Pinterest and PORN: What YOU Need to Know

A few days ago, I was checking my email.  Like many days, I received a notification from Pinterest about someone new following my page. When I opened the email, I couldn’t believe what I saw–it was PORN.

How could a website that mainly celebrates homemade crafts, do-it-yourself projects, and yummy home-cooked meals be sending me images of a nude woman in explicit, sexual poses? I knew something had to be up, so I quickly deleted the email and looked up Pinterest’s “Acceptable Use Policy” for images.

Under the policy (per their website), “You aren’t allowed to post anything that is sexually explicit or pornographic, exploits or presents minors in a sexual way, or promotes adult sexual services.”

Phew. So, this is clearly NOT okay with Pinterest. But, it happened nonetheless. What if my 10 year-old had been playing on my phone and this email/image popped up? He would have become another statistic, and it’s hard to erase those kind of images from our minds.  It’s equally hard to look away…for children AND adults.

Thankfully, my child didn’t open this email and see what I saw. But, how in the world did this happen?

All I can figure is this woman…or man posting these pics…uploaded these pictures as to her/his Pinterest profile. And, whenever she…or he…decides to follow someone’s Pinterst page, the profile name and pics are sent to that person’s email address AND they are visible in the Pinterest notifications.

Crazy, right?

So, anyone who wants to put porn out there can do so lickety split. Friends, this is disturbing.

In my previous blog,“The Truth about Women and Porn” , I wrote about the prevelance and acceptance of porn in our society among men AND women. It seems as though society as a whole is increasingly becoming desensitized to the negative affects of porn and the truth that it is inherently wrong and damaging to all involved.

Let’s consider this:  if free porn is being sent directly to Pinterest users, then it is permeating even the most seemingly innocent of websites.

I don’t blame Pinterest.  I think WE are the ones to blame.

According to our friends at XXXChurch, a non-profit ministry that helps those struggling with porn addiction and those wanting out of the porn industry, Porn makes more money than all the major television networks COMBINED.  Combined!  It’s a cash cow, and millions of people…including married couples and even self-professed Christians…are keeping them in business.

I’m not trying to point fingers here, because I’m one who has seen porn before.  My friend showed me a porn magazine when we were only 7 years old.  I wasn’t even sure what I was looking at, but I knew it was wrong…and I still looked at it.  When I was staying at a hotel and browsing channels at night, I accidentally came across a porno scene on HBO and looked for a minute or two and then turned it off.  I should’ve switched the channel right away, but I didn’t.  I knew it was wrong, but I just couldn’t look away for those few minutes.

Our eyes are drawn to nudity.  It’s natural for us to admire the human body and have sexual desire.  God made us this way so that we can have a special, intimate, and loving bond with our spouse with the possibility to create children out of this expression of love and commitment.  Porn is NOT part of God’s plan for us.  It is a form of prostitution and a cheap counterfeit of real love and sexuality.  

For some, porn is gripping, and one lasting glance can lead to a full fledge addiction.  Even when we aren’t actively looking for it, it’s there–just like the email I received from Pinterest.  We’ll tell ourselves that it is simply  a means to an end–a way for us to get “in the mood”, and it’s okay because we are not physically cheating on each other. But, Friends, the more we look at pornographic images, the more we crave sexual experieces beyond our marital bed. It’s messy, and even “soft porn” can lead us to engage in detrimental sexual behaviors like swinging/swapping partners, an “open marriage”, infidelity, hiring prostitutes, and even sexual addiction.

The recent Ashley Madison website scandal put a spotlight on this HUGE issue. Countless married people…men and women…had profiles on this extra-marital dating website, and they got caught.

As Christians, we need to shed light on the truth that porn in detrimental, disrespectful, and extremely harmful to the men and women in the images AND those purchasing it.  It is turning two masterful parts of God’s creation—the human body and sex—into a quick-fix purchase that ends up costing us our relationships and our dignity. It plays on lust and hinders real love.

So, Friends, anytime we receive a pornographic image in our email or on social media, let’s report it to the powers that be right away. They WILL remove it, and there will be less degrading and demoralizing images out there. It may not seem like much, but every little bit helps.

Bottom line…if we don’t report it and remove it, then we are saying that’s it’s not a big deal.  And, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Are you struggling with porn addiction?  If so, please check out the resources and community at XXXChurch.

Also, don’t miss out on our latest video resource, Best Sex Life NOW, for a candid and practical talk on how to have a thriving sex life in your marriage.

As always, thanks so much for reading, responding, and sharing.  See you on Facebook and Pinterest!