Safe Haven Sunday set March 12-13

Pornography is a devasting addiction which can erode an individual’s moral fortitude and potentially devastate an entire family.

Alarmingly, the problem only seems to be increasing, fueled by quarantines and telecommuting as a result of the COVID-19. Data shows that more than 28,000 people are watching porn every second and during that same second nearly $3,100 is being spent watching adult films. 

The adult film industry generates a combined  $97 billion worldwide and an estimated $12 billion in the United States.

And latest estimates predict that virtual reality porn should be a $1 billion business in three years, which would place it third behind virtual reality video game and virtual-related NFL content.

Perhaps most disturbing is that children are first being  exposed to pornography at the age of eight years old through a variety of mediums, including cellphones and apps.

“It’s not just the internet but all kind of media, magazines, television, which is the most bar-lowered opportunities for soft pornography,” said Dina Dow, director of the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis for the Diocese of Baton Rouge. “The Lord is not calling us to that. The Lord calls us to center on him.”

Pornography addiction has long been a concern of the Catholic Church and in 2020 the Diocese of Baton Rouge launched Safe Haven Sunday, which originated in the Archdiocese of New Orleans and developed by Covenant Eyes, an organization that helps people overcome the addiction. Safe Haven Sunday is a day when clergy members deliver homilies focused on the danger of the physical and spiritual carnage of viewing pornography. Additionally a booklet helping families navigate through the waters of a family member’s addiction is distributed and the Prayers of the Faithful focus on the issue. 

An E-book was introduced in 2021 and is available again this year, when Safe Haven Sunday is scheduled March 12-13, the third year of a planned three-year implementation. However, Dow emphasized the program will extend well beyond 2022.

“It’s not the end of the first phase but the beginning of a new phase of supporting families and individuals experiencing or they have someone they know who is addicted to pornography,” Dow said. “The reason why Safe Haven Sunday is so important is the call to make our homes safe havens, how our houses are decorated, places that are safe for your children to grow up in a technology world.”

“Technology is beautiful but there is also an abuse of technology which people take advantage of,” she added. “It is ripping apart people, families and individuals.”

Dow recalled stories of young children under the age of 10 being exposed to porn and having it turn into a serious addiction. Some 40 years later, some of those same individuals continue their struggles.

“It’s such an addiction that without group support, without accountability, without psychological and spiritual support (those individuals) will continue to struggle,” Dow said. “How can we as a church support each other on having an awareness of the accessibility of pornography as well as temper that?”

She does believe an awareness of pornography exists but is not sure if people understand its extensive use. Dow also strongly renounced the argument by some that pornography is a victimless addiction, pointing to research that shows a staggering 96% of young adults are encouraging, accepting or neutral when they talk about porn with friends. 

Only a little more than half of adults 25 years old and older believe pornography is wrong. 

“What happens is pornography leads to greater problems in society and culture,” Dow said. “When a person uses their eyes to covet someone else as a utility then all of a sudden the other person is an object to be desired and not to be loved. 

“It is lustfully looking at someone else for that act to happen, so the intimacy is not there. There are no two people joined in a union of love.” 

Dow explained that viewing pornography creates a physical addiction that causes changes in the brain. 

“I don’t think people realize once they are addicted to pornography their brain is orientated in such a way, it’s worse than crack cocaine, worse than physical addiction, because of dopamines dumped into the brain,” she said. “It does not last and like a drug addict it gets increasingly more violent.”

Often, a person addicted to porn will believe it only affects them, even if they are in a relationship. Dow argued that the addiction leads to deterioration of intimate and spiritual communication between spouses, which can ultimately lead to destroying the relationship.

Pornography can often be a gateway to domestic and physical abuse, data as shown and is also a haven for human trafficking, as traffickers sell young girls who are then drugged and forced to perform sexual acts in an adult film or risk losing their lives. Dow called those young girls and an increasing number of young men being trafficked, “victims in and of themselves.”

Dow said fighting the lure of pornography must begin in the home, when children are young. Suggestions include putting parental control filters on televisions and cellphones but perhaps more importunately, parents need to talk to their children about internet safety. 

“I know it is a difficult conversation but it is a conversation we need to have with our children,” she said “We are called to have conversations with our children before anyone else does.”

Dow recommended parents visit Covenant Eyes.com, which has a number of resources, including videos, that will help parents with their children.

“Connected,” the Safe Haven book to be distributed this year, allows families the opportunity for those uncomfortable conversations but at the same time help build trust among families. 

Breaking the cycle of pornography addiction is admittedly difficult but Dow said with God’s assistance it can be done. She said addicts must repent to the Lord, go to confession and admit they cannot do it alone.

Also important is support from family and friends.

“As God looks upon us with love, we should look upon each other with love,” Dow said.