Ladies… Addicted to Porn? This Church Will Save You
Megachurches aren't generally known for their openness toward sexuality (just ask Ted Haggard!). But a Kansas church now runs a support group that helps perverted women beat their porn addiction: "God created sex. But the enemy has twisted it."
The internet can be a tempting place for someone with a lot of free time on their hands, with so many opportunities to buy stupid shit, stalk people on Facebook, and jerk off. But it can be especially bad for women who are possessed by the devil and can't stop looking at porn. Just ask Crystal Renaud, leader of the Victory Over Porn Addiction support group for women — herself a recovering chronic masturbator — who has been addicted to porn since she was 10 years old. The Times spoke to her:
At school I wanted to go home and look at it more," she said. "Then I went online. I'd stay late at the library to look at it. Eventually I got into masturbation, phone sex, cybersex." She also cracked the code on the family's satellite television service, she said. "That was my life for eight years." Then, she said, she met a Christian woman who helped her stop.
But today, along with running the support group at the Westside Family Church in Lenexa, Kansas, Renaud operates Dirty Girls Ministries, a website that "Through confession, prayer support, resources for accountability and many other tools, Dirty Girls Ministries comes alongside women desiring freedom from pornography addiction." Right now Renaud is in Las Vegas — a great place to kick any kind of sex-related habit — for a conference that helps Christian groups launch and maintain non-profit organizations.
How does Renaud go about helping women with their addiction? Real talk. Like this interaction between Renaud and Michele, a struggling addict:
She'll text me with loophole questions," Ms. Renaud said. "I'll say, ‘No, it doesn't work that way.' "
"But I need to release myself," Michele said.
"I'll say, ‘O.K., pray about it,' " Ms. Renaud said. She added, "Distraction is a big part of recovery."
That's it! Prayer will set you free! Renaud got her inspiration from a youth minister, Craig Gross, who runs a website, XXXChurch:
After a cool reception in the early years, 200,000 to 250,000 unique visitors now view XXX Church's site each month, and its free Internet monitoring software, X3, is downloaded 500 times a day. And Mr. Gross and others in the group have paid speaking engagements most weekends. A 30-day online workshop sells 100 copies a month, at $99 each, Mr. Gross said. About 20 percent of the buyers have been women, he said.
Sounds like a great solution: Free monitoring software given to you by a church!
Renaud is on a mission from God. But even though she has been porn-free for seven years, she still feels tempted sometimes, especially when the nudie scene in Titanic comes on. But she hasn't fallen from grace yet, not even at the hands of Leo's dreamy eyes and Kate's magical boobs. Not yet.