I don’t want to talk about 50 Shades of Grey.
I really, really don’t.
Over the last 2 weeks I have read about 30 blog posts and articles on why the Christian shouldn’t watch this movie, why Christians shouldn’t be so hard on this movie, why women should not buy into it, why women should embrace it, why men should take their wives to see it and why men should take a stand against it. And, in all honesty, I am absolutely sick of all things 50 Shades.
So I am going to try not to make this a blog post about that.
What is this blog post going to be about? Sex. Specifically, what the commercialization of sex in our society leads to. Bear with me. I know some of you are probably sick of hearing about it too.
So here’s where I am on this. Today, I attended a forum on sex trafficking in America. And I listened to all the statistics that I have heard so many times before. And I realized how numb I am to the facts. So let’s restate them, because I know some of you are numb to them too.
-The U.S. State Department states that somewhere between 600,000 and 800,000 women and children are being trafficked around the world each year. The large majority are female, and more than half are children.
-The average age of those entering the sex trade is 13 years old.
-Around 15,000 people are trafficked each year to the U.S. from other countries.
-Around 100,000 children are trafficked in the U.S. for sex every year.
-Around 300,000 women are trafficked in the U.S. for sex every year.
-In most states, the law does not protect those who are trafficked, (even if they are minors!), unless it can be proven that they have been coerced.
So how does this apply to us? I mean, it is not like we can personally go out and stop this billion dollar organized crime industry, right?
Wrong. An attorney at the forum today stated that the only reason this industry exists is because of the demand for sex. We have commercialized sex in every way possible. Whether it is as blatant as pornography, or as subtle as song lyrics by beautiful “role model” pop stars. Sex is what sells. Why does sex sell? Because we buy it.
Americans buy around $16.5 billion dollars worth of music each year. Last year, the movie industry made around $87 billion. Victoria’s Secret rakes in nearly $7 billion per year. We buy sex. In bulk. (Not to say all music or movies are bad, and I’m sure Victoria’s Secret has made for some happy marriages along the way, but I’m making a point here so go with me on this.)
And guess what, the porn industry makes between $10 and $14 billion annually. And how much does the sex trafficking industry bring in each year? Around $150 billion worldwide. One hundred and fifty billion dollars. To buy sex. So, what do we value? We can say we value other things, but our money trail tells us differently. As we will see this weekend, when 50 Shades of Grey will top the box office opening. Oops. I did it. I talked about 50 Shades of Grey. Dang it. Well, I’ve done it now so I might as well go on…
Trafficking starts, and stops, with the commercialization of sex. So when we commercialize a movie that is all about tricking a woman into a brutal sexual relationship, we are buying into all the other things that go with it. Including sex trafficking. You might be thinking, “But wait! I do NOT condone sex trafficking! I would never!”
But guess what? Pornography of all kinds is a huge supporter of sex trafficking. Yes, even “mommy porn.” So if you are watching pornography, of any kind, you are now a trafficker. And when you watch this movie you are supporting a billion dollar industry that supports a billion dollar industry that supports organized crime that brings in billions of dollars to support itself. (That’s a lot of billions in one sentence.)
We need to be thinking about this in everything we do. From the tv shows and movies we watch, to the music we listen to (I am SO guilty), the websites we use (did you know apps like Tinder are just one of the online sex traffickers?), the women we idolize, the videos we watch on our phone when we are alone, etc. We cannot continue to support the way Americans have acclimated to the commercialization of sex. But that is what we are doing. We say to ourselves, “Oh this song isn’t that bad.” or “It doesn’t hurt anyone if my spouse and I watch this sexy video within our home.” But it does. It contributes to the way we have become desensitized to sex in our families and in our country. Which contributes to the commercialization of sex. Which contributes to the demand for more and more of it. Which contributes to sex trafficking.
So, stop. Take a stand one person at a time. We can do something about this. We can choose not to allow sex to sell. And it starts small.
I was going to leave “religion” out of this, so that no one could say this is about religion. But I just can’t. So here it is.
Philippians says, “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Lay down your pride and your desires, and make a sacrifice. Don’t think about yourself and what you want. Think about what those hundreds of thousands of women and children want, which is to not be a slave to the desires of others. And think about your own children. Your sisters, mothers, wives, nieces, and friends. Would you be willing to lay down your desires for them? In order to prevent them from being trafficked? Then lay them down for our sisters all across the world.
I’ll go ahead and put that tape back on now.
Radical Life is Tough 