Christian apologist Josh McDowell is continuing his battle against the evil that is “pervasive Internet pornography.” Speaking before Christian leaders at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation’s offices in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, the evangelist issued a dire warning.
“I always tell [parents], by 5 years old, you’d better have your child prepared,” McDowell said, noting that most kids will fall prey to the harmful effects of porn.
He also expressed his belief that pornography’s impact on the brain is akin to a mixture of both cocaine and heroin.
“Cocaine is a stimulant — you shoot it up, and it stimulates you,” McDowell said, according to The Christian Post. “[And] heroin is an opiate, which means it brings you down.”
He explained that, though he doesn’t yet see “a great wave” against pornography, he’s working hard to shed light on the issue, noting that secular and Christian organizations alike are increasingly sounding the alarm.
In churches, for instance, McDowell said he’s seeing more pastors than ever discuss porn addiction with parishioners.
“When you talk about a cultural change, the only cultural change I am seeing now is to do with truth,” he told The Christian Post.
McDowell made headlines in early 2016 when he released data from a sweeping study that his organization, Josh McDowell Ministry, conducted on porn. He told “The Church Boys” podcast at the time that rampant porn use is “probably the greatest problem or threat to the Christian faith in the history of the world.” TheBlaze recapped just some of the study’s stunning findings:
Nearly half of young people are actively seeking pornography weekly or more frequently — and more than one-in-four individuals between the ages of 25 and 30 first viewed smut before hitting puberty. The survey also found that 21 percent of youth pastors and 14 percent of pastors involved in the study are currently struggling with porn use.
McDowell warned that Christian preachers need to step up to the plate to tackle the issue head-on.
“If pastors don’t wake up and Christian leaders … [don’t] do something — and I mean radical — then the devastating consequences [for] our children will be upon the shoulders and conscience of those pastors,” he said. McDowell added to this warning that increasingly popular virtual reality technology is sure to exacerbate the problem.
Listen to what McDowell says about the porn epidemic below:
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