Real world mininistry?
Over the smell of maple syrup and sausage, Gross and other guest speakers -- including a former producer of pornography -- talk to the men about how pornography negatively affects their lives, including relationships with their families and with God. The men who come to hear them speak want to make sure they don't develop a problem themselves.
"A lot of people think Christians sure don't struggle with this," Gross said. "The stats don't lie: Christians are consuming pornography. And to me, it's not a surprise."
Comments (3)
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The whole issue of keeping pornography legal is a great example of our culture’s total lack of understanding of sin and its consequences. We wonder why there is so much preoccupation with raw sex in our society; why sex-related crimes occur all around us, in schools, college dorms, jogging paths, on dates, everywhere; why our entertainment industry is utterly fixated on it. We wonder why people in every walk of life are seduced by Internet porn: teens, politicians, priests, college professors, moms and dads - everyone is vulnerable.
It cannot be said that modern American pornography is THE cause of all this; but studies and stats tell us that it is a major contributor. The root cause is man’s fallen nature and the sin that drives it. It’s high time we made definable hard-core porn illegal, on the Internet, news stand and everywhere. The tired old argument “if people would just stop consuming it, it would die out” is a joke. I do agree that only when a sizeable, spiritually-enlightened portion of the electorate decided enough is enough, will we see an end to this destructive force in our society. Until then we will continue to slide into the cesspool of drugs, porn, STD’s, baby-killing – ad nauseam.
Posted on April 13, 2007 8:02 PM
I have many problems with the concept of pornography -- the objectification of people (most particularly women), and the unrealistic expectations it encourages are at the top of the list. And I think Nikos is probably correct that the fascination with it tends to contribute to some pretty nasty things going on in our society.
And while I think that trying to get rid of one fascination for another (giving up porn for religion) might not be optimal, I suppose it's better than nothing.
Posted on April 14, 2007 12:09 PM
I have known plenty of oldsters, loving old grampas, who were "found out" after they died, with stacks of Playboys, etc. The vast, vast majority did not go on to do drugs (other than the panoply of stuff advertised so heavily on TV), get STDs nor become mad-dog infanticides in Darfur.
Posted on April 16, 2007 7:38 PM