Wait until you hear this! Last Saturday night, Ron Jeremy and Pastor Craig Gross (of XXXChurch.com) debated porn at a huge church here in San Diego.No, it’s not a typo. I did indeed say church — The Rock Church, to be exact. I was in the audience, as was porn legend Stephanie Swift. (I dated her Mom for an entire summer many years ago.)
The combined church buildings cover four football fields. The main facility where the debate occurred offered seating for more than 5,000 people, and almost every seat was filled for what was billed as “The Great Porn Debate.” I marveled at the size of the facility as I entered what at first reminded me of a gigantic nightclub or concert venue, complete with a DJ spinning hip-hop music on the stage. The place was equipped with two very large projection screens so the audience could see up-close views of the proceedings.
Attendees were at least 18 years of age — not unlike performers on porn sets — and seemed to be mostly in the 20-40 age group. It looked to me like there were as many couples as singles there. Someone recognized me as I was taking my seat and told folks who I was, but everyone was cordial and I was asked a lot of questions about porn while waiting for the event to start. Maybe it was the music, or the anticipation of the porn debate, but everyone was smiling and happy looking.
The church suddenly broke out in loud cheering and applause when Pastor Miles McPherson, a former NFL player who founded The Rock Church, walked onto the stage to act as moderator and emcee. McPherson is down to earth yet inspirational, congenial and fair, and he was the perfect moderator.
Craig opened with 15 minutes of his contentions, and then Ron had 15 minutes to respond. Following that, questions were entertained via text messages and from on-site attendees. Everything was organized brilliantly.
The questions covered lots of areas, a few of which concerned religion, but most mirrored the same questions we get from porn fans. At one point, while Ron was answering a question about anal sex, it came out that he’s had sex with more than 3,000 women. Pastor McPherson immediately grabbed two unopened bottles of drinking water and walked around Ron with a grin on his face as if he were blessing the super-stud with holy water. The attendees erupted in laughter, Ron smiled, and Craig just watched.
In my opinion, although Ron clearly bested Craig in the formal debate and the 90-minute question-and-answer period, there was so much meaningful information discussed that the audience also “won” big time. Yes, some spiritual matters were addressed, but the thirst for sexual enlightenment also shone brightly, and in fact ruled the evening. Everyone was respectful that we were in church, but candid sex information was dispensed diplomatically in a way that was not uncomfortable. Afterwards, Ron and Craig headed for the library for a meet-and-greet with anyone who wanted to stop by. Pastor McPherson and I chatted a bit, and I got to hug Stephanie Swift as I was exiting The Great Porn Debate venue.
As I was heading towards the library to say goodbye to Ron, folks smiled and welcomed me to their church, and a long line formed to get Ron’s autograph and/or a photo with him. It was not unlike the annual AVN Expo in Las Vegas. The line grew to approximately four blocks long. To me, many of the church folks were worshipping the legend of Ron Jeremy, clearly the man of the hour.
In closing, I wholeheartedly commend Pastor McPherson for hosting such a daring and worthwhile event for his flock, and for the fair, fun and splendid way he moderated the debate. He’s quite a man of God, and he’s an all-around super human being. Yes, I spent three hours in church, and it was fine! If you sometime get the opportunity, visit The Rock Church for an amazing experience.
