trying to fool you with anything. Porn is scientifically PROVEN to be just as addictive as cocaine. You're just in denial. As far as your "different but the same" argument, you can't be serious. The BRAIN WAVE ACTIVITY AND CHEMICAL PROCESSES, the brain being the part of the body that is subject to the addiction, is EXACTLY THE SAME in cocaine users as in porn users...EXACTLY. The only difference, chemically, between the two is that cocaine also causes effects to parts of the body OTHER THAN THE BRAIN. Well, porn also affects one other part of the body, but it's a different one from cocaine.

Not to try to say you don't, but if you really do work in a substance abuse clinic, you know all the psychological symptoms of an addiction. Many of them include justifying use and denying addiction, just as you are doing. Now, you may never become a rapist or child molestor, but statistically, you are FAR more likely to become one if you keep using porn. If you still don't believe me about addiction, then prove me wrong. Stop looking at any porn for 40 days. If it's not addictive, that should be pretty easy. No porn, no strippers, no viewing of nude women except in a strictly medical context. If I knew you in person and had some way to judge the bet, I'd put $100 down that you can't do it. I should know. At one time, I just thought it was relatively harmless, too. When I realized that what I was doing was wrong and VERY un-Christian, I tried to quit cold turkey and didn't do it until my third try.

Porn is addictive. It's a scientific FACT. I just hope you don't have to learn it the hard way. If you'd like to actually look at the facts rather than dismiss them as Christian propaganda, go to the link I posted and look under the 'porn patrol tab' at the top and click on 'porn facts' which is on the far right. Every statistic is properly cited. Here are a few excepts.

345% increase in child pornography sites between 2/2001-7/2001 (N2H2, 8/01)

At least 200,000 Internet users are hooked on porn sites, X-rated chat rooms or other sexual materials online (MSNBC/Stanford/Duquesne Study, Associated Press [Online], Feb. 29, 2000).

According to a U.S. News and World Report article, the porn industry recently took in more than $8 billion in one year. More than all revenues generated by rock and country music, more than America spent on Broadway productions, theater, ballet, jazz and classical music combined.

Americans spend an estimated $8-10 billion annually on pornography. This exceeds the combined gross of ABC, CBS, and NBC, which is $6.2 billion.

A 1985 study of 256 non-incarcerated perpetrators of sexual offenses who were undergoing treatment showed that 56% of rapists and 42% of women said someone they knew that was into pornography had sexually abused them.

Although early sexual activity may be caused by a variety of factors, the media are believed to play a significant role. The media also represent the most easily remediable influence on young people and their sexual attitudes and behaviors. (AAP statement, January 2001)

Early sexual intercourse among American adolescents represents a major public health problem. According to the most recent data, 61% of all high school seniors have had sexual intercourse, about half are currently sexually active, and 21% have had 4 or more partners. (American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) statement, January 2001)

Approximately one fourth of sexually active adolescents become infected with an STD each year, accounting for 3 million cases, and people under the age of 25 account for two thirds of all STDs in the United States. (AAP statement, January 2001)

"The National Council on Sexual Addiction Compulsivity estimated that 6%-8% of Americans are sex addicts, which is 16 million-21.5 million people." (Cooper, Alvin, Dana E. Putnam, Lynn A. Planchon, and Sylvain C. Boies. "Online Sexual Compulsivity: Getting Tangled in the Net." Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity, 6:79-104. (Taken from Amparano, J. "Sex addicts get help." The Arizona Republic, p. A1. 1999)

* "A recent study by researchers at Stanford and Duquesne universities claims at least 200,000 Americans are hopelessly addicted to E-porn." (Koerner, Brendan I. "A lust for profits." U.S. News online. http://www.usnew.com/usnews/issue/000327/eporn.htm. 3/27/00)

There's all the evidence you should ever need. If you ignore the problem any more, you're blind.

 

[Nienna]

Porn causes the same chemical reaction in your brain that cocaine does. And we all know how addictive cocaine is.

I have read that heroin and porn have the same chemical reaction, for those who are susceptible.

 

[archangel]

ya cut through the chase....porn is like going to a candy store without a dime!


so what is the point of this discussion?

 

[Gem]

Hobbit,

I, like Powerman, am incredibly skeptical of this.

Huge amounts of people look at pornagraphic material occassionally and do not become "addicts." The increase of pornographic materials speaks to nothing except easier access to it. Just like there was a massive increase in porn sales when people could watch it in the privacy of their own homes rather than movie theaters...there is a massive increase of people looking at porn now that the internet makes it so readily available. As to the numerous sites discussing fetishes or actual criminal behavior...is there really an increase in these people? Or are all the people who felt this way simply finding an outlet to express their personal desires?

I'm not saying this is a "good" thing. I am just saying that I am not sure I buy the "the pictures of Anna Nicole Smith naked turned me into a pedophile" argument.

Your statistics show that people who commit sexual crimes often look at porn...they don't, however, discuss the vast amount of people who DON'T commit sexual crimes who look at porn.

Your argument about pedophiles and porn sounds a bit to me like the ice cream-violence analogy. Ice cream consumption goes up in the summer, so does violence...therefore, increased ice cream consumption increases violence. Its a stupid analogy that doesn't take into account the myriad of actual factors that influence violence increases in the summertime...heat, children being home from school, increased social drinking, etc.

Looking at boobies is going to make a man want to play with little boys...UNLESS that man already had factors that predisposed him to pedophilia. In that instance, it seems MUCH more likely that he would be a pedophile who looked at porn...not a man who looked at porn and then became a pedophile because of it.

I am willing to look at your sites and read more about this. I hope that you will not take my questioning in a rude way...I just am not sure that at this point I am prepared to buy into the belief that looking at a pornographic video is going to ruin your life...unless you allow it to.

 

[GotZoom]

Hobbit,

I, like Powerman, am incredibly skeptical of this.

Huge amounts of people look at pornagraphic material occassionally and do not become "addicts." The increase of pornographic materials speaks to nothing except easier access to it. Just like there was a massive increase in porn sales when people could watch it in the privacy of their own homes rather than movie theaters...there is a massive increase of people looking at porn now that the internet makes it so readily available. As to the numerous sites discussing fetishes or actual criminal behavior...is there really an increase in these people? Or are all the people who felt this way simply finding an outlet to express their personal desires?

I'm not saying this is a "good" thing. I am just saying that I am not sure I buy the "the pictures of Anna Nicole Smith naked turned me into a pedophile" argument.

Your statistics show that people who commit sexual crimes often look at porn...they don't, however, discuss the vast amount of people who DON'T commit sexual crimes who look at porn.

Your argument about pedophiles and porn sounds a bit to me like the ice cream-violence analogy. Ice cream consumption goes up in the summer, so does violence...therefore, increased ice cream consumption increases violence. Its a stupid analogy that doesn't take into account the myriad of actual factors that influence violence increases in the summertime...heat, children being home from school, increased social drinking, etc.

Looking at boobies is going to make a man want to play with little boys...UNLESS that man already had factors that predisposed him to pedophilia. In that instance, it seems MUCH more likely that he would be a pedophile who looked at porn...not a man who looked at porn and then became a pedophile because of it.

I am willing to look at your sites and read more about this. I hope that you will not take my questioning in a rude way...I just am not sure that at this point I am prepared to buy into the belief that looking at a pornographic video is going to ruin your life...unless you allow it to.

Ice Cream and Boobies - all in the same post.

I do like your style.

 

[Nuc]

I'm not just spouting, either. I have a friend who has been married for a year. He got into porn, thinking it was perfectly normal. It started with just a few pictures of naked women, but eventually, that wasn't enough. Just like an addiction, the "normal dose" couldn't produce the results any more, so he moved on to more hardcore stuff. From there, it went to homosexual porn and eventually child porn. Now, he's on his way to prison for at least a decade for child porn and molestation, and it all started with a little habit that society said was 'perfectly normal and healthy.'

What happened to accountability? He became a child molester because he looked at porn? Then 98% of the men in this country would be child molesters. If he is a friend of yours obviously he was exposed to Christianity. Supposedly that teaches you right from wrong. Do you really think he didn't have a choice in the matter? If you were one of the serious flakes on this forum I'd say you made it up but you seem sincere.

 

[Gabriella84]

What exactly is the appeal of porn? I have never understood this.
I've seen porn, in a limited amount of pictures and films. Besides this has to do with me being a female, and most porn objectifies females, but it has never excited me the least bit. Porn is so unrealistic, it is laughable.
When I was in high school, I went to sleepover where someone had a porn video. We watched about 10 minutes, then took it out. It was boring and repetitive.

If someone can explain the appeal of porn, I would be glad to listen. I just don't see the turn on in looking at nude men/women, or watching them perform sexual acts on each other.
I'd rather do it myself.

 

[archangel]

What exactly is the appeal of porn? I have never understood this.
I've seen porn, in a limited amount of pictures and films. Besides this has to do with me being a female, and most porn objectifies females, but it has never excited me the least bit. Porn is so unrealistic, it is laughable.
When I was in high school, I went to sleepover where someone had a porn video. We watched about 10 minutes, then took it out. It was boring and repetitive.

If someone can explain the appeal of porn, I would be glad to listen. I just don't see the turn on in looking at nude men/women, or watching them perform sexual acts on each other.
I'd rather do it myself.

after all your sexually suggestive posts...and now this...I am convinced more than ever you are a Islam troll..you and nucular had better tell Osama he is barking up the wrong tree...your BS is not working!

 

[Gabriella84]

An Islamic troll who makes sexually suggestive posts? What is wrong with this equation?
So I enjoy sex.

If you were one of the serious flakes on this forum I'd say you made it up but you seem sincere.

I think you had it right the first time.

 

[archangel]

An Islamic troll who makes sexually suggestive posts? What is wrong with this equation?
So I enjoy sex.



I think you had it right the first time.

you are either gay or Taliban...you tell us...Queen of the Nile!

 

[Gabriella84]

you are either gay or Taliban...you tell us...Queen of the Nile!

I think you have been watching too much porn.

 

[Powerman]

Porn is addictive. It's a scientific FACT.
-------------------
That's possible. But it has nothing to do with cocaine. If you believe that you are insane. Alcohol is addictive. Doesn't make it the same as cocaine now does it?