I read this report that talks about which states buy the most "adult entertainment" online. Utah was reported to be the state that bought the most online adult entertainment. I have surfed a few blogs and have seen outrageous and unfair comments by the writers about our church. Many have jumped on the chance to slander our church because of this study. But before you judge us harshly, I would like you to consider a few things.
1. Pornography is addictive. Membership in a church, or belief in Jesus Christ does not make a person immune to temptation, or addiction. We never claimed that our members are perfect, and in fact Christ himself said,"They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." Matt. 9:12. The church and gospel are perfect, and are here to help us become better people, not vice versa.
2. Many people have the erroneus belief that Utah is made up of only Mormons. In fact, there are many non-Mormons living in Utah. I am not excusing those Mormons who might be part of the group that purchases online adult entertainment, but I think if a person is to fully understand this study, they must consider this point.
3. The study says that the ratio is "3.6 subscriptions per thousand home broadband users" As I thought about that number, I thought about my old neighborhood in Provo, and I thought about the area that would include 1000 homes. It does not seem abnormal to me that 3 to 4 of those 1000 people, even if they were all Mormon, might have a problem with pornography.
4. One point that critics of our church have failed to observe is that it has been suggested that part of the reason that online adult entertainment is more popular in Utah is because of the absence of it in the stores. You won't find "sex stores" in most towns in Utah. The only avenue for people who are searching for adult entertainment is to purchase it through cable or internet. California's rate of online purchase was reported to be "2.4 to 2.7 subscriptions per thousand home broadband users". But considering the fact that pornographic retail is much more common in the cities, this figure makes more sense.
So before you condemn the LDS church as being "rotten to the core", think about the many factors that can influence a study, and remember that we all are in need of salvation, and part of our own belief is the teaching, "8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." John 1:8 and "23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Romans 3:23. Our goal as a church is to help all come unto Christ, and to help all repent.
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2 comments:
Online porn addiction is more of the problem at the moment. I just heard a statistic that half of all pastors are addicted to online porn. I don't know where it came from or what the methodology was, but that was truly disturbing.
But as you said, Christians struggle with sin, as we are told will happen in the Bible. Jesus was tempted for 40 days immediately after his baptism. The pointing of fingers usually isn't based on a constructive view of encouraging people to reduce sin.
Hey D!
Muslims are forbidden from consuming pornography as well, and guess what? They consume it just the same.
People are just using this study as an excuse to attack LDS (if it weren't for this they'd find something else), so, ignore them.
Pornography is classless (and to tell you the truth, I don't get what people see in it *nodding*); and unfortunately it is viewed by people from all religions, social status, races, nationalities, gender etc...
You said it all: no one is perfect, and no religion (nor spirituality) renders a human being as such [you can't even imagine the crazy people I have met in Raja Yoga classes].
Cheers
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