‘When I look into my wife’s eyes at the altar, I’ll now know that my promise to her is true’
A University of Notre Dame student is taking up a noble fight against pornography addiction, admitting his own shortcomings while helping his peers.
“Porn is a unique beast to fight. With other addictions, you can at least trash the drug,” Josh Haskell wrote in the student newspaper. “With porn, it’s much harder to separate yourself from the temptation. Your drug remains in your pocket all day, begging you to lean into just one moment of weakness.”
Haskell decided he wanted to be “free” from his addiction, and so earlier this year he joined a support group online. Now he’s helping others fight their addiction.
“In my head before dropping this article, I was afraid that I would receive judgment. In reality, what has been far more prominent is respect and support,” Haskell said, according to The American Spectator. “The truth is that my story is not unique at all — the vast majority of college kids have lived it themselves.”
His group has so far attracted over 125 participants. The groups, called AsceND, include “small groups of five men — one leader and four participants.”
“Within the group, each man has an accountability partner, and the leaders participate in accountability groups of their own with other leaders,” according to the Spectator. “In addition to group meetings and book studies, AsceND also provides opportunities to build community by attending Mass together, sharing meals, and volunteering at a nursing home.”
A similar group for female students is in the works.
He is not alone in his fight against porn use not just among college students, but among Catholic college students. Benedictine College in Kansas has made it a priority to help students who are struggling with pornography use, a problem even at the conservative school.
“Pornography is ubiquitous in our culture and the statistics for those who have been exposed to it prior to college or who are viewing it regularly are staggering,” Dean of Students Joseph Wurtz previously told The Fix. “For those of us who believe that pornography is a problem of epic proportion, we are doing our best to care for our students.”
Driving Haskell’s personal fight and now his organizing to help others, is his desire to be a holier man and to prepare himself for marriage.
“My life isn’t governed by the sporadic ups and downs of addiction. Through God’s grace, I’ve found freedom,” he wrote. “When I look into my wife’s eyes at the altar, I’ll now know that my promise to her is true.”
MORE: College stands behind ‘hard core pornography’ class
IMAGE: Rebecca D Lev/Shutterstock
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