Ex-porn star-turned-pastor unveils ‘alarming’ warning
Ex-porn star Joshua Broome is now a pastor and hope-dealer on a mission to help people escape the grips of pornography.
Broome, who spent years working in the adult film industry, knows all-too-well the dangers porn can pose, not only for actors but also for the general public who partake.
“The reality is: porn is detrimental to you,” he said on a recent episode of his new podcast, “Counterfeit Culture With Joshua Broome.” It's detrimental to the people you love most.”
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Listen to Broome break down the dangers of porn and his own journey out of the industry:
Among the many problems porn perpetuates, Broome said, is isolation and disconnection from intimacy. Another is the formation of false expectations about what should unfold within relationships.
“What happens is: people create these false expectations of intimacy [and] relationships,” he said. “What a woman should look like, what a woman should do … because they're learning this from a fictitious representation of engagement.”
Broome also outlined his motivations for advocating against porn and the risks he believes exist for those who consume it, appealing to his own story to help illustrate the cultural and individual conundrums porn perpetuates.
“I was in the adult film industry … for almost six years. It took a large portion of my 20s. It impacts my life today,” he said. “I achieved a lot of success. I made a lot of money. And I found out the very hard way that industry caused me a lot of strife in my life.”
Broome has openly shared his story of becoming suicidal after entering the porn industry, desperately seeking a way out — and eventually finding Christ.
The preacher said he’s launching his “Counterfeit Culture” podcast as a way to share his journey and to help those struggling with porn. Among the revelations offered, he dove into some of the shocking statistics surrounding porn use among Christians.
“Each and every day I get hundreds of messages that say, ‘Josh, I'm a Christian. I love Jesus. But I cannot stop watching pornography. Please help me,’” Broome said. “So the reality is: Christians are addicted to pornography and watching pornography.”
Broome cited a Barna Group study that found 64% of Christian men and 15% of Christian women have said they watch porn at least monthly.
But it’s not only parishioners, as Broome also highlighted research showing pastors and youth preachers specifically struggle with regular porn use.
“One-in-five youth pastors and one-in-seven senior pastors use porn on a regular basis — not have seen porn in their life, are currently consuming pornography with some regularity,” he said. “That's alarming.”
Listen to Broome break down these statistics and the issue more broadly on the latest episode of “Counterfeit Culture.”
This article originally appeared on Faithwire.
