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(LifeSiteNews) — On this week’s episode of The Van Maren Show, Jonathon speaks with Jacob Valk, producer of the anti-porn documentary “Into the Light,” about the dangers of pornography, how parents, schools, and churches can “porn-proof” their communities, why community is essential for defeating porn addiction, and more.

After briefly discussing “Into the Light” and why it was created, Jonathon asked Valk about how “Into the Light” is taking a community approach to combat porn addiction. The host noted that homilies or talks against pornography, including those given by him, are typically not enough to stop young people from looking at porn for good.

“But the reality is that a big chunk of the kids who are going to commit to quitting porn after hearing the presentation and asking some really personal questions, they’re going to lapse back into it in a week or two or maybe longer if they don’t have community support,” the host said.

Valk agreed that community support is essential for children and teenagers struggling with porn addiction.

“You cannot be on an island when it comes to thinking about technology and training your kids in sexuality. And it’s an odd thing because God designed sexuality to be, in a lot of ways, a beautiful, private, and intimate thing. And everything in the world and culture has ripped it from that context and plastered it on billboards,” Valk said.

Valk then highlighted an episode series, “Into the Light,” put together for parents, churches, and schools to watch together and take a community approach to helping their kids beat this addiction.

“And we keep telling people, ‘If you can invite some families over, pull a couple Wednesday nights in a row, watch this series together.’ Because that vision of being able to send your kids over to a friend’s house knowing that they’ve thought about routers, that they’ve talked to their children about what is appropriate to touch at what times, and openness with parents, all of those different categories,” he said.

A bit later in the episode, Jonathon switched gears slightly, asking Valk about the challenge of reaching younger generations, who have now entered marriage with profoundly broken views of what marriage and sexuality are because of their brains being exposed to pornography as early as eight years old.

“It cannot be overstated how hard it is for a well-meaning dude that loves Jesus. He’s trying when everything he’s known about sexuality has been distorted since sexuality was a thing to be known about. And a decade … of daily pornography use, trying to rewire… trying to get out of that, it takes a lot of time and a lot of patience. There’s no shortcut for this; it’s just hard work. It’s regular accountability; it’s meeting [with someone] one-on-one,” Valk said.

Then he stressed that this addiction is just as much a struggle as alcoholism for many, which is why a communal approach is necessary.

“It becomes a communal question of both recognizing how significant the problem is and for those who have by the grace of God found freedom, equipping yourself like mad to be able to walk alongside your brothers and sisters and everybody involved in order to start discipling. And it’s possible,” Valk said.

To hear more from Jacob Valk about the struggles of porn addiction, how to defeat it as a community, and much more, tune in to this week’s episode of The Van Maren Show.

The Van Maren Showis hosted on numerous platforms, including Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube, iTunes, and Google Play.

For a full listing of episodes, and to subscribe to various channels, visit our Acast webpage here.

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