You Don’t Need to be Religious to Fight Porn
- By Nathan Glover --
- 08 Sep 2016 --
Porn addiction isn’t just an issue in religious circles.
At one time, only people of faith opposed porn. The reason they gave for opposing it was moral depravity. Other than that, pornography was regarded as a component of healthy and normal daily life. The advent of smartphones changed it all. It made porn available at the fingertip. The pervasive nature of it made secular individuals and groups begin protesting too. They were keenly aware of the addictive and harmful properties of pornography.
You Don’t Need to be Religious to Fight Porn[/tweetthis]
Churches have become open to speaking about this issue. The XXXchurch is an online ministry created for the sole purpose to assist people afflicted with sex and porn addictions. According to Craig Gross, a pastor of XXXchurch, there are three specific things which the mainstream church does not acknowledge in porn: it’s more acceptable, it’s becoming more of a struggle for people, and it’s affecting pastors too.
An in-depth survey conducted by Barna group found an increasing prevalence of porn among young adults and teenagers who now believe it’s morally okay to watch porn. Among all young people who responded, only 32 percent said that porn is wrong.
A large number of individuals struggle with addictions. And it is a fact that many churchgoers too struggle with porn. The issue does not come up much as nobody would admit the same in public. These are things which can be found out only through anonymous surveys and not through a public poll. The church, although trying its best to keep itself open to everybody, was not as successful as it had wanted to be. Many churchgoers continue to hide their failings and keep the struggles to themselves. These people keep up a happy facade in public places. Even though many churches are quite aware of the extent of the porn problem, only a few churches have instituted any formal programs or ministries to assist in the dealing of the porn problem.
A large number of church goers also struggle with porn. The same Barna survey shows that about 57 percent of the pastors and 64 percent of youth pastors have suffered struggling with porn either at present or in the past. Church people who had brush-ins with porn say that it has a negative effect on the ministry and a large number of pastors are afraid of being discovered.
“The fact of the matter is, your pastor is more than likely someone who is currently struggling with porn or who has had an issue with porn in the recent past. This can make them understandably less likely to talk about it,” Gross says.