A great peril embedded into our world today, and even our situation here in the United States in particular, may arguably stem from desensitization. More specifically when considering how we react and sometimes even support such clear showcases of violence, crime, and a variety of destructive behaviors. Even when we do disagree with a certain action that we may view on the news for example, I think we have arrived to a point where we basically just take it for granted as part of the scenery of today’s culture. It seems as though this idea of desensitization could be strongly linked with a worldwide or maybe U.S. specific decay. It is clearly a slippery slope to continually expose oneself, perhaps many times without thinking twice of the issue at hand, to the constant bombardment of certain movies, music, current events, TV & radio programs, and social media that clearly make the aforementioned issues as commonplace, widespread, and even inconsequential.
Of course I am not advocating that we should live under a shell and simply detach ourselves from society because clearly this would be counterproductive and highly impractical in addressing the issue. My main point is that things that we may have found to be terrible once not too long ago are consistently overlooked in an apathetic manner. Furthermore things that may have caused a substantial uproar or could even offend many of those exposed to the issue may have called many to act accordingly before. Today our sense of genuine shock and reactions during exposure to such behaviors has grown alarmingly numb. When we allow or even support agendas that are contrary to obeying God’s word, we need to realize that there could be less than ideal consequences involved. Many of us would love to have the cake and eat it too in some respects. The reality is that without careful consideration of the cultural landscape, and standing firm as advocates of God’s word we must face the consequences.
I wouldn’t go as far as saying that desensitization is a sin in and of itself, but I think this state of being leads us one step closer to issues of the conscience. We must detach ourselves from having a seared conscience, which would be counterproductive to our plight as humans. It is counterproductive because individuals with seared or hardened consciences may not realize the gravity of their current sinful lifestyles. It is seemingly quite easy to find another human doing “worse things” or find people who advocate your personal problems. It is true where there is a will there is a way, but do we really want to stay the same pattern of behavior when we know the truth is quite different?
Recently I have personally been battling with the ramifications of pornography. It was a hard pill for me to swallow that what I was viewing has such a negative impact on the individual and/or his immediate family. My acts of viewing pornography for momentary lapses of pleasure were justified in my own mind as being harmless or at the very worst only harming me. The truth of the matter is that a decade of on and off addiction with something like pornography may have a long-standing impact, and certainly ridding myself of it has become a step-by-step process. Although I have stopped viewing it on a regular basis, after about 5 weeks of being off it I relapsed to viewing some recently. I know this was the wrong move, but I definitely do not want to get into pity party or discouragement mode – I know that these would only cement the mistake. Desensitization in itself works in pornography in highly dangerous ways also. Those of us who have chosen to consume it know that, just like drugs, you need more hardcore exposure to get the same feeling of “excitement” that you initially got when we stumbled upon it. It is much better to simply keep the course and avoid it at all costs, but that is also easier said than done. When we are desensitized to the situation we hardly think twice of what seeing a woman sexually might do. I think I can speak for most men when I say we begin to lose sight of what it is we are trying to battle.
The truth of the matter is, is that porn will continue to have detrimental effects on all it’s consumers in and outside of marriage. Although I am 23 years old and have yet to marry anyone myself, I know that when I meet my future wife I will have to be honest and forthcoming with my past issues regarding this sin. I am doing an okay job of getting rid of it with Gods unmerited favor and help, but I know that when the time comes for me to find a potential marriage partner and start dating – she will certainly need to help me in rectifying the situation.
It doesn’t cease to amaze me the extent of desensitization doesn’t revolve around only pornography. Practically any addiction or ill-advised deed might become second nature to us as we begin to form bad habit after bad habit. Thankfully I discovered a book called “The Solid Rock Road” (recovery program) and am thrilled to say that it has helped me to get re-grounded on the basic mission and get rid of addiction once and for all. Although this particular book is geared towards alcoholism and drugs, its truth transcends to pornography and other addictive behaviors as well. In any case I sincerely believe that the first 15-20 pages have transformed my perspective and outlook on it and I hope to continue on the right path.
One last note I wanted to make a point of is: try not to get discouraged if you do relapse to the behavior you are trying to defeat. The Devil and his demons are crafty, and we need to be sober, vigilant, and alert in order to resist his schemes. Stand firm in the faith and make sure to put on God’s full armor each and every day. The components are as follows:
God bless you in all your endeavors!
