Self Check
I have to admit that when I saw the title "Poll: Christians 'addicted to pornography'," I wanted start linking fast and furious to examples of sexual indiscretion by members of the right. But, after reading the article I'm not sure that linking to the sins of prominent public Christians and neocons is on point(besides, Kossaks have already built that skyscraper taller than I could and in it's context).

The article isn't about public hypocrites standing with morality as a political foil in one hand and keys to a sleazy motel room in the other. The article's about people visiting a popular Christian website and participating in a poll. Half the men answered that they use pornography on an ongoing basis; an answer that the pollsters classify as "addicted." Sixty percent of women admitted "significant struggles with lust."

Freepers aside, the reality of normal sexual urges aside, and noting that an internet poll is far from scientific, the people that took the poll were likely Christian visitors answering questions about a topic that worries them:
"No one is immunized against the vice-grip clutches of sexual addictive behaviors," reads a release issued by the site. "The people who struggle with the repeated pursuit of sexual gratification include church members, deacons, staff, and yes, even clergy." "Technology has allowed pornography to flood the market place beyond a controllable level."

These people are afraid. They've heard for years know that liberals and worldly people are coming to take their bibles and turn their children gay. They've continually been fed statements like the ones above (which are mild warnings compared things you hear on Christian AM radio or the TBN). They are afraid that something bad is coming; a great threat that will take many of them.

I hope that in 2006 no one would deny the great power of fear to distract from the truth.

I grew up in an evangelical Presbyterian church. Between the ages of 6-13 (or so) the church showed me and the other youths many films about the dangers of rock, rap, and the outside world. We went on weekend retreats where we were encouraged to breakdown and let the spirit take us (I confess to having fake-babbled in tongues). We went to Christian concerts where the ministry would slay people in the spirit with a touch to the forehead (I confess to having fake-fallen backwards). We listened to Led Zeppelin backwards (I confess to fake-hearing, "here's to my sweet satan").

Much of this was oddly linked with the "homosexual threat." We were taught that homosexuality, sexual addiction, and mental illnesses result from demonic infestation.

I realized that I was gay when I was 6. I vividly remember my horror at age 9 after being given the book "Pigs in the Pallor." It details the threat of demonic possession. I hid that book in my closet, convinced that I was cursed. I was too terrified to tell anyone. The truth that mental illness and addiction have no innate relation to sexuality was a universe away.

In my case, this all happened on a backdrop of poverty. In our city, I saw people struggle to make ends meet. I saw my single mother struggle to make ends meet. I could write for pages on what I saw poverty do to people.

The church offered hope, twisted as it was: no matter how bad things are, keep going to church, keep praying, and remember that you're building a mansion in the next life. In a world where large portions of small paychecks go to lottery tickets, beer, and cigarettes, almost any hope can look like Vegas against the night sky.

I don't know if the people that took this poll live in poverty. I don't know their statistics. There are plenty of things that make people vulnerable to the persuasive power of fear coupled with false hope or the promise of safety.

I'm wagering that people looking for hope aren't of the same ilk as the nefarious leaders of the religious right. Offering people an alternative to the twisted hope of hateful fundies needs to be a priority, at least for me.

Imagine if people had a reason to actually embrace "love thy neighbor" and "turn the other cheek." Living wages, access to quality health-care, and real opportunities for education would go a long way toward providing that reason.