The Individual Sin of Consumption
Some young people, while watching pornography, believe the matter is only between them and the screen. They think, "I haven’t harmed anyone. I’m sitting alone, opened a clip, then closed it, and that’s the end of it."
But the truth is, when you open these clips, you don’t see what lies behind the screen—you don’t see the filthy market that you’re giving a new number to, a new view, and a new demand. This is exactly what struck the repentant man from pornography. When he understood what lay behind these sites, he said, "When I open these pornographic sites, I am funding these people. My following of these clips is the reason these criminals increase their work and strive to bring in more women and people to traffic them for sex."
The Bill of Consumption and Human Trafficking
Every time there is more traffic to these sites, their greed and tyranny increase. The repentant man said, "I realized I was a participant in all of this." Then he said, "How many people have suffered because of me and people like me? By God, when I imagined the children and women being trafficked for sex and pornography, I almost died from the agony."
Here is the lesson, my brothers and sisters: Pornography is not an individual sin you commit and then it’s over. Every view, every visit, every interaction is a number added to a filthy market built on humiliating human beings, commodifying bodies, and spreading sexual frenzy for the benefit of criminals who see nothing but the growth of their wealth in the destruction of people’s honor and the burning of their worldly life and hereafter.
Exiting the Criminal System
You might say, "I didn’t intend all of this." It’s true; you may not have intended it, but your lack of intention doesn’t mean you’re outside the system. One of the greatest aids to repentance is realizing that pornography is not just a private sin but participation in an unjust, criminal system that you must exit immediately.