EastLake Community Church in Bothell will host an “XXX Debate” with visiting “porn pastor” Craig Gross (of Las Vegas-based xxxchurch.com) and “porn king”/film star Ron Jeremy at 7 p.m. March 5 in the church auditorium at 3301 Monte Villa Parkway, Suite 200. Cost is $5 (free with student or military ID).

Pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States alone, but serious discussion of the issue is rare, reads the event listing on EastLake’s Web site. Is it degrading to women, or empowering? Is it addictive and destructive habit, or a window to a fun fantasy world?

The listing continues: In this intelligent and multi-faceted debate, all aspects of the pornography issue are discussed and examined.

“We’re trying to get people to talk about this issue of pornography. Our goal is not to bring down the porn industry or isolate anyone that is involved,” says Ryan Meeks, pastor of EastLake Community Church. “At EastLake, we recognize there are many people in our community struggling with porn addiction who don’t have anywhere to turn for help. The result is destroying marriages and families. We want to be a place of hope and healing for people, providing resources to protect families and help people break the bonds of addiction.”

“The American church doesn’t need the ‘sex talk,’ it needs ‘the porn talk,’ says Gross. “We have to respond to this devastating problem. We are sick of  watching people lose everything to porn.”

During the “porn weekend,” ladies will chat at a “porn and pastries” event from 7-9 p.m. Friday night, and a “porn in the morn” event will be a venue for the guys from 9-11 a.m. Saturday.