by Sam Meier
I was blown away by a bold article about pornography that the Knights of Columbus published in their November edition of Columbia magazine.
Here are the opening lines from the incredible article called “The Pornography Pandemic”:
“In a conversation with a priest in my diocese, I shared my spiritual director’s report that every other confession he hears from men involves the sin of pornography. The pastor’s response was shocking: ‘Oh, it’s much worse than that!’ Since then, this sad reality has been confirmed by many others: The sin of pornography is overwhelming Catholic men. Pornography is now more popular than baseball. In fact, it has become America’s pastime, and we are awash in it.”
I am a licensed counselor that specializes in pornography addiction. In the counseling office and the four Catholic 12-step groups in our archdiocese, I have had the privilege of hearing stories from many good people from a variety of backgrounds, including business leaders, teachers, lawyers, coaches, stay-at-home dads, physicians and police officers.
Many of these people have been trying to break free from pornography addictions for years without much progress, and it is a joy to see many of them now experiencing long-term freedom.
My wife, Beth, facilitates a spousal support group for women who are healing from their loved one’s pornography addiction. One of her favorite books is “Shattered Vows” by Debra Laaser, which provides a hopeful overview of healing from sexual betrayal.
Laaser writes that the ideal way for a couple to heal from a husband’s pornography addiction is for the man to regularly attend 12-step groups, the wife to regularly attend a spousal support group, and for the couple to attend marriage counseling.
We are blessed with a variety of Catholic counselors in northeast Kansas. In addition to my counseling, I have heard good feedback from people who have visited Dr. Dennis Schemmel, Mary Vorsten, Lamar Hunt Jr., Dr. Jill Thorne, Julia Kovak and Stacy Cordell.
There are many Catholics who are not at a compulsive level of pornography use that I will write about in the next column. In the meantime, feel free to view detailed information about breaking free at the website: www.MyHouseKansas.org.
Also, I was thrilled that over 1,100 people experienced Christopher West’s “God, Sex, and the Universal Longing” presentation last month! West gave an incredibly encouraging and positive vision of sex and marriage that is an incredible antidote to lust. I pray that Christopher West will be able to pack the Sprint Center or Arrowhead Stadium with this amazing presentation some day soon, don’t you?
Also, don’t miss out on Jason Evert’s incredible presentation about sex and marriage on Jan. 27 and 28 in Olathe.
