Science reveals that pornography is addictive and ruins marriages and sex lives, causes a lack of interest in family life, and actually causes brain damage. Yet, it flourishes. Thanks to the internet, temptation is everywhere.

Pornography is the giant Goliath against David—those fighting it. I have great admiration for the Davids of the world and want to highlight two of them fighting against pornography: Walter Hoye and Matt Fradd. Fradd you might expect because he’s a well-known author and speaker helping people to escape the grips of pornography. But Hoye?

If you know him at all, it’s probably as the black, ordained Baptist minister in the book,  Black and Prolife in America who caused a weekly dip in abortions every time he prayed outside an abortion facility in Oakland, California. His mission is to save babies, but there is a short story in the book about his fight against pornography while in jail.

 

Jail Cleansing

Hoye had been sentenced to 30 days in the country jail for a crime that was later declared unconstitutional. The pro-abortion community, rattled by his success stopping abortions, concocted a bubble ordinance. Then, they lay in wait until Hoye got less than 8 feet away while offering a woman a brochure about where she could get help.

During his time in jail, which included fasting on just apple juice, holding a prayer group, and winning the hearts of many fellow inmates, Hoye resented that pornography was taped up in the showers and under bunks—contraband that the guards ignored. He was used to going against the grain by being prolife among a race where many leaders supported abortion under the influence of Planned Parenthood’s blood money. Steeled against needing approval, he was not afraid to insist that the pornography needed to go.

Even those on his side might have said: Seriously Walter? Aren’t you in enough trouble? This is not your fight. But pornography is against God’s desire for human dignity, so it was Hoye’s fight.

One day, he called a meeting of his cell block and asked for a vote to get rid of it. “I want to know if we can take this down,” Hoye asked. Many of the men had come to respect him, but there was derision; some angry and some pondering the request.

“Some were Catholic, some were Protestant, and they knew,” Hoye wrote in the book. Most were willing to support his request out of respect for him, but a faction of tough guys, known for violence, threatened anyone that took it down. They even told Hoye they’d kill him. So, it was put aside for the moment.

I assume Hoye talked to God about the situation, because a funny thing happened next. At 3 a.m., three of the four tough guys were shipped out to San Quentin prison. Hoye then informed the one remaining tough that the porn was coming down. He collected and trashed every pornographic image in sight. There were no complaints and no more porn, at least not while Hoye was there.

 

STRIVE for 21 Days

 I love that story because it reveals the depth of Hoye’s love for God and others by refusing to look the other way with the excuse, it’s not my problem. It’s that same motivation to serve God and others behind Matt Fradd’s full-time fight to free people from pornography. He is a husband and father of three who includes his own testimony while helping others to experience the freedom of recovery.

Fradd is the bestselling author of several books, including the Amazon No. 1 best-seller, The Porn Myth: Exposing the Reality Behind the Fantasy of Pornography. He has also just introduced STRIVE, a 21-day detox from pornography program for men that begins March 27. It will also run again at later times during the year.

Fradd explained in the trailer: “Deep down we all have this desire to be men of integrity and of character… but things can get in the way. One of the biggest obstacles that gets in the way of us being the men we desire to be, is pornography.” Over the past decade, men have repeatedly told him they know porn is bad but ask: “What do I need to do to be free?”

“STRIVE is a program like no other,” Fradd said. “Men will be entering a worldwide community of brothers who are committed to a common mission and who are supporting each other along the way.” They will walk through a step-by-step plan to experience the freedom of quitting porn for good using powerful videos and live interaction with Fradd and others throughout the series. Men can register for it at strive21.com. 

Although STRIVE is for men, many women also suffer from pornography. Fradd’s books also apply to women, including, Delivered: True Stories of Men and Women who Turned Porn into Purity. Resources for both men and women are listed at John Paul II Center for the New Evangelization.