A Response to “Psychopathology, Sin and Evil—A Case of “The Disconnected/Unplugged Man”

Abstract

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Psalm 51:5–12 (NIV)1

ABSTRACT. This article suggests a multidisciplinary analysis and a psychodynamic approach to pastoral psychotherapy when treating a male patient with schizoid features and habitual use of internet pornography. The article suggests a medical evaluation of hormone levels as a best practice prior to other treatments. Further suggestions include developing a broad understanding respecting the effects of pornography, individual awareness respecting personal attitudes and the capacity to be prophetic when appropriate as part of treating individuals with pornography addictions.

Keywords:

• Pornography
• schizoid personality
• psychodynamic psychology
• perversion
• Pelagian heresy
• Eucharist
• hormone deficiency

Notes

1. Breuer, J., S. Freud, et al. (1936). Studies in hysteria. New York and Washington,, Nervous and Mental Disease Publishing Company.

2. The concluding paragraph of the introduction to the Primitive Physick provides: The love of God, as it is the sovereign remedy of all miseries, so in particular it effectually prevents all the bodily disorders the passions introduce, by keeping the passions themselves within due bounds; and by the unspeakable joy and perfect calm serenity and tranquility it gives the mind; it becomes the most powerful of all the means of health and long life. Wesley, J., M.A. (1741). Primitive Physick or An Easy and Natural Method of Curing Most Diseases, London.

3. Much of what he knew medically has been discarded, but to split off bodily realities may be to deny counselees competent care.

4. High testosterone levels may be associated with hypersexuality. See e.g. Stack, S., Wasserman, Ira & Kern, Roger (2004). “Adult Social Bonds and the Use of Internet Pornography.” Social Science Quarterly 85(1): 75–88.

5. Often hormonal imbalances are misdiagnosed and rather than adjusting hormone levels, men are placed, on drugs to treat depression, elevated cholesterol and a host of other diseases that might be caused by an underlying hormonal imbalance. See e.g. Weede, T. (2005). “When testosterone falls.” Natural Health 36(1): 104–106.

It would be particularly appropriate for a counselee like as M to be referred to an urologist, since urologists specialize in male health issues such as erectile dysfunction. Many urologists work closely with counselors, especially sex therapists.

6. Researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory have used PET scanning to pioneer addiction research, discovering that dopamine receptor deficiency in the forebrain may be associated with an increased risk of both drug addiction as well as non‐drug addictions such as over‐eating, sex and gambling. (See www.bnl.gov). Such patients may “self medicate” and their dopamine activity deficiency may be associated with mild clinical depression or obsessive‐compulsive behaviors requiring psychiatric medical treatment. Mania and temporal lobe injury are particularly associated with hypersexuality

7. The current work of Pastoral Theological David Hogue and Paul Schrier compel us not to overlook the neurological issues associated with pastoral counseling. See, e.g. Hogue, D. (2003). Remembering the Future, Imagining the Past: Story, Ritual and the Human Brain. Cleveland, OH, Pilgrim Press.

Schrier, P. C. (2005). “Act of Mercy as Mimesis, A Neuroscientific Critique of John Wesley's Means of Grace & Sanctification,.” Journal of Pastoral Theology 15(1): 1–17.

8. Stoller, R. J. (1986). Perversion: The Erotic Form of Hatred. London.

9. Oddly, the sacrament of the Holy Communion also could fit under this definition. For a discussion on male violence embedded within Holy Communion, see e.g. Grundy, C. R. (2006). God's Resilient Table: Male Violence, Embodied Logic and the Healing of Holy Communion. Liturgical Studies. Evanston, IL, Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary. PhD: 231.

10. This is a classical low testosterone symptom. M may be confused and seeks a psychological explanation because he feels so badly. If this is in fact the case, the “perversion,” will disappear or diminish with appropriate medical care. Assuming normal hormone levels, I turn to a psychological explanation.

11. I note that the sacrament is referred to as Holy Eucharist in the Episcopal tradition, but the word “com‐union” (literally together with) seems to also express the desires of the unplugged/disconnect man).

12. Even where it is being prosecuted, crime labs are so backed up that cases could be dismissed on speedy trial claims.

13. Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184, 197 (1964)

14. In sharp contrast, we very often do not know evil when we see it. See e.g. Poling, J. N. (1996). Deliver us from evil : resisting racial and gender oppression. Minneapolis, Fortress Press.

15. Stoller, R. J. (1986). Perversion: The Erotic Form of Hatred. London.

16. According to Simons, 85%of sexual offenders admit exposure to pornography as children; 70%report being sexually abused and 70%report physical abuse. This is not to say that there is any evidence that M is exposing pornography to children. There is not. Exposure to pornography is extremely dangerous, especially to children. Not everyone exposed to pornography or sexual or physical violence will become a sexual offender. An orderly society must hold perpetrators accountable for harmful behavior and a compassionate society cannot ignore the victim to victimizer connection. As healers and as the church we must do both. The internet permits people with like‐minded perversions to find one another, thereby “normalizing” perversions.

17. While men are six times more likely to use pornography than women, pornography use is not exclusive to men. Stack, S., Wasserman, Ira & Kern, Roger (2004). “Adult Social Bonds and the Use of Internet Pornography.” Social Science Quarterly 85(1): 75–88.

18. (2006). Click Here for Your Worst Nightmare. Glamour Magazine.

19. Common understandings of pornography no longer serve us well. Some of us may believe pornography is a social evil because it is sexual, while others may defend pornography as a universal right to freedom of expression because it is sexual. Yet the truth is that pornography is not about sexuality; it is about violence, degradation, exploitation, and coercion.

 While there is not widespread agreement on definitions, the following are suggested as the basis for dialogue:

 Pornography is sexually explicit material that portrays violence, abuse, coercion, domination, humiliation, or degradation for the purpose of arousal. In addition, any sexually explicit material that depicts children is pornographic.

 The impact of pornography on behavior is difficult to measure. While there is little evidence that consuming pornography causes an individual to commit a specific act of sexual aggression, several studies suggest that such consumption may predispose an individual to sexual offenses, and that it supports and encourages sexual offenders to continue and escalate their violent and abusive behavior. Few dispute the fact that a society that supports multibillion dollar industries promoting sexual violence as entertainment and portraying the abuse and torture of women and children in a sexual context is a society in trouble.

 Pornography is inextricably linked to the oppression of women. Its appeal will continue as long as sexual arousal is stimulated by images of power and domination of one person over another, most often male over female. Pornography is also fundamentally linked to racism; women of color are invariably portrayed in the most violent and degrading ways. The destructive power of pornography lies in its ability to ensure that attitudes toward sexuality will continue to be influenced by images that negate human dignity, equality, and mutuality. Pornography contributes to alienation in human relationships and distorts the sexual integrity of both women and men.

 The explosion of the Internet in recent years has made access easier for providers and consumers of pornography, and especially for adults who sexually abuse children. There is mounting evidence that pedophiles routinely use the Internet to lure children into their hands. A staggering number of chat rooms promote rape, incest, sex with children, child prostitution, and other criminal and violent behaviors.

 Pornographic materials are being transmitted in cyberspace on a global scale, permitting access by both adults and children. Disclaimers warning of graphic materials on these sites have not prevented children from viewing them. Most sites offer free “previews” of graphic, obscene, and violent images and are linked to other sites. According to the United States Commission on Pornography, 12‐ to 17‐year‐old adolescents are among the largest consumers of pornography.

 Those portrayed in Internet pornographic images are typically women, especially women of color. Female bodies are treated as objects and commodities, and female body parts are dismembered and magnified for pornographic effect and cyber‐sexual consumption. The global nature of the Internet and its lack of regulation enables such materials that may be legal in one country to be accessed in a country where they may be illegal. National boundaries are easily crossed, and there is no international code of conduct to monitor pornographic material.

 Care should be taken that children and youth are protected from pornographic materials. The supervision and love of Christian parents and other caring adults, supported by the extended church family, are the primary source of sex education. A comprehensive approach to sex education offers an additional basis for countering pornography. Children, youth, and adults need opportunities to discuss sexuality and learn from quality sex education materials in families, churches and schools. An alternative message to pornography, contained in carefully prepared age‐appropriate sex education materials that are both factual and explicit and portray caring, mutually consenting relationships between married adults, is needed. Materials should be measured by the intentions expressed and the goals served, not by the degree of explicitness of sexual imagery. If we fail to provide such materials, accompanied by parental and adult supervision, we risk reliance of children and youth on pornography as the primary source of information about sexuality.

 The temptation to embrace easy answers must be resisted. Government censorship is not an effective tool to deal with pornography. To acknowledge pornography as harmful is not to sanction every possible legal remedy. Censorship carries an inherent risk that it will be used to limit sex education materials and erotica simply because they are sexually explicit. Yet to honor the right to freedom of speech is not to authorize expression of all ideas by any means possible. We know that the exercise of freedom must take place within a framework of social responsibility, with particular regard for the vulnerability of children and youth. A corporate decision not to allow pornography, such as by an online provider, is not censorship; it is corporate responsibility.

 The United Methodist Church is already on record naming sexual violence and abuse as sins and pledging to work for their eradication (“Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse,” 2000 Book of Resolutions) and stating that “children must be protected from economic, physical and sexual exploitation and abuse” (The Social Principles, ¶ 162C).

 Understanding pornography to portray violence, abuse and humiliation in a sexual setting, and understanding any sexually explicit depiction of children to be pornographic, we affirm that The United Methodist Church is opposed to pornography. We further affirm our commitment to quality sex education and our resistance to censorship. We call upon The United Methodist Church, its general agencies, annual conferences and local churches, to:

 1. educate congregations about the issue of pornography; seek strategies, other than government censorship, to reduce the proliferation of pornography;

 3. work to break the link between sex and violence;

 4. monitor and limit access by children and youth to pornography and sexually explicit material;

 5. participate in efforts to ban child pornography and protect child victims;

 6. promote the use of United Methodist and other quality sex education materials that help children and youth gain an understanding of and respect for mutually affirming sexuality;

 7. provide educational sessions for parents on minimizing the risk to children from Internet usage. Encourage parents to establish rules for teenagers and children; encourage parents to utilize screening technology;

 8. call for social responsibility in all media, including the Internet and in all public libraries, and work with local, national, and international groups that advocate for global media monitoring of images of women, men and children; and

 9. participate in ecumenical and/or community efforts that study and address the issue of pornography.

The Social Principles of the United Methodist Church The Nurturing Community: 42. Pornography and Sexual Violence (2004). The Book of Resolutions of the United Methodist Church 2004. Nashville, TN, The United Methodist Publishing House.