In December of 2009, the Family Research Council released the results of a new study exploring the effects of pornography on marriage, children, and individuals. Because the Family Research Council is a Christian organization dedicated to the promotion of marriage and family, it came as no surprise that the study linked the use of pornography to a wide variety of harmful consequences.

What did come as a bit of a surprise was the study's use of divorce lawyers as a primary source. Citing the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, the study noted that 56 percent of divorce cases involved "one party having an obsessive interest in pornographic websites," while 68 percent of divorce cases involve one spouse conducting an affair with someone they met over the internet.

The study also revealed that, in households where one spouse suffered from an addiction to pornography, both spouses believed that watching pornographic material was tantamount to adultery. And yet in most cases where the marriage ultimately ended in divorce, the addicted spouse remained controlled by his or her addiction.

Reacting to these and other issues uncovered by the study, Dr. Pat Fagan of the Family Research Council said, "The fact that marriage rates are dropping steadily is well known. But the impact of pornography use and its correlation to fractured families has been little discussed. The data show that as pornography sales increase, the marriage rate drops."

Fagan also noted that pornography "corrodes the conscience, promotes distrust between husbands and wives and debases untold thousands of young women." His ultimate conclusion is that pornography is "a quiet family killer."