Dr. Chauntelle over at Porn Valley Vantage (a blog you should be reading) just posted an article about XXXChurch that caught my eye.
XXXChurch, if you don’t know about them, are a familiar presence at the porn shows, having a booth with XXXChurch followers handing out Bibles and spreading the Good Word about Jesus. Their graphic design shows a sense of humor about their mission, all decked out in 1970s porn. They treat pornography addiction as a serious issue to grapple with and overcome, and I can’t fault them for that.
We do part ways on the destructive nature of porno (and self-pleasure), namely they seem to think it destroys everything it touches and that hasn’t been my experience.
I equate it to alcohol – I know people who can have a beer or two and have a good time, I know people who can’t function without a half-dozen scotches and then they’ll have three more and really become an embarrassment to himself a danger to others. This does not mean I want to ban alcohol. Porn operates the same way — I don’t know that watching porn upon occasion (or even every day) is detrimental to one’s health, but I am pretty sure there comes a point where it can become too much. I have no idea where that line is.
All that aside, they put together a PSA about the responsibilities of parents to try and protect their kids from online porn. I can’t really find fault with this. The IAFD is voluntarily tagged with an “adult” label, and when OpenDNS blocks us for being “pornography” I can’t complain about that. We don’t want kids finding this site. Porn + Kids = Trouble.
Porn provides a fantasy, and kids don’t always have the ability to separate reality from fantasy. They may think it’s natural to drive around in a van and throw girls in the back and have sex with them — first reluctantly and then actively; or that every babysitter is on the earth to blow their dads. (If only.) Seriously, tho — there is a lot in today’s porn landscape that could really paint a different picture for kids of what sex is. (I say it in the same way I say that kids shouldn’t take driving cues from The Fast and Furious, and they probably shouldn’t be getting their sexual cues from Jamie Gillis’ On The Prowl.)
So, we support responsible parenting and the blocking of online resources from kids who are too young to understand their context or meaning, and their PSA addresses that in a way that’s pretty funny and still makes their point.
Lots of cameos in the PSA (in order of appearance, from left to right — Rayveness, Brandy Aniston,Brenda Black, Crissy Moran (who left porn to focus on bringing attention these kinds of XXXChurch-y issues), Tia Gunn, April Flores, Kelly Shibari and Ron Jeremy.
The XXXChurch site says this of the clip:
Founder of XXXchurch, Craig Gross known as the “porn pastor” and porn legend, Ron Jeremy, have traveled around the country debating the issue of pornography for the past four years. They have become great friends although they disagree on the effects of pornography.
The one thing they do agree on is that pornography should not be seen by kids. Ron Jeremy says, “Porn is consenting adults having consenting sex for consenting adults to watch.” Ron has always said he will do whatever he can to help keep porn away from children.
Us too.
So, do they just sweep under the rug (or gloss-over) the numerous and frequent “back and forth” cases? You know, the industry people (actors/actresses) that jump back and forth between sides – the “Go Jesus” side for a little while, then inevitably, back over to the “Go Porno” side. And repeat ad nauseam …
For example, the actress “Jessi Summers”, a multiple offender of the “out, no back in, no out again” type of drama.
What’s the endgame here for either side? Just placate the Jesus-freaks long enough make them go away satisfied?
Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t really follow the that side of the industry all that closely.
I know of the existence of XXX Church and The Pink Cross and stuff, but I couldn’t tell you much about what they do beyond what I gleaned from their websites.
I suspect the endgame for the industry is to just keep doing what they’re doing. Whether anyone wants to admit it, there is some social stigma that surrounds the industry and people who try to run away from it, go the other way, to God.
Whether that decision is better or worse for them depends on the person, I suspect.
I’m fairly agnostic myself, so I have a hard time with the “every time you masturbate, Jesus weeps” types of doctrines that XXX Church puts forth. They wrap it in a hip “God kills a kittten” rhetoric which makes us snicker, but the underlying message of “Don’t do this because it offends a higher power” just doesn’t fly with me.
But it flies with other people, so live and let live, I say.
If XXX Church had an endgame, I suspect it’d be the voluntary cessation of all adult production, and the efforts once put into creating pornography would be channeled into serving God.
I tend to think that occurring is unrealistic. ;-)
hi, would be nice if you could post a blog about IAFD and maybe answer questions like:
1) is IAFD becoming profitable or still has to rely on volunteers
2) is IAFD able to keep up with the huge numbers of new releases and do you get much
or any help from the studios themselves? do they send you emails with data or copies of the vids?
3) do you co-operate with sites like videobox, videosz, etc to get the data correct?
4) what do you see as the future of IAFD? will there be co-operation with the euro sites
like EGAFD etc.? (or maybe there already is?
5) have you thought about putting out a software program that uses the IAFD database to
catalogue a porn users’ downloaded scenes and videos?
thanks for your time…
Your wish is our command. Be on the lookout.
thanks….