It All Goes Back to Porn

We live in a culture where access to pornography is as easy to get a hold of as a mobile order for a grande Starbucks latte.
I have been watching and reading a lot as #metoo grew louder and people started to take notice. We've all watched as Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, and many others were fired over accusations of sexual assault on women. For several months now, sexual assault has dominated our media and news.
But in all the news coverage and articles I have read, there is one connection that no one in the secular world is making.
Which is? That we live in a world that accepts and normalizes pornography. Sexual assault, abuse, manipulation, and the objectification of women all come back to rampant porn use.  It all goes back to the porn.
And nobody is talking about it.
When pornography is the norm, is socially acceptable, it opens the gate to objectify and use another person. When its the norm to use another person you see the mess we are dealing with today in the culture. 
If we really want to do justice to #metoo and women who have been sexually abused, we have to acknowledge the horrific damage pornography is creating in our world and culture and relationships.
We've heard snippets from some people in the media. Elizabeth Smart shared her kidnappers exposing her to pornography made her captivity a living Hell. Serial killer Ted Bundy said in an interview watching porn only takes you so far and eventually you need harder materials.

Nothing makes more money online than pornography. NOTHING. The human body and soul is treated cheaply and without dignity.

We have the science that viewing porn actually re-wires the brain in ways that negatively affect how men and women view and treat each other. There are pictures of the human brain that show what happens chemically when porn is watched and the brain looks very similar to brains addicted to hard core drugs. And yet there are still people who deny or downplay such findings.
We wonder why these horrific #metoo stories keep coming out. Is porn the only reason? No, but it is one of the main contributing factors.
If we want to do justice to women who have been sexually abused and manipulated we absolutely have to address a core problem that says it is okay to use women and treat them as objects.
If we cannot agree on that or start from this foundational point, then what the heck are we doing?
So many people (both men and women) have been harmed by the misuse of sexuality that because of things like #metoo everyone is more aware or talking about it now. 
People are more aware. Stories are being shared and experiences being validated. 
But if we want to do right by victims everywhere, we cannot afford to sweep its connection to pornography under the rug.
If people are going to stand up for the rights of women who have been abused and silenced over the years, then we also have to speak to this reality which is affected by a pornified culture.
It really does go back to pornography.