I like transcribing excerpts from celebrities for a few reasons. One, celebrities are real people. One of the best ways to overcome evil is by shining a light. Many people struggle alone, which makes it that much harder to get free. Open and honest conversations can be an antidote to vice and addiction. Second, sometimes who says something is even more important than what is said. Celebrities have wide reach; what they say influences a large number of people, for better or worse, even on areas outside their specialization. Third, I know it takes courage to sound off publicly on an issue as awkward and taboo as pornography. Shout to the likes of Terry Crews, Billie Eilish, Lamar Odom, Russel Brand, etc… I know their willingness to talk about this issue has helped a lot of people. I am one of them.
Recently, I came across a fascinating clip of Kanye West sounding off on his former pornography addiction. Whether you are a fan of Kanye or passionately dislike the man, the impact of his testimony speaks for itself. The transcribed the except below is from 4:00 to 6:30 of Kanye West: The NoFap Prophet (Transformation).
Like, for me, Playboy was my gateway into full-on pornography addiction. My dad had a Playboy left out at age 5, and it’s affected almost every choice I made for the rest of my life. From age 5, until now having to kick the habit. And it just presents itself in the open, like it’s OK. And I stand up and say, “You know. It’s not OK” . . .
I got to a point where I was always letting that Playboy magazine that I found when I was 5 years old have an effect on my music. It could never be 100% everything it could be, because I had to add that in always. It got to the point where literally I went from “Jesus Walks” to “You’re such a f*cking hoe I love it.” I bet the devil was happy that day. It went to straight to #1 quick.
Kanye West
The whole video is about 15 minutes long. It begins with a recap of some of Kanye’s most famous public outburst, and contextualizes his change of thinking. Kanye also addresses some of the ills of social media as it relates to temptation and human psychology.
Bottom line: people in high places of authority, and people on a more local level, often lie about the dangers of pornography. They do not care if you screw up your brain chemistry (healing from pornography). They do not care if you stunt your social development (pornography and women). They do not care if you suffer in real-life relationships, romantic or otherwise. Some of them have an interest in making a customer out of you (P*ornHub/OnlyFans, etc.). Others justify pornography to enable their own lifestyle choices.
There is another group of people who still simply do not understood just how bad pornography is for you. When pornography was first popularized via the internet, we did not have access to the data and testimonies we do now indicative of its may detriments. Today, it is often a lack of education and consciousness that keeps people from coming to this realization. Unfortunately, people often do not wise up before serious damage has already taken place in their minds and relationships. If that describes you today, the good news is that complete healing is possible, with the right knowledge, intention, and effort. Check out the testimonies section, and read around on the blog.
In sum, if we eat trash food in excess every day, it’s a question of when, not if we will notice significant physical harm. The same is true of the toxic effect pornography consumption has on our lives. The flip side is that if we make wise choices today, we will reap the benefits in the form of joy, connection, and life satisfaction.
For more, see the complete archive of articles on integrity.
