The Dirty Little Secret

11

The Dirty Little Secret

A Content Analysis

by

Aimee Karsky

Kelly Bredvik

Professor Vigilant

Qualitatitve Methods

(A.K.A. Cool Sociology)

Introduction

The #1 Christian Porn Site. What comes to mind when you think of that title? Actually, don't think it, because what most people would imagine is actually the exact opposite of what this phrase truly means and it is also precisely what this website is trying to stop. This phrase comes from the website XXXChurch.com and it is dedicated to fighting the battle against pornography addictions, as well as other types of sex addictions. It is run by a Christian organization called Fireproof Ministries and the founder of this site is Craig Gross. We found this site to be unique in a number of ways.

First of all, it is the only site of its kind on the Internet as of right now. While other sites may off services like parental controls and accountability software, most do not actually go into porn conventions and set up booths to hand out Bibles to porn stars and their audiences. But that is just the beginning. When we looked specifically at the content on the website we noticed a few groups that this “church” seemed most likely to cater to.

First, this is obviously a faith-based organization, although as the website states, they are a non-denominational organization. Nevertheless, being that this is a faith-based group one of their main target audiences are “Christians”. They do not cater to any certain religion or religious organization as they are a non-denominational group and all areas and types of Christianity are welcome to visit the site without feeling alienated. The other audience this website seems to be advertising for is the people who are actually on the Internet looking for “Christian Porn” who may happen to stumble upon the site. Either way, the website is obviously deliberately set up in such a way that these two groups are both advertised to separately and jointly throughout the site.

We did see that this site has many challenges up against itself as well. For instance, how do they minister to certain Christians who believe that porn is a sin and therefore, even if they are viewing it, neglect to go on this site because they also believe it is sinful. Or, how does this site keep those who may stumble upon it while looking for “real” porn, on the site? But perhaps most importantly, how does this site cater to these two groups without, at times, alienating one over the other? It is important to make note that these groups are of our own “making” and that this website does not specifically specify that these are the two main groups that “they” cater to. We simply felt after looking through the website extensively that these groups were probably the most likely candidates for viewing the site, as well as those that would take the most out of the site.

As a result of these findings, these are all issues and ideas that we saw and questioned throughout this site. We felt that a content analysis of XXXChurch.com was able to properly address these problems while we did our research. It will be most convenient to the reader if we first talk about what the site had that catered to both the groups at the same time as well as address some areas that may have alienated a certain group before we go into what the website offered explicitly for each group.

Methodology

The Methodology that we employed in order to do an analysis on this website was extremely straight-forward. We simply broke the website down into a number of sections and sub-sections and then analyzed them systematically. We drew on the finding from the different areas in order to form a more coherent observation of the complete website and also specific sections. The “home” page, “Get Help”, and “Get Involved” sections were the main areas of focus, although each other these areas had a number of sub-sections. We analyzed each section individually and also in comparison with others as we travelled throughout the site.

Review

The first thing that anyone would notice about this site that makes it so appealing is the graphic design that has been done on the site. This is also a great technique in advertising, if the homepage looks good, more than likely the rest of the site will too. The homepage background in this case is done in varying shades of black and gray with neon orange colored tabs. It looks very sleek and modern and through our research we discovered that they actually have a graphic designer on staff who designs everything from the website, to the graphic on the clothing they sell, to the logos on the cars they drive.

This is an immediate attention-getter that applies to all people who may happen to go on this website, not simply the two groups that we focused on.

Something else that features prominently on the homepage is there video archives. Again these videos all look professionally done and the graphics on them match with the styling of the rest of the page. The video section was where the website got into more of the dichotomizing between these two groups but all viewers would acknowledge that these clips are well done and professional. We watched a number of the videos and many of them are simply updates on the ministry and the progress they are making on their mission. From watching those few we were able to see, as well as anyone else that viewed them, that not only are the people that are involved in this ministry fun-loving and down-to-earth, but they also were very serious about their mission and seemed to have a passion for it. An example of one of the videos that would apply to anyone is an advertisement for XXXDebate which is one of the offering that this website advertises for. This “debate” is between Craig Gross, the founder of XXXChurch.com, and Ron Jeremy, the self-proclaimed “Porn King”. Usually these debates are held at colleges, but any organization can book them to come and speak or debate on these issues. This advertisement definitely applied to both groups, because both groups, even if they didn't agree, where represented equally. The video section also posts various news clips from networks, both local and national, that talk about or have done interviews with members of this organization.

Another link on the homepage that catered to both groups is called “The X3 Store”. The X3 Store offers products that pertain to this ministry. This link takes you to a site that features the same black and orange background as the homepage. It also offers the same tabs as the homepage so that you can continue to navigate on the site without going back to the homepage. This was a feature that we noticed throughout the site, it was exceedingly user-friendly. No matter what tab you may press on the site, the link that it takes you to will offer the same tabs as the site the user just left, enabling them to continue to navigate the site without having to continue to press the back button. This obviously made the site very accessible. The X3 store offers products such as t-shirts, sweatshirts, Bibles, and CDs. Obviously, some of the products, like the Bibles are geared toward the Christian audience initially, but it is the hope of this ministry that all those who come on this website, would be interested in getting one of these Bibles. They are unique in that some of them offer covers that say “Jesus Loves Porn Stars” and simply have the New Testament in them and others that simply have the Gospel of John in them. They also offer support and stories of those struggling with this addiction and also those who were in the porn industry and have since left.

Going back to the homepage, although you could also get to this site from the X3 store page, there is a tab called XXXChurch.tv. This site is basically just dedicated to the videos that were discussed earlier. Once again, the same graphics are present on this page as the former ones. Another area on the site that seemed particularly geared toward both and all groups was under the “Get Help” tab on the homepage. In this homepage there are a variety of subcategories that pertain to specific groups of people. The main tabs that seemed to be associated with all groups are teens, parents, men, women, and spouses. Under each of these tabs there was a specific category, “Blogs”, that seemed to speak to both groups, although not always at the same time. The teen blog is written by “Brandon” who talks about everything from how much he loves wikipedia to what books he is reading to the former addicts he has talked with and the stories they have told that inspire him. The subject matter of these are often very carefree and light, as in the wikipedia example, which would apply to most teens, but could also be very serious. For example, the blog entry entitled, “It does not matter...” deals with a man name Will who Brandon met two years ago who greatly inspired him. He discusses the depth of his addiction and also the story of his returning to Christ. These blogs are great examples of how the site both catered to these groups individually and together. The parents’ blog dealt mostly with how parents can protect their children from seeing pornography. This applies to most groups as it seems most people do not want their eight year olds watching porn. The men’s blogs were an excellent example of how someone could be involved with one aspect of this group and not another. The topics in this blog were of a much more “mature” nature, although not sexually, simply issue-wise. For example, often Bible verses were talked about or quoted, but also there were blogs about issues of pornography in the media, a very general topic. Ted Haggard is discussed in a number of the most current blogs, an issue which hits both of the categories that we focused on. An example of one of the heavier issues in this blog was that of the addiction that the man who writes this blog, “Steve G”, was dealing with. Steve outlines a number of issues that he had been dealing with before he entered a sexual treatment facility called, “The Meadows”. “My daughter had not spoken to me in well over a year. I was an alcoholic. I was a sex addict. I had lost my company and I did not know what I was going to do to make money. I was living in a vacant home, with no furniture. Leaving The Meadows would be the beginning of 8 months of brutal divorce.” The women’s blog was also a great example of the mingling of the secular and Christian. These blogs written by a woman named Shellie Warren. Many of her most current blogs dealt with celebrities, movies, and just the media in general. She obviously catered to both Christian women in her blog and women who weren't Christians. In one of her latest postings she makes reference to “Details” magazine, a periodical that she used to occasionally write for. She bought the magazine at the airport after an article caught her attention, “THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE GAY-PORN-STAR IDENTICAL TWINS”. “The story was about these two physically beautiful identical twin brothers: one a homosexual model and another a "non-homosexual" (uh, I guess) hustler who, while trying to make money for themselves, got caught up in the porn (and crime) game.”

The point of these blogs is not only to show how this site caters to both of these groups, but also at times how they may conflict. Although the authors of these blogs do not actually contradict themselves, they do at times cater to one group in one blog and another group in another blog. Although most people would probably fine with this, the hope is, for the benefit of this website, that people do not become offended because of these topics.

This leads into the next section we looked at, how this website caters to the Christian community. In the same section of the website, the “Get Help” section, there are a few more categories that specifically minister to the Christian community. These other sections are Pastors and Churches. The blogs in particular in these sections are very religious. Most of them relate to pornography, but they seem more like mini-sermons on the site than anything else. A few examples of these blogs are, “Grounds for Divorce?”, an article that deals with sexual addiction as grounds for divorce, or “Owning the Bad Calls”, an article that talks about bad football calls and how Christians need to own up to their mistakes, like football doesn’t. Another interesting feature of most of these categories, but of the pastors site in particular is a section entitled “confessions”. This section is one that can be both positive and negative. It is extremely important that those who are in ministry positions be able to confess themselves and be accountable to others. Often they are looked at as being “perfect” which causes them to hide potentially devastating issues, like sexual addictions. But, it also opens people up to the idea that this person that they may seek counsel from also needs counseling themselves. While this shouldn’t be an issue of contention, it often can be. For example, the confession entitled “A Future Pastor’s Addiction”, deals with a young adult male who struggles with looking at women online with his webcam. “To this day I still sometimes go and turn my web cam on for women. I feel that I am called to go into the ministry, and many times I wonder why in the world God would call me.” Another confessional, entitled “The Hypocritical Minister”, deals with the problems a youth minister is having dealing with his own sexual addiction as well as those of the kids he helps. “But lately my attraction to sex, while in the past confined almost entirely to pornography, has taken a whole new step. Strip clubs are now calling out to me - and I have started to visit them.” This ministry believes in being accountable to someone else so that the two of you, or even a group, can keep each other on the right path. This anonymous confession section serves as this for these people. The interesting part about it is that these people who are posting confessions about being addicted to pornography are pastors. This site would be a great resource for these individuals as the type of jobs that they are in may preclude them from speaking to anyone else about it. The Churches section runs a little differently from the rest of the other categories because it doesn't feature a blog. What it features are steps that churches can take to begin talking about the “dirty little secret” of pornography. This section also features a category called “speaking team” and it outlines a number of events that churches can have the XXXChurch team do in their congregation, such as “Porn & Pancakes” or “Porn & Pastries”. Although these events are usually held at churches, they encourage the rest of the community to come and hear them speak as well, the most tempting part of this offer that applies to, again, all groups, would be the free food.