Last night, once becoming intrigued after learning that Linda Lovelace was raised a Catholic, and attended Catholic schools, I started digging a bit deeper into her background. In her bizarre, but telling porn-era biography, “Inside Linda Lovelace,” she described her adolescent obsession with masturbation, teenage introduction to pornography by a rebellious female friend, and eventual employment as a stripper. Interestingly, in her autobiography, 1990s porn star Shelley Lubben told of her similar early childhood preoccupation with masturbation. As a porn-addicted 8 year-old, I was also a habitual masturbator. Although, I did not explore this problem, all that thoroughly, in my book, now, I wish I would have, for there is a definite connection between early reliance upon masturbation and later involvement in pornography and or the sex industry. Unfortunately, masturbation is no longer perceived as harmful: either physically, mentally, or spiritually. In fact, media outlets as diverse as FoxNews, “Men's Health Magazine,” and (of course) Planned Parenthood, tout the endless benefits of masturbation. In reality, masturbation is incredibly stunting, especially in the male. It encourages a constant inwardness; a craving for self-satisfaction. It subverts the life-giving act of sexuality into something that exists for pure pleasure. From my own time in porn, I always found it odd that the vast majority of the male actors had to stop having sex, then masturbate, in order to achieve climax. The other person, pretty much disappeared. This is related to the contemporary phenomena of couples who like to watch porn as they have sex. Sex has become not about two people sharing their love for each other, but about one person with another person: using each other. Pope John Paul II foretold of this sad crisis before the dawn of the porn-age in his apocalyptic book: Love & Responsibility (1960.) Now, we are all living with the human costs: couples who live together in order to discover if they are sexually “compatible:” married couples who quickly bore with each other's bedroom proclivities, then divorce; people of all walks-of-life who seek out more intense stimulation through porn, swinging, sex toys; misguided children who become prematurely sexual active in a vain attempt at happiness and self-gratification; and the enormous rise of sexually transmitted diseases and a reliance upon abortion. This Nation, and the world, requires an enormous amount of healing. And it must begin with our children. They must be protected and educated (by their parents and the Church.)