MembersPornography in the Messianic Community


It is time to stand up and call porn what it really is.” That conclusion was offered by one of the leadership teams at a conference on “Facing the Problem of Pornography in Messianic Congregations.”

The ease of access to pornography on the Internet (71 percent of teens hide online behavior from their parents) has given rise to a major concern in Israel’s Messianic community. According to a survey conducted among 306 Messianic Israeli youth by Netivah, a national Messianic youth center, 60 percent of young boys “struggle with porn.” The survey also revealed that very little is being done to educate youth in the Messianic communities regarding appropriate sexual behavior. At least one of the boys interviewed said they were using porn to masturbate daily, but did not consider this an addiction.

According to Anchor of Hope, the Jerusalem-based Messianic family counseling center that organized the conference, “The problem of pornography, especially among youth, is...