Leaders of the Christian Right are upset by a recent study that indicates “37 percent of pastors say pornography is a struggle for them and 51 percent admitted it is a temptation,” the Adult Freedom Foundation is learning.
“Wherever I am, no matter what the denomination, at least half the men in the church admit to being sexually addicted,” said Douglas Weiss, a counselor with divinity and psychology degrees.
Quoting the study published in the Leadership Journal., Weiss said, “The clergy don’t differ that much from the general population. Between a third and a half."
Focus on the Family, a Colorado-based Evangelical group, has quietly spent thousands of dollars sending pastors to treatment centers, AFF has learned.
Paul Cambria, AFF general counsel, says the study is unscientific and self serving for the religious right.
“This is just one more example of so-called religious people looking for an excuse for their own failings rather than taking responsibility for their own indiscretions,” Cambria said. “It’s pathetic what some people do and say in the name of religion."
Stating that the impact of adult entertainment on pastors and congregants is the “elephant in the pews,” two California pastors are calling for a National Porn Sunday, Oct. 9, 2005, to battle “America’s dirty little secret.”
And, that fight isn’t cheap.
Revs. Craig Gross and Michael Foster want every church to shell out $2,500 each for their “Porn Sunday Kits.”
Gross and Foster say the kits contain sample “Porn Sunday” press releases and “CDs, DVDs, software and access to the best recovery facilities in the world.”
The two pastors also run a website called www.XXXchurch.com which they claim is the “the No. 1 Christian porn site,” in the U.S. The AFF said there is no word yet on the number of churches that have signed up for “Porn Sunday.”
