By Angela Tooley

With the recent passing of Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner, I have been reflecting on his multiple legacies.

Media coverage has celebrated him as

• a champion of the first amendment,
• a liberator “from the shackles of repressive thinking”
• a hero with “a sense of social responsibility”
• being “one of the world’s most influential icons.”

As you might expect I think that is repulsively absurd.

I agree with coverage that accurately describes Hefner as a

“grinning pimp… taking pleasure at the expense of the vulnerable, poor and not-yet-born.” Hefner left a legacy that made “our culture coarser and crueller.”

Unfortunately, there is a more personal legacy. If you know Eric’s story of his pornography struggle then you know that as a young teenager he discovered a stash of porn magazines that belonged to his dad. Eric has shared how this discovery was a huge enticement to seek out more pornography in his youth.

Decades later as Eric and I cleaned out his parents closet I found this same stack of magazines just as Eric had described where he found them.

What I felt that day was pure rage!

• for what happened to Eric,
• for how that would go on to hurt our marriage,
• For how that would hurt me, and
• for the countless others who likewise suffer from the legacy of what Hefner and others like him created.

Noble Choices exists to create another legacy.

• We speak the truth about pornography and sexual addiction.
• We seek to educate all ages about this insidious trap.
• We minister to those who struggle and those who have been hurt.

We hope and pray that our legacy will be of recovery and prevention from sexual addiction in all its awful forms. If your family, church or school has a need to address then we are ready to help. Please contact us and let us be a resource for you.

“Nothing makes me happier than to hear that my children live in the truth.” 3 John 1:4 (GNT)

Douthat, R. (2017, September 30). Speaking Ill of Hugh Hefner. Retrieved from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/30/opinion/hugh-hefner.html

Ellis, J. (2017, October 5). Hugh Hefner Was More Than a Playboy, Promoting Equality and Free Speech. Retrieved from Newsweek: http://www.newsweek.com/more-playboy-hugh-hefners-driving-inspiration-676825