[LINK] porn and pastors

[Jan Whitaker]

>http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/31/fashion/31CHUR.html
>Suffering the Pornographers
>
>By JOHN LELAND
>
>RIVERSIDE, Calif.
>
>  CRAIG GROSS and Mike Foster, two young pastors from California, were 
> looking for direction when one day in 2001, Mr. Foster said, God came to 
> him in the shower and said one word: "Pornography." Mr. Foster, 33, said 
> he did not often get such visits, and so he treated it as a divine 
> calling. Since it came with no further instructions, the two reasoned 
> that it was up to them to figure out what to do next.
>...
>
>  The two started their online ministry, XXXChurch.com, shortly after Mr. 
> Foster's experience in the shower. Instead of posting Scripture online, 
> they flashed, "Porn. Sex. Girls. Guys," in order to reach the people who 
> wanted to see pornography, not ban it. Once the curious visit the site, 
> they can download a free computer program called X3watch, one of several 
> "accountability" programs designed for people who want to stop looking at 
> Internet pornography but cannot do so on their own. Whenever a user 
> visits a pornographic Web site, the program alerts his or her designated 
> "accountability partner."
>
>  So far, Mr. Gross and Mr. Foster said, 100,000 people have downloaded 
> X3watch, including all of the pastors at the church Mr. Gross attends. In 
> his own case, his wife gets a list of every site he visits.
>
>  "Filters don't work," Mr. Gross said, speaking of programs that block 
> Internet pornography. "Kids are smarter than that. Filters don't bring up 
> conversation. A filter avoids the topic. Accountability forces you and 
> another person to talk about what you're looking at. That's hard. We 
> would have more downloads if it was a filter."
>
>  Mr. Gross and Mr. Foster have also set up booths at pornography trade 
> shows and handed out postcards that said, "Jesus Loves Porn Stars." They 
> joined with a pornography director to produce a public service 
> announcement aimed at keeping the materials away from children.
>
>  Then there is the Porn Mobile....
>  Pastors, like school officials, often face severe punishment if they are 
> found to have looked at Internet pornography. In 2000 Christianity Today 
> magazine surveyed its readers (anonymously) and found that more than a 
> third of the pastors who responded said they viewed pornographic Web 
> sites, a number only slightly lower than their parishioners.
>
>  Even this figure is low, said Archibald D. Hart, a senior professor of 
> psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. "I do 
> conferences for 3,000 pastors a year, and this is a biggie wherever I 
> go," Mr. Hart said.





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