Over the past couples of weeks, as I’ve been reading about how the porn industry is currently on moratorium due to the fact that one of its actors currently tested positive for HIV (our prayers certainly go out to that individual, by the way), I couldn’t help but think about something that I have oftentimes said with a lot of humor sprinkled with some seriousness whenever people gasp at the fact that I haven’t had sex (including oral sex—sometimes that needs to be specified) in over six-and-a half years: “When they invent a condom for the heart, maybe then I’ll consider having sex outside of marriage again.”
Because you see, here’s the deal. Although I am glad that the porn industry is being (eh hem) somewhat responsible by taking certain precautions to make sure that no one else becomes physically ill, I find it to be extremely unfortunate that it took something as extreme as an HIV diagnosis for them to step back and do some serious reevaluating about what they’re allowing to be done in the lives of so many people just to make a buck. (They truly bring real meaning to money is a root to all evil. – I Timothy 6:10)
For one thing, I thought it was a bit, let’s go with “odd”, that when the porn actor commonly known as Mr. Marcus contracted syphilis and reportedly infected two women, while he did get 30 days in jail (interesting that those kinds of sentences don’t seem to happen much in “the real world” when people contract STDs from others), seemingly folks still showed up on set. It was still “business as usual.”
But deeper than even that, after hearing countless testimonies from people who have left the industry about how much it harms yes, your physical body but more importantly, your psyche and your spirit; after seeing how it literally pillages so many individuals self-esteem; after witnessing, firsthand, the way it seeks to steal, then kill and then destroy the foundation of marriages and how it couldn’t care less about the biblical truths regarding God’s intention for sex, really…why does it seem like the porn industry doesn’t listen to the cries of others unless HIV or AIDS is on the table?
Sex wasn’t just designed to bring forth physical pleasure and no matter how much the world wants to lie or deny it, our emotions are involved as well. And no amount of latex or dollars bills can really protect you from that it can do to your spirit—as the actor or the observer.
So, while the porn industry pauses to see what they are going to do next, let’s all take our own moment of silence to pray for all of those who may not have HIV, but because of porn, they have low self-worth, broken hearts, troubled marriages and addicted teens.
These people may not be getting national attention, but they too are victims who need healing.