‘A Civilizational Crisis’: Covenant Eyes CEO Warns against Dangers of Porn Epidemic

The founder of an accountability software company is warning that pornography is a “civilizational crisis” which Christian leaders must oppose. In conversation with The Christian Post, Covenant Eyes founder and CEO Ronald DeHaas said that pastors “need to be talking about” the porn epidemic and especially its impact on youth. “They need to be talking about it, they need to recognize that most of the 12-year-old kids in their church have already viewed pornography,” DeHaas said. “Some of the 12-year-old kids are probably addicted to pornography.”

He continued, “We’re talking about, by and large, Christian families and 12-year-old kids in Christian families who are struggling with pornography. And so, this has become their sex training, their sex education. And the boys, of course, are learning, ‘This is how I’m supposed to treat girls,’ and the girls are learning, ‘This is how I’m supposed to be treated.’ And so, it’s not good. It really isn’t.”

DeHaas pointed to the 850 students who applied for Covenant Eyes’ 2023 Kenneth Bowen Scholarship, submitting essays that include comment on their experiences combatting pornography addictions with the help of the program. The vast majority of applicants, he said, admitted that they first found pornography around the age of 12. “Some of them were as young as six years old,” he added.

The Covenant Eyes CEO also referred to a study conducted by the Barna Group called “The Porn Phenomenon.” That study found that while most Americans agree that porn is “bad for society,” younger generations are shifting towards viewing porn as either neutral or even “good for society,” and many teens and young adults (89%-95%) even reported that their friends accept or encourage porn use. Additionally, pornography has helped fuel a rise in sexting amongst youth, with 62% of teens and young adults saying they have received sexually explicit images from friends or significant others, and 41% saying they have sent them.

Additionally, the Barna Group’s survey found that a majority of pastors (57%) and youth ministers (64%) say they either have struggled with porn in the past or they currently do. Fourteen percent of pastors and 21% of youth ministers admitted they currently struggle with porn, with 5% of pastors and 12% of youth ministers saying they are addicted. The majority of pastors who currently use porn agree that it has negatively impacted their ministry, and youth ministers are twice as likely to report that porn use has negatively impacted what they do. Seventy percent of youth ministers also say that they have been approached by at least one teenager in the past 12 months who is seeking advice on combatting porn use. While most of these teens are boys, the number of girls seeking advice for dealing with porn has been increasing.

DeHaas said that “there is no doubt in my mind” that there is a demonic aspect to the porn epidemic, which he called “a civilizational crisis.” He noted the number of studies which show a porn-linked increase in erectile dysfunction, intimacy issues, and other sexual problems among young men especially. One article DeHaas referenced, titled “Porn and the Threat to Virility,” details how young men who grow up watching pornography are psychologically impacted by it to such an extent that they are unable to become sexually aroused by real women physically present, only by porn.

“A growing number of young men are convinced that their sexual responses have been sabotaged because their brains were virtually marinated in porn when they were adolescents,” the article says. “Their generation has consumed explicit content in quantities and varieties never before possible, on devices designed to deliver content swiftly and privately, all at an age when their brains were more plastic — more prone to permanent change — than in later life.” Highlighting these issues, DeHaas said, “If men can’t have kids, it’s a civilizational problem.”

DeHaas also noted the growing number of Americans looking for ways to quit and block porn. Referring to the leftist-sparked controversy over a video of U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) saying that he and his son use Covenant Eyes, the CEO confirmed that his company saw “record sales” in the wake of the left-wing smear campaign against Johnson. “He was being a good parent is what he was doing,” DeHaas said. “The people who want to promote pornography — and who want to promote sex trafficking, even — of course they’re going to make fun of it, they’re going to twist it.”

Covenant Eyes was founded in 2000, when the internet was just beginning to boom. DeHaas had two teenage sons at the time and saw early on the threat that internet pornography posed. While the program can be set to filter and block pornography, its chief function is accountability, which DeHaas says is a key component in beating a porn addiction. “When you’re transparent about it, you realize everybody around you is struggling,” he pointed out. “You’re not alone, and there is an answer. And that ultimate answer is Jesus Christ.”

He added, “But if you go into the recovery process with an ally, and you focus on Christ, that really is the hope. There is hope, and there is success. Faith and transparency are the key.”