Lutheran Pastor Defends 'Ethically Sourced Porn,' Wants to Remove 'Shame' From Industry

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Lutheran pastor and author Nadia Bolz-Weber has argued that there should be no shame in consuming pornography, especially if it is "ethically sourced."

In a recent interview with the New Jersey-based LGBT publication Out In Jersey, Bolz-Weber discussed her upcoming new book on the issue of sexual ethics and the church.

In discussing pornography, Bolz-Weber explained that while she recognizes that there are "issues of justice and exploitation within the porn industry," she still does not believe that the "consumption of pornography should be shamed."

"There is ethically sourced porn. There are people who say it's sexual immorality, but if you take Liberals and Conservatives who show outrage and made a Venn diagram of those who consume pornography, you'd see a huge overlap," said Bolz-Weber to Out in Jersey.

"There are people who consume pornography in a shame based way, it would be horrible if people know because they are those who are morally outraged as Liberals or Conservatives. That's a lonely place to exist, let's take that part out of it. I'm not going to shame people when they already feel ashamed."

Bolz-Weber's comments have drawn criticism from some, including conservative Christian author Rod Dreher, who argued that Bolz-Weber "inadvertently indicates why progressive Christianity has no future."

"If there is a more cartoonish example of progressive Christianity than a foul-mouthed lady pastor praising consumption of 'ethically-sourced porn,' I can't think of it," wrote Dreher.

"The Pastrix is a minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, which has been in steep decline for some time. I wrote about an incident earlier this year that highlighted how radical ELCA has become. Sometimes, you just have to isolate the contagion, and let the patient expire naturally."

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Bolz-Weber's comments on pornography were also denounced by the website Exposing the ELCA, arguing that the provocative pastor's comments reflect the overall views of the mainline Protestant denomination.

"Bolz-Weber is a major leader in the ELCA, and she is telling people that it is okay to view pornography. That, of course, is against Scripture," stated the website in an entry last week.

"This is what the ELCA has become. Many ELCA leaders, members and unchurched people fawn over Rev. Bolz-Weber. She was even picked to speak to 31,000 ELCA teenagers at last summer's ELCA youth gathering despite the high volume of heretical statements she has made in the past."

Bolz-Weber is scheduled to have a new book published next January titled Shameless: A Sexual Reformation, in which she argues that church teaching on sexuality has caused harm to many people.