ERLC Scholar Rejects Claims That Pornography Can Be Beneficial

Baptist Press reported on November 6, 2026, that Evan Lenow, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, rejected a Psychology Today essay arguing that pornography should not be described as a public-health crisis and that some so-called ethical pornography can improve adult well-being. The October 14 essay by London psychotherapist Silva Neves contended that much research confuses correlation with causation, that pornography addiction is not a diagnosis in the DSM-5, and that shame-based rhetoric may worsen distress. Neves acknowledged that children should not be exposed to explicit sexual material, but argued for comprehensive sexual education and pornography literacy rather than categorical condemnation. Lenow answered at the level of Christian moral judgment: pornography introduces outsiders into the intimacy of marriage, turns people made in God’s image into products for consumption, and therefore should neither be viewed nor condoned by Christians. He also described physical, mental, emotional, and relational damage. Mary Anne Mosack, president of the sexual-risk-avoidance organization Ascend, added that the article’s concession about children exposes a practical weakness because minors already encounter explicit material at scale. She cited a national Common Sense Media survey finding that 73 percent of teens had seen pornography, that the average age of first exposure was twelve, and that more than half had viewed depictions of rape, choking, or pain. The debate follows more than a dozen state resolutions describing pornography as a public-health crisis and a 2025 Southern Baptist Convention resolution that denounced pornography in every form, urged compassionate church care, and called for stronger legal protections. For congregations, the development is significant because the question is not only diagnostic terminology. It concerns what vision of sexuality, personhood, freedom, and flourishing Christians will teach.

Churches should respond with a combination of moral clarity, truthful evidence, parental support, careful counseling, and gospel hope. Scripture locates sexuality within the covenant of marriage and treats lust, exploitation, and the reduction of another person to an object as violations of love for God and neighbor. That conviction should not become permission for humiliation. Pastors can speak plainly about sin while making it safe for people to seek help before secrecy hardens into isolation. Parents need age-appropriate guidance for device settings, open conversations, media boundaries, and calm responses when a child reports unwanted exposure. Youth leaders should know the church’s reporting and safeguarding responsibilities, avoid improvised counseling beyond their competence, and involve parents or licensed professionals when circumstances require it. Marriage ministries can address betrayal, trust, and disclosure without assuming that every couple faces the same pattern or that a single program will resolve complex harm. Counselors should distinguish a formal clinical diagnosis from the church’s moral evaluation, use sound assessment, and refuse exaggerated claims no matter which side makes them. Public-policy discussion deserves the same care: the protection of minors, the dignity of exploited people, due process, privacy, and the reach of age-verification or obscenity laws all require precise language. The 2025 SBC resolution also points congregations toward discipleship, accountability, prayer, and compassionate care for people ensnared by pornography rather than leaving the issue only to legislation. Ray Ortlund’s The Death of Porn: Men of Integrity Building a World of Nobility fits this work because its six pastoral letters call men away from shame and dehumanization toward honesty, prayer, shared responsibility, and the God-given dignity of every person. A faithful church response should protect children, confront exploitation, tell the truth about desire, and keep restoration in view.