I had a conversation with a friend recently about pornography. I won’t go into the details of it but the main issue is that so many people in the church don’t deal with this. Ok, they don’t deal with it with men so FORGET about mentioning that this is a woman problem too. Christianity Today has written about it (here). Online pornography is commonly portrayed as anti-Christian and anti-women - but why, then, are so many women viewing it? In fact, why are so many Christian women viewing it? Since when has porn become a product of choice for Christian women who are using the internet?

Cleveland’s The Plain Dealer reports:

[I]n recent years, the accessibility, affordability and anonymity of the Internet have made pornography undeniably attractive to millions of women. While some women simply find it exciting, others have battled addictions and other problems. … Nearly one in three visitors to adult Web sites is a woman, according to Nielsen Net Ratings. … The editors of Today’s Christian Woman, an evangelical magazine, had heard anecdotes of churchgoing women getting hooked on pornography, so they conducted a survey asking readers of their online newsletter if they had intentionally visited porn sites. Thirty-four percent said they had.

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There are a whole bunch of sites to help with this but what I wish for is pastors and leaders to talk about it from the pulpit not like a dirty little secret and further, that once someone tells us about their struggle that we don’t judge. We live in a very very sexual society. I have to work hard to keep my mind in the right place why would I think differently for my pastor, my minister friends, etc. Geesh. The struggle is real and we as leaders in the church need to talk about ALL the struggles not just the ones that are socially acceptable.