> At 01:14 AM Wednesday 10/25/2006, D. Michael Martindale wrote:
>>So are we fixing the problem?
>>
>>And if what we're doing isn't working, what is the cure for pornography
>>addiction?
Go to providentliving.org and hunt for "Addiction Recovery Program". Heck,
I'll make it easy for you and give you the link:
http://providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,6629-1-3414-1,00.html
I'm the facilitator of the group that meets here in greater Vancouver, BC
(including phone participants from all over BC). ARP is aimed at all
addictions, but I would guess that up to half of our attendees here are sex
addicts (yours truly included). (In our meetings, we don't identify our
specific addiction. But some have mentioned it, and others are merely
well-educated guesses by someone who's "been there done that".) Where
numbers warrant, there are often separate meetings for "pornography addicts"
(the church's euphemism for sex addicts).
The internet has been to pornography what crack and crystal meth have been
to illegal drugs; all of a sudden, you have very powerful stuff that is much
cheaper, much easier to get, and much more addictive than what was
previously available. And a lot of LDS are falling into that pit. I
daresay now that sex addiction is currently THE biggest threat to the
priesthood, as well as to the church as a whole, period.
ARP is based on AA's 12 steps. The manual is available in PDF from the
above link, if y'all want to peruse it.
The link has a line that says "Some consider addictions simply as bad habits
that can be conquered by willpower alone, but many people become so
dependent on a behavior or a substance that they no longer see how to
abstain from it." My definition of "addiction" is "if you can kick it by
willpower alone, it's not an addiction."
The above may all have been TMI, so I apologise for anyone for whom that was
too much. But it's probably the subject (recovery from, that is) that is
right now closest to my heart and top-of-mind, too.
PS There's probably no "cure". Lots of 12-steppers (anyone in AA, NA, OA,
GA, SA, or any of the other "Anonymous" groups) will say it's like diabetes:
no cure as such, but regularly scheduled doses of "medicine" (going to
meetings, working the steps, turning your life and will over to God, etc.
etc.) can allow you to have a healthy and relatively normal life. Reading
the original book "Alcoholics Anonymous" (available online at
http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/bigbookonline/en_tableofcnt.cfm) would
be a good idea if you want to know more. There are a few different 12-step
groups that address sex addiction, but the best from an LDS perspective is
Sexaholics Anonymous (
http://www.sa.org), because it has a firm "bottom
line" definition of sobriety that parallels the LDS definition of chastity.
(Other such groups often let one define their own "bottom line", an exercise
fraught with peril for the average addict, whose skills of rationalisation
and self-justification far outstrip those of ordinary mortals.)
Robert Slaven
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ronn! Blankenship" <ronn_blankenship@???>
To: "AML Discussion List" <aml-list@???>
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2006 4:37 PM
Subject: Re: [AML] Curing pornography (was Do Violent Movies Increase
Crime?)
> At 01:14 AM Wednesday 10/25/2006, D. Michael Martindale wrote:
>>Since people are (inevitably) throwing pornography into the discussion on
>>violent films, there's something I've observed and wondered about.
>>
>>We know that a problem with pornography is on a rise within the church. We
>>know that because it's become a regular staple in General Conference
>>topics every half a year, as well as local sermons. It's a veritable
>>D-Day-sized attack on pornography. And this has been going on for some
>>time now.
>>
>>So are we fixing the problem?
>>
>>I don't see it. The sermons get more and more ubiquitious and vehement as
>>time goes on. I don't get the sense that we're fixing it at all--on the
>>contrary, I get the sense that it's only getting worse.
>>
>>So why do we keep trying the same strategy more and more that already
>>isn't working?
>>
>>And if what we're doing isn't working, what is the cure for pornography
>>addiction?
>
>
> Matthew 5:29-30?
>
>
> -- Ronn! :)
>
>
>
>
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