This is perhaps the last of three posts. It has been a grim journey since the last two posts; the recruitment into Porn Matrix and its sustenance. However the reality is much grimmer, the reader has been spared some of these accounts only out of consideration for the reader. With the little we have explored so far, we are equipped to resist the porn establishment, to fight against the machine, to bring down the Porn Matrix.
- Porno is far bigger than rock music and far bigger than Hollywood.
- Americans spend more on strip clubs than they spend on theatre, opera, ballet, jazz and classical concerts combined.
- In 1975 the total retail value of all the hard-core porno in America was estimated at $5-10 million. Last year Americans spent $8 billion on mediated sex. (form here)
If there is one lesson from the previous posts (The Porn Matrix 2), it is that the Porn Matrix is most potent and has most effect in the minds (psyche) of people. Therefore the most effective strategy against it would be one of the mind; Jihad al Nafs (Struggle against the Self). We shall briefly go through some of the strategies that could be used to protect and to recover from the grasp of the Porn Matrix establishment. These are not exhaustive, and not detailed because links to some of these solutions have been provided for further investigation and application.
All men were not created at the same time nor were they exposed to the same experiences. Therefore some are ahead of others in this Porn Matrix. Some need to be protected from getting recruited while others need to be saved (by themselves or others) from the system because they are already embedded in it. So suggestions shall be divided into preventive and corrective strategies.
Preventive: Recruitment of the Young
Many who have consumed pornography, especially Internet pornography, remember their first encounter. It would usually be an opportunity that presented itself, perhaps not because one goes out of their way to seek it, but as simple as having the opportunity presented to you on a platter only for your curiosity or peer pressure to get the best of you. It may have been an advert on the internet one clicked, it may have been that it caught your eyes being sold cheaply, it could have been a friend’s copy etc. However your first encounter, imagine millions of others that are likely to go through the same situation as you, and very likely end up being recruited into the Porn Matrix.
Pornography has been around for centuries but never has it been so disruptive. This is mainly due to Internet porn and fast bandwidth which opened a never ending stream of pornography a click away. A study presented by Gary Wilson proves this point because young generation of porn users who started consuming porn on the Internet (not through magazines first) had a more difficult time reversing the effect on their brains compared to older porn viewers who were around before the Internet porn was in abundance.
So with a lot of our younger ones (12 years above) having unsupervised smart phones and other devices with internet capabilities, they only need to be curious enough to one day dare to make a “Google” search towards a sex video. And so it will begin. I don’t subscribe to denying them these devices but the usage should be regulated and supervised. There are many parental control applications for these devices which are not being utilized, some for laptops and desktops, and many online articles to help. Another strategy is to avoid creating an enabling environment e.g. privacy when idly browsing the internet because even if they don’t go to these sites an advert could drag them there. In fact, many boys have reported “boredom” as their trigger to consume porn, so it would help to keep the young ones busy even if it is with fun stuff. For privacy, perhaps avoid laptops and portable devices that could be used in a locked room, instead set them a desktop stationed in a common area of the house. It would be helpful if one is as tech savvy as the young ones so that they you can be one step ahead of them if you decide to monitor them etc. There are numerous ways to achieve non privacy and parental control, but these are not supposed to be lasting solutions, simply temporary solutions for minors. Eventually the young shall grow, and perhaps at that time they could be shown the “truth” about the Porn Matrix so that their understanding shall guide them.
Preventive: Communicate and Deal with Porn Habits Before Marriage
Perhaps the most common way women suffer from the Porn Matrix is by close association with men who consume porn. Given the prevalence of porn in how it affects our reality today, it has become a pertinent topic of discussion before marriage. Every bride to be should worry about this, just as she should worry about Genotype, blood type and diseases of a spouse; the porn habit is like a disease after all. Since it is unlikely the grooms-to-be will attempt to deal with these problems, which is probably their problems, the responsibility to bring it up is on the brides-to-be.
As convincing as it may be to the mind that a future under the dark cloud of porn is grim, culture may be a deterrent to many from talking about it with intended spouses due to the “appropriateness” of the topic. That is certainly an issue where a woman is considered “loose” were she to ever mention such topics. “How in God’s name does she know about it?!” they will insist, their minds making up the answers even before the question. Many would rather the porn elephant-in-the-room be hidden, tucked under the carpet, then close the doors and deal with the beast, or rather the beast deal with them. Hiding or neglecting a problem does not mean the problem goes away. There are a number of possible solutions to this, which I hope sisters (brides-to-be) would look more into and come out with better ones, while we work towards getting these cultures to realize and admit such relevant questions with the respect they deserve.
In the mean time, while the brides seek more creative ways to deal with this, a suggestion is to have a methodical approach to the courtship before marriage such that one has a checklist of issues to be ironed out, or investigated, before marriage; the checklist could include blood test, dealing with bad habits (including porn habits) etc. An attempt on such an approach can be found here. The benefit is that when there is a “checklist”, the bride is less likely to be considered “loose” for mentioning this issue; after all it is not her saying it, it is the checklist! Until we are able to discuss it as an issue without unjustified shame.
Corrective: Break Free from Addiction
Since the behavioral addiction of pornography is sustained by a physical restructuring of the brain, then the simplest solution is to reverse the structure since that is possible, thanks to Synaptic Plasticity. This is possible as we have mentioned that brain structures are sustained by repetition of actions associated with that structure then the simplest solution would be driven by Will Power which would destroy those perverted structures then create more useful brain structures.
Narrated ‘Alqama: While I was walking with ‘Abdullah he said, “We were in the company of the Prophet and he said, ‘He who can afford to marry should marry, because it will help him refrain from looking at other women, and save his private parts from looking at other women, and save his private parts from committing illegal sexual relation; and he who cannot afford to marry is advised to fast, as fasting will diminish his sexual power.” (Bukhari)
However knowing the limitations of the simple solution of will power, there are therapeutic solutions as well as ahadith, and some from other sages of the past; Muslims (Alghazali) and non Muslims (St Thomas Aquinas). I hesitate to include fasting (from ahadith above) here for two reasons: I do not have enough reason to claim that fasting would work for a case of addiction; if any effect, I would expect the fasting to be high quality such that mind body and soul deeply take part in the fasting, not the reckless normal fasting. Secondly fasting in the hadith seems to have have been subscribed as a preventive approach not corrective. With that taken into consideration; the following are possible ways to break free from Addiction (follow the links for more detail):
- Fasting; just to keep some Muslims happy 🙂
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; as with compulsive gambling
- Twelve-step programs; this is interesting because it involves calling upon a higher power e.g. God
- Medication; but I have reservations on these so let it be the last option
- nofap.org and other porn-recovery communities; nofap.org is an online community of ex porn addicts helping others to break free from shackles of porn.
- purifyyourgaze.com; the world’s first sex addiction recovery platform for Muslims… according to them anyway
Preventive: Protection from Recruitment
It also behooves the servant to endure pain and to experience affliction. The foremost affliction he can endure is hunger. In it are many benefits besides his being aware of the torments of the Hereafter. This is one reason why affliction became the mark of prophets and saints (which is) the greatest example they could set. Joseph (pbuh) was told: “You shall not hunger while in your hands are the treasures of the earth,” to which he replied: “I fear in being filled that I would forget the hungry.”20 Remembering the hungry and needy is one of the benefits of hunger, for it invokes mercy and (is conducive to) feeding (those in need) and showing pity for God’s created beings, because he who is filled is oblivious to the pain of the hungry. (AlGhazali: Abstinence in Islam; Benefits of Hunger)
For all the porn amateurs who are yet to be sucked into the perverted reality of Porn Matrix, the following should help.
- Fasting and avoiding excessive caloric intake (“Animal spirits” according to Hamza Yusuf)
- Recognition and awareness that the (effects of the) Porn Matrix is real; Neo had to know about the Matrix to rise up against it!
- Collaborating, participating and promoting anti-porn groups: some that have been mentioned above and others like the anti porn feminists, anti-porn activist, etc.
- Understanding/reflecting on implications of porn onto self; physiological, psychological/spiritual dimensions
- Understanding/reflecting on implications to others; spouse, family, ummah (economic and social). In line with the Prophet’s approach, imagine it is your sister (or someone you care about) in that child porn, imagine its your sister made a sex slave… how then could one support such industry even when one doesn’t pay. If we can understand this point, I’d be glad we venture into similar socio economic issues where exploitation/oppression happens everyday under our nose. It may not be sexual exploitation but it is exploitation, perhaps even worse. Unfortunately we, especially in Nigeria have been conditioned, to react to promises of heavenly reward and punishment, while numbed to basic ethics (and its philosophy). I bet if there was a hadith that says we get 10 sins for every porn video/image watched, we would react more, but we might feel no obligation to un-support this online prostitution for its ethical disasters, not to talk of social, economic and psychological impact… as if they are not all related. Do we not reason?! Is this mechanistic reaction to reward and punishment not what the brain does with dopamine to get us in this mess in the first place?! Are we not better than that?
Finally, and this applies as a supplement to all strategies that have been mentioned, Prayer. Neo was amazing in The Matrix wasn’t he? I bet he prayed!
The End
<*Music and casting rolls*>
Some salient points worth remembering from the Porn Matrix trilogy is: Porn is forbidden for Muslims, Porn is most powerful because of its powers to alter the brain physiologically and psychologically, Porn harms men that consume it and women who don’t, Porn Matrix is a paradigm of thinking about the world with ethical implications (from advertising to reaction to rape), Porn Matrix is sustained by us in many of our “trivial” actions, there is a big economic interest behind Porn Matrix, the Porn Matrix can be prevented and overcome.
Apostasy in Kano – A New Frontier
Today started with an interesting twist in the news, it was neither the world cup nor ISIS nor Boko Haram, it was about apostasy in Kano, Nigeria. Unfortunately the day didn’t end with that because we later heard about attacks (and deaths) in Wukari, Taraba State and this afternoon a bomb blast in Abuja and Adamawa (the two almost simultaneous). God save the souls of dead victims, and provide for the living. However, I intended to write about the case of apostasy in the morning so I shall focus on that now.
The news reported that a young (Muslim) man from Kano denounced the existence of God, or so I heard. In response to this madness, his family took him to a psychiatric doctor but the doctor concluded that the man is mentally sound. The family unconvinced with this outcome sought second opinion, as would be expected in every grave medical case. The second doctor came to the conclusion that the young man suffers from a mental illness of personality disorder. According to the young man’s emails to IHEU (International Ethical and Humanist Union), the doctor proved the personality disorder by claiming that even Japanese believe in God! Of course these reports may have left out more that it reveals but it provides an interesting situation and opportunity for introspection.
Not long ago Saudi officially ruled that apostasy is terrorism; and so a punishable crime. This was Saudi’s response to a poll on Saudis where about 5% of Saudis identified themselves as atheists. This was shocking to Saudi powers since it undermines the blanket religious status of Saudi; a status that is arguably only for the cities of Makkah and Madinah. These self-identified athiests were probably keeping with outward religious observance since they if they weren’t they we would expect 1 out of every 20 Saudis to default from religious practices. Not long after the Saudi fiasco, in Sudan a woman (of Muslim father but raised by her Christian mother) was charged with apostasy for becoming Christian, and adultery for marrying a Christian. For the former the penalty was death, for the latter it was 100 lashes. While unsure of Saudi’s prescribed punishment for “terrorism”, many Muslims believe (or subscribe to the reading) that the punishment for apostasy is death penalty as in the case of Sudan.
Of course not all Muslims subscribe to this view. One first has to understand what apostasy meant during the time of the prophet. To conclude that the punishment for apostasy is punishable by death is either to cherry-pick utterances of the Prophet, or to disregard a Qur’an injunction for freedom of religion, or to neglect the prophet’s character, or to ignore context, or to ignore the different capacities from which the prophet gives commands, or to do all of this. Simply put, apostasy is equivalent to a threatening political treason, not a change of heart. This is not the place for the debate on whether apostasy is punishable or not, but it suffice to say it is not death!
Unfortunately more Muslims perhaps subscribe to the position that apostasy is punishable by death. At least it is scary enough to know that Muslims around you believe that. In light of this, the move by the parents of the young “atheist” in Kano, is perhaps one of love and protection, not of loathing. If I were a parent with an “atheist” child in Kano, I’d rather call it madness than try to reason with the child because to reason is to attract wrath of the public; especially when the child allegedly broadcasts his “atheist” views on twitter. This is not to say the average Muslim in Kano is violent, no way especially given the diverse communities of Muslims in Kano, but it makes him an easy target for those who would want to use his beliefs as an excuse.
The public’s reaction is another point of reflection. Many people are reporting the event as: A man in Kano has gone mad, he denounces God! Luckily I have heard the original report in the morning so I know it should be reported more accurately as: A man is being considered mad because he denounces God. If the difference between the two is not clear, let us examine further. By default majority of people accept and conclude that this person must be mad; just like his parents do. However we have good reasons to suspect his parents “concluded” that to protect him (psychological defense mechanism) whereas the public seems to genuinely believe he is mad. Perhaps many heard the story from hear-say so they were already given adulterated version of the story. However the public psyche is not one with so much of intolerance for apostasy, but of ignorance and shock of apostasy! The public does not seem to adequately grasp apostasy; in its legal ramification as we have seen, and its theological significance which we shall soon see. In addition, the public’s reaction to the shock is to attribute it to madness since madness explains all the unexplainables. I won’t be surprised if some people are already explaining the situation as a case of magic spell casted on the young man. It is a case of shock where Muslims are confused as what to do.
The final point of interest is the position of apostasy within theology. Muslim history has had enough scars that persist today due to the most heated theological debates that took place early in its history. It was so rich a tradition that it resulted in its own sciences; the science of Kalam (speculative theology). Blasphemy was equated with apostasy. When definition of apostasy differs from school to school, its meaning becomes only an indication of disagreement. It was not uncommon for opponents of different “schools of Kalam” to denounce the other as apostates aka Kuffaar. This strategy in Kalam still persist, but now everywhere even outside Kalam. Of course there were the likes of Al Ghazali who sought theological tolerance, but seeking tolerance is not as sensational as denouncing others. In essence much of that tradition, or at least in its present mutation, is a power struggle; people seeking to affirm their theological positions by deposing and apostatizing others.
With regard to the situation of the young man in Kano, it could be simply a case of him disagreeing with theological positions of others. Of course I say this with a caveat because I have not looked into the content of his claims for four reasons: avoid slipping from research into gossip; I got a clue about his type of “atheism” from a report by IHEU; I have to work on my 9-to-5 job; his situation is only relevant to me as a general case. In fact, I know people who know the young man closely, to some extent, but I have not ventured into that. All I have from the report by IHEU is that he was being blasphemous and that he denied Adam (the first Man) existed. I am not surprised if it is based on this that he was accused of atheism; unless he is a self-identified atheist. Or if as some say, he denied existence of God, then of course that would be literally an atheist. Like I said it would not be surprising if he was simply accused of atheism but his concern about Adam is one that is being debated even among scholars that are grounded in the scripture. I have written about it within the framework of evolution. Of course these scholars do not deny an Adam, they simply have a different interpretation of Adam not in the literal sense but with an evolutionary slant. All this may say more about the intellectual desertion of Muslims and their unpreparedness to face of the challenges of this age where we are brought up on post European-Enlightenment reasoning.
Were many to ask certain questions about their held beliefs, they might end up becoming apostates. And many are aware of this. So the solution many have taken is to not ask questions, rather than to ask the questions properly and seek to resolve them within the proper framework. The Qur’an in numerous places assures us that if we were to proceed with proper reasoning, we would always be lead to God. Certainly reasoning according to European Enlightenment has its merits but it is deficient especially because of the historical baggage in its formation. What if the young man had all these questions but the religious community could not engage him on the level he was thinking? This is a wake up call to Muslims.
The situation says something about Muslims’ intellectual standing as a religious community especially in the field of apologetics. Muslims in Nigeria have been too comfortable with picking-on Christianity for far too long; that is what I call much of the prevalent straw-man debates with Christianity. Now a new breed is in town, it is atheism. Debates with atheism has been going on in many countries for a while now, especially “western” countries. I welcome this because perhaps it will change the position of Muslims from constantly trying to convert Christians to a more introspective position when they might have to reason through their beliefs because they take so much for granted. Of course it is for those who care to get involved in the debate.
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