Most pastors believe pornography has adversely impacted the lives of their church members, but almost half cannot estimate what percentage of their congregation views porn.
That is the finding of a newly released survey by LifeWay Research of 1,000 American Protestant pastors.
When presented with the statement, “Pornography has adversely affected the lives of our church members,” 69 percent of pastors surveyed agree. That includes 42 percent who strongly agree and 27 percent who somewhat agree. Nine percent somewhat disagree and 8 percent strongly disagree. Fourteen percent do not know or preferred not to answer.
“[Pastors] have seen (pornography) destroy marriages, wreck lives and warp America’s moral compass when it comes to sexuality,” LifeWay Research President Ed Stetzer said.
When asked to estimate the percentage of men in their congregations who view pornography on a weekly basis, 43 percent are unable or unwilling to respond. Of those able and willing to estimate, a majority (62 percent) say less than 10 percent, 24 percent say 10–24 percent, 10 percent say 25–49 percent and 4 percent say 50 percent or more.
The results are similar when pastors are asked about the women in their churches.
According to data compiled by the Education Database Online, 43 percent of people who use the Internet visit pornographic websites. Some 40 million Americans are regular visitors to porn sites. Of the 40 million regular visitors, 33 percent are women. A full 70 percent of men age 18–24 visit porn sites monthly. (Baptist Press)
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