Collegiate Times

Pornography is becoming more and more like a lifestyle for many, especially in the college-age bracket.
At least that?s what Michael Leahy said in a Monday-night presentation entitled ?Porn Nation? in Burruss Hall Auditorium.

Leahy said the presentation was not a censorship rant, but an opportunity to hear personal stories about how pornography affects people?s lives.

?It is an issue, and I ask you all to ask yourselves how it affects you as an individual,? Leahy said. ?Stop and ask yourselves, how do I view and treat others.?

Many videos were presented that gave the audience a chance to see how pornography can not only be entertainment, but can turn into an obsession.

?I think we need to take at this as a wonderful world of entertainment that uses sexual images to sell,? Leahy said.
One clip shown from a program on E! Entertainment Television said that porn has moved from a sexual oppression to a psychological sexual liberation.

?The fallout is undeniable with an outbreak of eating disorders and sexual crimes,? Leahy said. ?For every rape that is reported, five to eight rapes go unreported.?

Leahy presented his own personal story and showed a clip from the news show ?20/20? where his wife and him presented their story to the nation. He has also been on various national shows such as ?The View? and ?Dateline NBC,? he said.

?I saw women objectified and men being dominant, that is what I thought made up a relationship, everything was a game,? Leahy said. ?Exposure to that material came to cause a change in my beliefs.?

Many students sat in awe.

?The presentation was really eye-opening, especially about the number of images we encounter compared to the last generation and how these images affect our daily, real relationships,? said Betsy Potter, freshman German and business undecided major.

Leahy and his ex-wife explained how their marriage moved in stages, as they would have intercourse twice a week, which quickly turned to once or twice in a three-month period and reached its worst point when it fell to only once or twice a year.

Leahy said he could have many women anytime, and that he enjoyed sex with his wife, but was getting what he needed everyday through pornography.

?Internet pornography is the crack cocaine of sexual addiction,? Leahy said. ?There are 18-22 million sex addicts in this nation today, and there has been an expectation that in five years, one out of every two will be women.?

Leahy said his obsession led him into the arms of another woman and his whole family fell apart when he had an affair that eventually led to divorce.

?It comes down to a relationship, what you feed grows and what you starve dies,? Leahy said.

The event was co-sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ, Intervarsity and NLCF.