A new television campaign, called "Porn Stunts Your Growth," was launched June 3 by XXXChurch.com.
Aimed at younger males, the campaign was marked to air in southern California during broadcasts of The Howard Stern Show, The Man Show, and on MTV, the Website said in a formal announcement, even though these shows often use porn and sex to promote themselves.
"The viewing of pornography will stunt your growth -- not only spiritually, but relationally as well," said Pastor Craig Gross, one of the Website's cofounders. The other cofounder, Pastor Mike Foster, said they used a midget as a spokesman in the commercial as a way to inject a little humor into the campaign.
"Some think our use of a midget is exploitive and not pastor-like, but were not here to be politically correct," Foster said. "We just want to take on a very serious topic using a little humor."
XXXChurch.com cites an MSNBC/Stanford/Duquesne study which claims 60 percent of Website visits are sexually oriented, and a Yankelovich Partners Study showing also that over 30 million people log onto porn Websites daily.
Gross and Foster's nonprofit Website has attracted some mainstream attention for their irreverent style and use of billboards, Web pages, airplane flyovers, and now television spots to put the anti-porn position forward.
"Foster and Gross arent afraid to shove the envelope to get their point across," said New Man's Eric Tiansay. "Their tactics have turned the conventional Christian activist method toward combating porn upside down."
XXXChurch.com also distributes an anti-porn software known as X3Watch, available for free download at the Website.
But they also feature a section, PornInc, which includes a listing of various findings from various sources that tend to support or otherwise amplify their anti-porn crusade, even if their chosen tack of irreverence makes them unique among anti-porn activists.
"The dirty little secret is not going away," Foster and Gross say on the PornInc section. "It's a big, hairy monster that has its teeth in our society. Let's not play stupid here and think that if we just ignore it, it will go away. Here a porn, there a porn, everywhere a porn pornIt's corporate and it shows no sign of going away. "
And they add that thinking only dirty old men dive into porn "would be truly naove" at least. "This is something that faces us all," they say. "Christians buy the videos, Pastors log onto the Websites, church leaders are buying the magazines. It's our kids that are logging on and our families that are being affected. It's our problem and so what are we going to do about it?"
Intriguingly, there is nothing on the XXXChurch.com Website suggesting any kind of government action in order to fight porn, and the site seems to go out of its way to avoid that kind of clampdown, implying a preference for influence and individual responsibility over interference.
"We do not judge, condemn or point our fingers at those in the porn industry or those who struggle with this issue, but we are not pro-porn," Foster and Gross say.
