Hugh Hefner did America no good

By: American Decency Staff

The passing of Hugh Hefner.  Due to time constraints, I will keep my thoughts and comments short here.  But, that will not be easy as Hugh Hefner brings sad thoughts and disgust for the degradation and the lives that he destroyed during his lifetime.

The name Hugh Hefner may not carry much meaning to the younger generations, but for those of us who are older (at least to those who by the grace of God have a Christian conscience) his name is synonymous with sleaze, slut, cheap sexuality, godlessness. 

Yes, there was such a day for many who came before me where pornography was considered taboo.

For the vast amount of American history, pornography was not openly sold at the local gas station or out in the open in convenience stores.   It was kept behind the counter and if sold – quietly, ashamedly and placed in a brown paper bag so other shoppers would not see what was being purchased.

That was in my life-time – still true in the ‘60s, ‘70s and 1980s.  Don’t get me wrong.  It wasn’t that there wasn’t always an interest in trashy magazines like Playboy. There was and as some will rightly say “There’ll always be lust this side of Heaven.”

The damage and degradation Hugh Hefner brought to humankind is deep and wide.  There are men and women reading this right now that could share heartrending accounts of the devastation done by Hefner’s dirty magazines.

One of the strongest writers and speakers on this very subject is Dr. Judith Reisman.  Reisman has spoken to various audiences in Michigan and around the world throughout the years.  Her book “Soft Porn Plays Hardball” is one of the best in powerfully documenting the damaging impact of Playboy and pornography.

Hefner’s years of publishing Playboy was intended to “accomplish” many things – in his way of thinking – legitimizing pornography was one of the mainstays of his agenda.   

“This Judeo-Christian nation has witnessed a major shift in the last forty years from valuing a delayed sexuality and exclusive monogamy, to valuing an early sexuality and extraordinary sexual experience.  The fallout could be seen as one in which we moved from abstinence to AIDS. 

.. Playboy’s testimony of that “we took girls off the street” reveals its sexualization of ordinary girls and women, making all children into sex objects for the taking.  It is argued the sexualization of everyone is reflected in the numbers of women and children – kidnapped, raped, and murdered – “off the street.”  As changing college males change society, as our college boys absorb sadosexual imagery, our nation becomes increasingly sexually violent.

Hefner’s “free sex” model began to dominate male-female relations.  Women felt used and vulnerable. One decade after Playboy’s opening issue (1953), disillusioned and bitter wives, most college educated, founded the women’s “liberation movement.” …

Women and wives increasingly became “surrogate centerfolds.”  Comparing themselves to massive photographic and cosmetic fakery, they were more and more ashamed of their bodies, their age, and their wrinkles.   …
[Taken from “Soft Porn” Plays Hardball – It’s Tragic Effects on Women, Children and the Family, by Dr. Judith A. Reisman, Ph.D. – p. 172-173]

So there you have it in a nutshell.  Just reading this makes my blood boil because the words of Dr. Reisman speak truth! 

Though it is true that the “genie is out of the bottle” – pornography is everywhere today – as we feared it might one day be as Hefner and others like him pressed their filthy wares using the new technologies that made it so easy to sell, rent, publish, circulate. 

For those of you who are struggling with pornography, I caringly warn you – “You’ve been had.”   There is no way – no way at all that pornography is a good thing for you or your loved one.  

Though it has been many years since I was “into pornography,”  I will never forget the hold that it once had upon me. 

I encourage you to flee at all costs.  Seek help, counsel, prayer!   There is help available.  If you want to talk about this, I can give you some direction.

Call 231-924-4050.  Or email me at bjohnson@americandecency.org

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Thanks for the support of so many faithful friends.  Yet, as we move to close out the month of September, we find ourselves in need of some strong support in the days ahead to keep us in the fight for truth and righteousness.  Your help would be deeply appreciated. 

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