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Pornography is a "glaring and graphic symptom" of a larger problem America faces. That is, seeking gratification in all the wrong places, said one of the nation's pre-eminent evangelical leaders.
"There is clearly a nation awash with pornography right now, and evangelical Christians are certainly concerned about that," said the Rev. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Theological Baptist Seminary, of the multi-billion porn industry in America, on Monday.
Mohler was invited along with a rabbi to appear on a CNN special on "God, Sex and Greed." The Monday showing was hosted by Roland S. Martin, a CNN contributor who believes religious groups should engage in healthy dialogue about sex rather than "force the issue underground."
"God gave us the gift of sex, yes, for pleasure, for procreation," said Mohler. "But He gave it to us within the covenant of marriage, where He knew it would be for our good."
Sex talks are being increasingly picked up in the pulpit as pastors recognize the prevalence of pornography both in society and within the church. As much as half of Christian men and 20 percent of Christian women are addicted to porn, a ChristiaNet.com poll revealed.
One of the most innovative churches in the nation stirred a wide media buzz last year when it advertised a five-week sermon series dealing with sex on billboards which only pictured two pairs of feet peeking out from beneath a bed sheet and the website address www.mylamesexlife.com. Granger Community Church's senior pastor, Dr. Mark Beeson, was invited to talk on several local and national news channels about the atypical church chat, including the dangers of porn and "The Greatest Sex You'll Ever Have."
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With pornography showing up in nearly every medium, most notably the Internet as well as shopping malls and T-shirts kids wear, Mohler said America is "unleashing this poison into society."
"It is inevitable that we will reap all kinds of ill results of this, and, as the world is watching, we're telling them that we are a sex-crazed society, and they're getting the point."
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, host and author of "Shalom in the Home," doesn't see America as a "sex-filled society." Instead, he specifically called it "porn-filled."
"And the two are very different," he said on CNN.
"Sex is about intimacy. It's about vulnerability. It's about connection. Porn is about objectification. It's about making people into commodities," Boteach explained. "Why do we do this? Because America is the money-obsessed culture. Everything has to be an object. We have to own it. We have to possess it. The idea of actually sharing our most intimate selves with each other is something we're very afraid of."
Boteach places part of the blame on the failure of religion. He believes nobody cares anymore about a God-mandated marriage.
"We must begin to show the relevancy of religion, or religion will become irrelevant," he said.
For the thousands at Granger Community Church, their "Pure Sex" series talks was a complete success and brought in around an additional 1,000 more people to church each weekend.
“It was one that had people talking, not so much honestly about sex … but about how great it was to be in an environment where they could have a real conversation about real stuff and real life,” said Mark Waltz, pastor of Connections at Granger.
Meanwhile, Domino's Pizza founder Thomas Monaghan, a devout Catholic, is building what some call an isolated and exclusive Catholic town called Ave Maria in Florida where there will be no adult stores and merchants will be encouraged not to sell contraceptives or porn.
While Mohler admires the vision, he believes it's not feasible.
"I just don't think it's going to work, because the world is right outside the front door," said Mohler. "The reality is that the neighborhood of my greatest concern is the human heart, not a piece of real estate.
“And that's where the Christian message is directed,” he added, “towards how the human heart can be made right with God on issues of money, sex, greed and all the rest."
