If one searches the Bible, they will find no mention of the word “pornography.” The closest one can get are the words “sexual morality,” which comes from the modern translations such as the NIV. The King James simply uses the literal definition of the original Greek work “πορνεία” (pronounced por-ni'-ah), which is fornication. Pastors and church leaders, when arguing against porn, try to stretch the word in a manner that makes imagery of the sin (represented by the suffix “graphy”) just as sinful as the sin of fornication itself.

This is a weak argument, and is utterly unconvincing to people who wish to watch porn. A particularly effective counter-argument they use simply takes the same tactic and applies it to the other sins. For example, if watching pornography is a sin because fornication is a sin, then watching crime or murder mysteries that show someone stealing or murdering are also sins. Alternatively, some have argued that under that standard, other types of sexual imagery are fine, such as those that portray married couples, drawn images & cartoons, or simply naked photographs. None of these things depict fornication, and thus, escape the meaning of the root word.

Of course, those honest with themselves can feel the pull of our God-given internal moral compass. It clearly indicates that indulgences with sexual imagery are derived from the fleshly component of our being. Still, many are able to ignore that compass and lie to themselves in order to believe what they want to believe. Many of those that do will not be able to be convinced no matter what is said; but the recent debacle with PornHub gives Christians yet another glaring example at how poisonous the fruit of this wicked tree is; and maybe even convince some who do not follow Christ to abandon porn by showing just how harmful the inner workings of the porn industry really are.

The PornHub Debacle

In case you missed it, a recent article published in the New York Times opened a firestorm of criticism against PornHub after bringing to light quite a few women and girls who have been raped and abused on camera found their videos posted to the smut-site. The author summarizes his findings like this:

[Pornhub] is infested with rape videos. It monetizes child rapes, revenge pornography, spy cam videos of women showering, racist and misogynist content, and footage of women being asphyxiated in plastic bags. A search for “girls under18” (no space) or “14yo” leads in each case to more than 100,000 videos. Most aren’t of children being assaulted, but too many are.”

The company initially defended itself with a canned how-dare-you-question-our-integrity style press release, but after the Times’ piece was found to have credibility with the backing of actual faces and footage, the government and the financial sector took action. After Visa and Mastercard stopped processing payments for the site, the company began frantically scrubbing millions of videos from its site and announced sweeping reforms. The mere fact that it took the threat of losing the vast majority of its revenue to do something meaningful to protect victims of sexual assault or revenge porn shows the motivating factor has always been greed. Just the mere fact that anyone with a device can simply go to the site and watch some of the most vile videos ever recorded, no questions asked, affirms that fact. Anyone with a shred of prudence would want to ensure children are not able visit the site. PornHub execs didn’t even ensure children weren’t starring in the videos.

PornHub Pays Abusers

This pursuit of money above all is a signature trait of evil. Those that contribute by purchasing and watching videos provided by these people empower and enrich them. With that power and money, they turn around and provide financial incentives for abusers. It’s bad enough when it is a studio and the actors are paid just to fornicate with the other actors, it’s downright horrible when young girls and women are abducted and forced into slavery. The Times’ story details one case of a young girl who was enslaved into such a life:

“Pornhub became my trafficker,” a woman named Cali told me. She says she was adopted in the United States from China and then trafficked by her adoptive family and forced to appear in pornographic videos beginning when she was 9. Some videos of her being abused ended up on Pornhub and regularly reappear there, she said.

“I’m still getting sold, even though I’m five years out of that life,” Cali said. Now 23, she is studying in a university and hoping to become a lawyer — but those old videos hang over her.

“I may never be able to get away from this,” she said. “I may be 40 with eight kids, and people are still masturbating to my photos.”

“You type ‘Young Asian’ and you can probably find me,” she added.

Needless to say, Cali is a human being. So are the other girls and women that suffer similar fates. They have hopes and dreams that are brutally derailed when they are forced into that life. That could be you, that could be someone you know, that could be someone you love.

The Porn Industry Ruins Lives

Even when abduction isn’t the case, there are many that exploit the naivety of young girls, promising them some quick cash or a gateway to Hollywood stardom. Some of these girls, who were told the videos they make would only be shown in foreign countries and not in their area, were posted for all to see. The shame of being exposed has driven some far enough to attempt suicide. A young woman cited in another article said this:

“I’m going to kill myself if this stays up here” … “I was scammed and told this was only going to be on dvds in another country. Please im begging you please ill pay!” [SIC]

The outlet Vice investigated some similar claims and found credibility in them. They reported:

“Girls Do Porn was a sex trafficking operation that forced and coerced dozens of women as young as 18 into sex on camera, and lied to them about where and how the videos would be distributed,” … “The women were told by everyone involved, from cast and crew to the owner, that the videos would not appear online. After filming, their videos were uploaded to Girls Do Porn’s own site, as well as Pornhub, where the Girls Do Porn monetized its videos as a Pornhub ‘content partner.’ Pornhub also promoted Girls Do Porn as a content partner even after women in Girls Do Porn videos came forward about abuse and sued it.”

This trail of sin, slavery, shame, destruction, and even death is all fueled by the demand of those who watch pornography. It is a deeply poisonous and monstrous tree that spans all continents and corrupts billions of hearts. This is not a victimless sin. Don’t water that tree, and don’t eat its fruit.