XXXChurch.com‘s name is as provocative as the industry it’s fighting against; pornography. The anti-porn church is a Christian-based organization that raises awareness of the role of pornography in religion and helps men and women overcome their addictions. Here’s what you need to know.
1. XXXChurch.com’s Mission is to Help People Leave the Porn Industry
XXXChurch.com is an organization created with the sole mission of helping people leave the porn industry and to counsel those addicted to porn. It describes itself as “the #1 Christian porn site designed to bring awareness, openness and accountability to those affected by pornography.”
2. Pastor Craig Gross Believes Porn Hurts Individuals, Marriages and Families
The website’s pastor and founder, Craig Gross, believes that porn is detrimental to individuals, marriages and families, reports ABC News. Gross and his co-founder launched the organization in in 2002 and started out by setting up a booth at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas in an attempt to steer people away from porn.
“I’ve never met a girl or guy in the industry that’s told me, ‘this is what I wanted to do when I was a kid,'” Gross said. “Average pay for a girl in porn is less than a $1,000,” Gross said. “The lifestyle that she had to maintain, to do this, you know, living in Hollywood, or all this kind of craziness around her, it’s not really even great money.”
3. XXXChurch.com Produces Accountability Software Called X3watch
The organization even has a program called X3watch that keeps a log of questionable websites a computer user visits, which is sent to an “accountability partner” of a persons choosing. The software is intended to aid someone who is seeking to quit their porn addiction.
4. XXXChurch.com: ‘Every Time you Masturbate, God Kills a Kitten’
Okay, so XXXChurch.com doesn’t really think every time you masturbate, God kills a kitten, but that doesn’t mean it approves of the act. The organization made the video to get its message across that masturbation is a selfish act.
“Our stance is simply this: you want to live a life that is honoring to God? Then start pleasing Him and stop pleasing yourself,” a statement on the organization’s website says. “Stop making excuses and get some control over your life. Yes, it is tough. Yes, we know hormones are raging. However, God is calling us to holiness. Live an extraordinary life. Masturbation will leave you hanging every time! It is a selfish act that pleases no one but you. God created sex to be between a man and his wife. Not a man and his girlfriend and not a man or woman with himself or herself.”
5. They Also Have ‘Pete the Porno Puppet’ for Kids
6. The Pastor’s Best Friend is Porn Star Ron Jeremy
Believe it or not, the organization’s founder Pastor Gross is best pals with mega porn star Ron Jeremy, who has been in the porn industry since 1978. While Jeremy has been with many women in his porn movies, Gross has only been with one–his wife of 15 years, Jeanette.
“I’ve been with a couple thousand women,” Jeremy said. “Craig has been with his wife a couple thousand times. Same thing.”
7. They Debate Each Other on Their Views of Porn
The unlikely due met at a porn convention years ago and eventually started touring college campuses to debate the pros and cons of porn. In 2008, Jeremy and Gross participated in the Nightline Face-Off debate at Yale.
8. Jeremy Steers Those Who Want to Get Out of the Industry to Gross
Jeremy says that when he comes across those in the porn industry that want to get out of it, he points them to Gross.
“There are certain things I don’t like, and having Craig around, putting things in check, or when girls want to get out of the business they might go to him, and a few have, who are actually friends of mine, Jeremy said. A”nd he ministers to them, brings them into the path of righteousness, and I think that’s great.”
9. Jeremy Asked Gross to Pray For Him When He Was in the Hospital
In January, Jeremy was rushed to have emergency heart surgery for an aortic dissection in which he almost died. The porn star recalls calling Gross for comfort.
“I said to Craig, this is the exact conversation, ‘Craig, are you free for a couple hours?’ He goes, ‘yeah.’ ‘Are you still close to God?’ He goes, ‘last time I checked.’ ‘Well, I would like you and him to come down to Cedar Sinai Hospital, I’m going through a life-threatening operation,'” he said.
10. The Organization Hands Out Bibles Titled ‘Jesus Loves Porn Stars’
The organization still sets up shop at porn conventions and passes out bibles with a cover that says Jesus Loves Porn Stars. The point of the bibles is that Jesus doesn’t judge anyone, even porn stars.
“I believe Jesus, he’d be in the show with us,” Gross said. “He’d be mixing it up with these people. ‘Cause he doesn’t look at them as porn stars, or porn producers. He looks at us as all the same.”
