Megan Udinski, FISM News
With an ever-growing reliance on technology, Christians have turned to accountability software to protect one’s mind from impure images, specifically pornography. Some of that software has come under fire and labeled as ‘shameware.’
Grant Hao-Wei Lin, a member of Gracepoint Church, a Southern Baptist network of collegiate churches and parachurch ministries headquartered in Alameda, California, came out to one of his church leaders as gay during a weekly one-on-one meeting. According to Lin, the church leader affirmed that God still loved him in spite of his same-sex attraction and requested he download the Covenant Eyes app to help “control all of his urges.”
The main objective of programs like Covenant Eyes or Accountable2You is to provide “freedom through transparency.”
Lin seemed to dislike the depth of the report that the church leader was sent weekly as it included apps he clicked on and even flagged a search for “#Gay” on an Instagram Photo editing tool as “Mature.” He told WIRED that he received accusatory emails from the church leader.
After a WIRED investigative reporter looked into Lin’s, as well as four other Gracepoint Church members’, experiences with the involvement of the church utilizing the accountability software, Google removed Covenant Eyes and Accountable2You from the Google Play store, claiming the programs violate their malware policy.
In a banner at the top of the website, Covenant Eyes lists their response to the removal from Google Play. They have “submitted an appeal to Google because…Google did not give us any insight into the precise nature of the violation….At this point, we have to let the appeal process play out.” Additionally, they have created an alternative option to access the Covenant Eyes Android app.
Several others along with Lin have been referring to the software as “shameware.” One individual who previously used Accountable2You, named Brit, shared with WIRED, “It’s really not about pornography. It’s about making you conform to what your pastor wants.”
In an email regarding the claims by previous Gracepoint Church members, Ed Kang the pastor of Gracepoint Church in Berkeley, Calif. explained that all volunteer staff sign an agreement to install Covenant Eyes or Accountable2You, but regarding the accountability partner, “Usually it’s whoever they [congregants] designate, and we actually discourage leaders from being the accountability partners as that seems a bit too heavy.” The five main individuals the WIRED reporter talked to with negative experiences using the protection software indicated that their accountability partner was a church leader.
Nicole Praus, a scientist who studies the effects of pornography on the brain and the so-called disinformation on sexual health at the University of California, Los Angeles commented, “I’ve never seen anyone who’s been on one of these apps feel better about themselves in the long term. These people just end up feeling like there’s something wrong with them when the reality is that there likely isn’t.”
Christians know that every individual is plagued with the disease of sin and therefore there is something innately wrong with us. However, God desires His children to be free from sin as the epistle of Romans written by the Apostle Paul states, “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.” Furthermore, chapter 12 in the letter written to the Hebrews explains, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
Reformed Presbyterian pastor Kevin DeYoung tweeted, “The Bible never ever treats sexual immorality as a minor issue. Avoiding porneia is not the gospel, but it is a central and essential entailment of the gospel.”
The Bible never ever treats sexual immorality as a minor issue. Avoiding porneia is not the gospel, but it is a central and essential entailment of the gospel.
— Kevin DeYoung (@RevKevDeYoung) September 26, 2022
According to the Covenant Eyes website, “28,258 users are watching pornography every second.” Their accountability process involves downloading the app to your devices, allowing artificial intelligence (AI) to scan for concerning activity, and then filtering the activity while sending a report to an accountability partner of your choosing. The accountability partner is encouraged and reminded to look at the weekly reports, to encourage the person seeking help, and given resources on how to best support someone struggling with sexual purity.
The Southern Baptist Convention has made headlines in the past couple of years regarding the widespread sexual abuse case that has involved the Justice Department. Perhaps in an attempt to combat some of these past sins, churches like Gracepoint are swinging the opposite way on the pendulum to protect their congregants.