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We live in a visual generation. The language of the culture is pictures and images. In this information age, the mass media seems increasingly omnipresent transmitting images via the internet, cable and satellite TV and even through video games. The pictures and images which assail us daily are aggressively sensual. Pornography is peddled vigorously through movies, music videos, and the internet and in magazines on sidewalks. Even ads and commercials employ all kinds of sexual innuendos to sell everything from auto parts to toiletries. A few weeks ago TV viewers were held spell bound by Big Brother Nigeria , reality TV show. Since then the participants have become celebrities.   
 

This hyper-sensuality in the media has been attributed to a number of causes. It has been blamed on the fact that sex is a commercially viable element of entertainment these days. In other words, sex sells, so pump the viewing public with more of these sensual images and make even bigger profits. Others say that the soft pornography which we encounter daily is merely reflective of an increasingly hedonistic culture.  

Whatever the case, we must not fail to note the spiritual and moral implications of hyper-sensuality on this generation and especially on the impressionable young ones. Pornography is not just a sociocultural phenomenon; it is a spiritual force committed to keeping mankind in perpetual slavery to its passions. The word pornography itself originates from a Greek root that literally means the writings of prostitutes. In ancient times that referred to graphic materials that were used to advertise prostitution. The erotic nature of the graphics was aimed to stimulate the readers desire to patronize the prostitutes. Prostitution which is often called the oldest profession has always been linked with fertility cults. Historically, temples dedicated to idols such as Baal and Asherah had thriving prostitution rings thriving around them so there is a spiritual element that we must recognize.  

 Thus from ancient times till now the essence of pornography has remained the same. It is not as some say, simply a reflection of the society in which we live. Rather it aims to influence social behaviour by promoting promiscuity, thereby shaping the society. In our present social reality, it isnt difficult to trace the connection between increased sexual promiscuity and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Consider also the alarming casualty rates stemming from these plagues. AIDS alone presently accounts for over one million orphans in Nigeria .  

Pornography depersonalizes the human body and perverts human sexuality. Many men and women who are bound by this spirit are unable to maintain wholesome relationships with the opposite sex or to sustain their marriages because they see their partners as sex objects and as instruments of physical pleasure.
 

The images and the pictures of the media also influence fashion trends. The tendency to wear clothes that bare as much flesh as possible is part of the mosaic of pornography. Men under the influence of pornography tend to see women as merely objects for their physical gratification. Women on their part, resort to using their sexuality as a tool of power and manipulation. They unwittingly buy into the worlds idea of the woman as having no value except for her body. The net consequence of this is a breakdown in relations between genders due to their perverted view of themselves. The fabric of marriage, the family and therefore society at large is thus slowly eroded. 

There is a yet bigger picture to all this. We must see pornography as a satanic assault on Gods purposes for our generation as many Christians are also harassed by this spirit. Many Christian, elders, pastors are caught in the vice grip of internet pornography. We are living in the days of which the prophet Joel and the apostle Peter prophesied, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Having dreams and visions are aspects of prophetic and revelatory gifting that have to do with visual perception. God intends at this time to empower the church in a greater measure with the ability to see past the natural into the spirit realm and from there broadcast heavenly solutions to earthly ills. It is no accident therefore that at this same time, we are witnessing the heaviest visual bombardment of pornography in media history. Some philosophies say that the eyes are the windows of the soul. By that they echo the biblically accurate idea that through our eyes, ideas and images can find their way into our hearts and corrupt or edify us from within.  

  

Pornography serves as Satans instrument to steal our prophetic power. By assailing us with pornographic pictures and preoccupying us with sensual images, he clouds our spiritual perception, keeping us earthly minded and unable to access divine revelation. It renders us unable to make judgments other than by sensory perception when we are meant to walk by faith and not by sight. A church that cannot perceive God is spiritually defenceless.
This is why David wrote, I will set before my eyes no vile thing while Job said, and I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a maiden.   

We can engage pornography by first of all protecting ourselves. We must guard our hearts and our eyes realizing that pornography attacks our fellowship with God. We must in the same light also protect our children from the visual onslaught of the media by being selective in the sort of things that they watch and read. Beyond the home front, the church can ally with other civil society organizations to campaign for moral sanity on our billboards, TV screens and in our home videos. This campaign should extend to popular fast food eateries where the television is permanently locked on Channel O and MTV usually airing music videos infused with soft pornography. At the very least, these establishments should be pressured to restrict their showing these channels to evening hours when impressionable children are unlikely to be present.
 

Finally the church must see media and entertainment as yet another space for which we must contend for the kingdom of God . Believers called to this arena must see themselves as agents of change divinely empowered to creatively propagate the values of the kingdom in ways that will redefine entertainment and ultimately shape the culture. 

Osinuga Mobolaji (EI)