'Porn' event draws criticismWestwinds church uses the programs to fight pornography
Saturday, March 26, 2005
By Steven Hepker
Staff Writer
Those interested in pornography can check out the new flick, "Missionary Positions," next weekend, and then learn about bondage the following three weekends.
A chance for atonement won't be far away. The documentary is part of Porn Weekend festivities at Westwinds Community Church in Summit Township.
If you drive much around Jackson, you have seen the billboards: "Porn Weekend April 2-3 at westwinds.org."
Porn Weekend is a national campaign by the Web site xxxchurch.com, which claims to promote Christian education with books, T-shirts and surreal porn-fighters Pete the Porno Puppet and Wally the Wiener.
The billboard campaign has ruffled some Jackson residents.
Jay Porter, who attended Westwinds a few years ago, said the new-age congregation has hitched to what he considers a cynical and maybe sinister organization.
"They are making a mockery of Christianity," Porter said of xxxchurch.com. "Saying 'Jesus Loves Porn Stars' is leading people down the wrong path."
Porter said Wally the Wiener, a 25-foot penis, is not an appropriate teaching tool. Nor is it right to advise children that "God kills a kitten every time you masturbate," he said.
The site uses the kitty analogy, it claims, in a light-hearted manner. It recommends teens should e-mail each other to keep a lid on raging hormones. "Ask your buds if they killed any kittens this week," the site advises.
The Westwinds Web site links to xxxchurch.com. Porter said that by Friday afternoon, he had spent 15 hours studying the porn site and could not find any redeeming qualities. The billboards, too, offer more harm than good, he said.
"My wife and I are raising seven children, and there are a lot of things in society we have to battle against," he said. "A community church should not be one of them."
Tina Hufnagel, the mother of three boys, said the billboards are offensive.
"It opens up a can of worms we should not have to discuss with young children," she said. "My 15-year-old son asked, 'Why is a church having a porn party?'"
Angela Kitchen, spokes-woman for the local group Family and Minor Empowerment, said Westwinds is doing a good thing offering education and help for those with pornography addictions, but the billboards went too far.
"Many of us find it morally corruptible," she said. "What do you say to a 10-year-old who asks, 'Mom, why are they having a porn party?'"
Westwinds spokesman Randy Shafer said those who are upset with the three billboards -- which are rented through April 4 -- are missing the point.
"Pornography is such a huge issue and usually is not discussed in church," he said. "Polls say that 56 percent of men struggle with pornography. We try to hit it head on and get people talking about it."
Porn Weekend at Westwinds is part of a four-week series on bondage -- the sin of addictions.
The weekend will include presentations by Craig Gross of xxxchurch, and the "Missionary Positions" documentary. Shafer, whose title is "journey designer," said the R-rated movie does not feature nudity or sex, but is about the porn industry.
The church's Web site warns parents that the documentary might not be appropriate for teenagers.
Not everyone has been turned off by the billboards.
Lance Zakrewski said he gets it.
"Sex sells, and the church is taking advantage of that," said the Jackson man. "I am supporting their pitch."
Zakrewski went to the church at 1000 Robinson and secured a poster of Wally the Wiener. He placed Wally in his house window, angering a neighbor who is an atheist, he said.
Shafer said Porn Weekend was planned to heighten community awareness, which it certainly has done.
"The church is the place to really address the issues of life, and God certainly has a place in everyday matters," he said.
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