The National Association of Evangelicals affirms the declaration of Scripture that all persons are made in the image of God and are therefore to be treated with respect and dignity. We also affirm that sex is a gift from our loving Father to be enjoyed within the sacred bonds of marriage between husband and wife.
Because of our sin, we as individuals and as a nation continue to experience a decline in moral values and beliefs. Our sinful behavior has resulted in increasing rates of unmarried adolescent and adult sexual activity, the birth of children to unwed mothers, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and decreasing marital fidelity. These are all signs of the decline of our culture.
Today pornography and obscenity are available through increasingly sexually explicit movies and television programs, magazines, video tapes and, most recently, the Internet. The Internet brings pornography into our homes, schools and libraries. Everything from soft-core to hard-core to child pornography is now available not just for adults, but for children. The powerfully corrosive effect within American society is deeply troubling to evangelicals.
Pornography and obscenity cause harm to those (often women and children) who are abused in the production of it as well as to those who use it. These materials exploit persons made in God’s image, destroy healthy relationships and distort God’s gift of loving, mutual sexuality between husband and wife.
As members of the National Association of Evangelicals, we are therefore committed to educating both our members and the broader culture about the harm of pornography. To facilitate that commitment, we encourage our member denominations to take official action at their national governing bodies, and to implement an educational process that will protect God’s people from the impact of pornography. We encourage pastors and congregations to protect their youth and children from exposure to these materials. We call upon leaders of businesses, schools and libraries as well as parents to participate in an effort to protect children and youth from being harmed by these materials.
We also urge local, state, and federal agencies to prosecute aggressively those who break the law in producing and distributing illegal pornography or who operate illegal sex businesses.
Lastly, we call upon all leaders of the broader faith community, all persons of goodwill and especially representatives of the evangelical community to be “salt and light” in protecting people from the harm of pornography, obscenity and sex businesses. We also call upon these same people to join together in their own communities to win the battle against pornography and obscenity through education, appropriate law enforcement efforts and by helping those who have been harmed.