Made in the Image of Man

Cultures devolution into sexual immorality and pornography

In C.S Lewis’s Abolition of Man, he discusses how as society develops humanity becomes reliant on our innovations and in the process of trying to conquer nature, nature conquers us. We lose the innate abilities of the past as we try and make our reliance on the natural elements less. Later on, he discusses that as man furthers scientific innovation, he will begin to make man in his own image- in simpler terms, humans will use technology to make the men they wish to be and give future men little say in it.

There are so many ways this is prevalent in our society, many in ways I don’t think Lewis could have meant or predicted. From the growth in IVF, rising talk of genome editing, and procedures that allow us to shape our bodies into what we wish them to be or make them something else entirely, as a society we have fully accepted that to accept ourselves we must change. There are so many directions I could take this and perhaps in the future I will more closely examine some of these other topics more carefully but there is a specific topic I would like to discuss for this essay: sexual immorality and pornography’s prevalence in culture.

Today, I called out sick from work having been (and currently being) very sick. So I sat back on the couch and scrolled through Netflix to find something to watch. As I scrolled, a bold title caught my attention, Too Hot To Handle. I had heard of the show and been warned it was something I would not enjoy from a friend but I read the show description out of curiosity. What I discovered next mortified me.

While the title of the show itself is provocative, the actual nature of the show is far far worse. The premise is that a group of individuals who are considered “hot” are gathered together and face sexually stimulating challenges while resisting actually having sex or as the show ironically refers to it '“staying chaste.” The little clip that appears as you hover over the show revealed it was even worse than this. A little robot appeared in the clip and deemed itself “Bad Lana,” exclaiming when she was “on” the contestants were allowed to “kiss, participate in heavy petting, and even have sex.” The contestants proceeded to get very excited at the proposition they would no longer be sexually deprived.

Yes, you read that correctly. And forgive me for my blatancy, but if you are not absolutely disgusted and repulsed by that concept you need to do a self-evaluation.

The entire concept banks on the fact that as humans we have so little self-control, people would be eliminated from a show for not controlling their sexual urges around total strangers. Forget the concept of being in a committed relationship for sex (let alone married!), this show promulgates the concept that humans are simplistic creatures driven alone by sexual drives.

In the action of driving forth a grotesque premise, they commit an even worse act in the fact that this is a show. It is meant for viewership. Meaning not only are total strangers committing sexual acts with one another and challenges, but people are WATCHING IT! It’s pornography under a different name.

How depraved has our society become that we see our bodies as simplistic machines of pleasure? More so, how depraved are we that a show like this would have multiple seasons out? Have we truly devolved so much? Have we entirely lost our self-value and respect to such a base level? And what does it say about us as a society that we have allowed for this to continue on?

This is not a one-off chance, it is a reflection of a greater cultural shift. In our conquests over our bodies- allowing for contraceptives and alienating the act of sex from procreation- we have become like animals. We have lost all means of propriety in the quest for supposed “sexual freedom” and in doing so lost our humanity.

The other day, I was watching a debate on the Whatever Podcast, where Lila Rose (the founder of Live Action) and Trent Horn (a prominent Catholic apologist) were debating content creator Destiny and former lawyer turned OnlyFans performer, Jazmen Jafar. In their discussion, they debated the harmful effects of pornography. Destiny and Jafar claimed that pornography was good for society, much to Horn and Rose’s chagrin and disagreement. Yet, Destiny and Jafar were convinced that there were no harms to this content and absolutely no addictive consequences.

The facts would beg to differ.

69% of American men and 40% of American women watch porn at least once a year.¹ While only 11% of men and 3% of women claim to have an addiction to pornography, these are self-reported numbers. As someone who has, by the grace of God, never watched pornography, I am still not blind to it’s effects. I have heard countless stories in my life from both males and females of their addiction and their struggles. Like many addictive substances pornography releases a dopamine hit in the brain making the viewer want more and demand more.²

I can only wonder how the “soft porn” we have allowed to leak into our society more and more affects our brains. Countless shows now reflect this and Hollywood has made a move from closed-door romance to out in the open simulated pornography in TV. It is getting harder and harder to watch TV without feeling in some way morally convicted. Even books have begun to feature sexually explicit scenes. An entire genre known as “Erotica,” targets where pornography usually has less luck: women.

82% of romance readers are women.³ Last year 48% of print sales were for Colleen Hoover, a romance author well known for writing explicit sex scenes.⁴ Countless woman I know see no harm in reading sexually explicit material, even though they know as well as I do that the images floating in their mind are often just as clear as watching it online. And for many Christian women I know reading this content is not even a second thought. I vividly remember walking through a bookstore and a Christian friend of mine mentioning reading Hoover much to my shock.

I can only imagine the detriment this pervasive content is causing on how we view and perceive people of the other sex and how- just like in this show- it turns us into mindless animals. The fixation of all “love” in our culture has become self-pleasing gratification and heightened sexual moments rather than faithful self-sacrificial living.

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

John 15:13

The sacrament of marriage itself, where sex is meant to be, is a sacrificial exchange. Women are called to submit to their husbands just as the Church submits to Christ.⁵ Husbands are called to love their wives as Christ loved the Church a statement that in itself brings to mind that Christ gave up His life for the Church.⁶ Love is submitting one’s will and one’s life. It is where two become one.⁷ Sex is the interchange and gift of one’s self to another. It is a gift, not something to be gained. Not this endless pursuit of self.

The more we pursue pleasure, lose self-control, and focus purely on self-gratification, the more we lose God’s design for humanity and in doing so lose the very essence of what it means to be a human being. We leave a design for the future generations of humanity created by us, not God. What a devastating reality we face. My, how we have destroyed ourselves. Animals.

We have to stand up. We have to reject this notion of self-gratification which cannot extend past itself to see another person in their humanity. We have to shield our minds and be diligent in protecting them from things that are harmful to the soul. We have to preserve marriage and the family unit. And above all else, we have to pursue the Lord wholeheartedly and assuredly knowing that He is coming back one day.

We are not animals. We were made in the image of God.

Photo by Ashley Byrd on Unsplash

1. Source

2. Source

3. Source

4. Ibid.

5. Ephesians 5:22-24

6. Ephesians 5:25-33

7. Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:5, Mark 10:8, Ephesians 5:31