LYNCHBURG, Va. – An organization devoted to helping men overcome pornography addiction—for a price—has uncovered what it calls a “shocking” revelation: more than three-quarters of Christian men watch porn. Not only do they watch porn, but in some cases they watch more than secular men.
In addition, about one-third of Christian men admit they’re “addicted” to porn. More than one-third—35 percent—of married Christian men admit having had affairs…probably because they’ve watched porn, according to Proven Men Ministries, which conducted the poll and analyzed the results.
YNOT is embarrassed by this epidemic. We’re appalled. We’re horrified.
And we’re not buying it.
Some men—and some women, too—may indeed be “addicted” to porn, although porn addiction has yet to be accepted as a legitimate medical diagnosis. Even if it were, Proven Men’s study barely meets the qualifications to be considered gossip, much less scientific inquiry.
Face it, gentlemen: 388 subjects does not a statistically significant research pool make. The only thing the Proven Men survey proves is that the organization has no idea how to conduct what it calls a “national survey.”
Seriously: 388 men? Facebook posts routinely generate more responses about random cat pictures. Generalizing results from such a small group to cover a U.S. population of roughly150 million men is just…well, unscientific. (“Stupid” seems a bit harsh.)
Somebody should be embarrassed by the results of the survey, but it’s not YNOT. It’s not even the broader community of Christian men.
Nevertheless, Proven Men trumpets its data and conclusions as “nationally representative.” According to the survey…
Among Christian men ages 18-30, 77 percent look at porn at least monthly; 36 percent view porn at least daily. Thirty-two percent admit being addicted to porn, and another 12 percent think they might be.
Among middle-aged Christian men—defined as ages 31-49—77 percent viewed porn at work within the past three months. Sixty-four percent view porn at least monthly, with at least 18 percent admitting addiction to porn (another 8 percent think they may be addicted). The most striking statistic to emerge from this group is that middle age is getting younger all the time.
Perhaps of most concern to Proven Men is the “alarming rate” at which married Christian men are “falling prey” to pornography: “55 percent look at pornography at least monthly, and 35 percent had an extramarital sexual affair while married.” Clearly, at least for the brilliant researchers at Proven Men, porn use leads to extramarital sexual affairs.
Frankly, we find the most disturbing part about that statistic to be that married men are having extramarital affairs while they’re married. Most men must find it too difficult to drum up an extramarital affair while they’re single.
“The purpose of the survey was not to point fingers, but to get a better grasp on the scope of the problem in light of ready access to pornography in this internet era,” said Proven Men founder Joel Hesch, who describes his organization as biblically based. “It’s abundantly clear that pornography is one of the biggest unaddressed problems in the church.”
Incidentally, another big problem for Hesch is masturbation (PDF). A self-described “recovering masturbation addict,” he admits masturbation is not specifically mentioned in the Bible. Regardless, he exhorts men to refrain from self-pleasure because it’s just downright wrong. After all, the Bible doesn’t mention drug-trafficking, either, but good Christian men don’t sell cocaine on street corners, now do they?
Christian women may want to hide their vibrators now. No telling in which direction Proven Men may point its mad scientific skills next.
The complete results of the Proven Men survey, including alleged data about non-Christian men collected from God knows where, may be found here.
