An exclusive and comprehensive survey on pornography in America, and within the church specifically, reveals a large-scale exposure to porn, including in the younger generation.
The study titled "The Porn Phenomenon" was released by Josh McDowell Ministries in Texas, which commissioned the Barna Group, an evangelical Christian polling firm based in California, to carry out the research.
Four in-depth online surveys were conducted on 3,109 individuals among the general populace, American pastors and Christians, and teens.
The surveys found that over 50 percent of young and old pastors said they have experienced struggling with porn in the past or were struggling with it. Most of them also acknowledged fear of their addiction being known by others.
The Christians who were surveyed generally took a serious stance on the issue. As many as 41 percent of the adult Christian cohort said that pastors who view porn should be asked to leave church, and many believed that this is a problem faced by many members of the church including among the leaders. However, 16 percent of the Christians said pastors should be allowed to preach while getting help for the issue.
Over half of the young pastors said that at least one teen came to them for help with porn issue during the last year.
"I'll tell you right now, there is not one church, one Christian leader, one pastor, including myself, that has an answer for it," said McDowell. "No traditional message of solution will work."
In contrast, the general young population seems to have a much more accepting attitude towards pornography. Among the general population, about 90 percent of the teens and 96 percent young adults had a casual attitude towards porn, identifying it as something acceptable, neutral or encouraging, the study said. And one in 20 young adults and one in 10 teens said that their friends viewed porn as a bad thing. Only a small minority of adults and teens reported feelings of "guilt" about using porn.
"Pornography violates all relational values between the individual and self, the individual and society, the unity of our families and our moral fabric and fiber as a nation," said Josh McDowell, founder of Josh McDowell Ministries.
"When we objectify and demean life by removing the sanctity of the human person, our future is at risk," he added.
To address the issue, McDowell argued that the pastor must take the lead.
"Right now the Church, to its disgrace, is trying to fix broken men and we are not raising healthy children," he said. "Everybody says when it comes to children, parents are on the frontline. I say no, the pastor is on the frontline. Because if the pastor, the church does not take its responsibility and work with parents, train parents, educate parents, and I don't just mean biblically - scientifically, medically culturally [the problem cannot be overcome]."
