By Lauren Campbell, Staff Writer
Originally Published February 27, 2024
On Monday, Feb. 19, Campus Ministry hosted Joshua Broome, a former adult film star who left the industry and became a pastor and anti-pornography advocate. Broome spoke about his experience in the porn industry and the dangers porn can have. The talk left students feeling mostly positive, with a few feeling skeptical.
In the talk, Broome spoke about his time as an adult film star, the experiences he went through, and how it nearly drove him to suicide before he left the industry. He then went on to tell the story of how he met the woman who is now his wife, crediting her and his mother for pulling him out of his former life and bringing him closer to God than ever.
In addition to his personal testimony, Broome warned audiences of the dangers porn can have on people, both the people in the videos and the people watching.
“It’s not what you think it is,” said Broome. “It’s a million miles from intimacy. It’s two broken people operating their brokenness, causing more brokenness, and they desperately just want to be saved.”
Students who attended the talk had mostly positive takeaways from it, finding the testimony interesting and appreciative of Broome for telling his story. Some were more questioning about Broome’s claims but were still interested in the talk nonetheless.
Chris Baker, a seminarian who attended the talk, was grateful for Broome’s testimony, especially when he told the story of how he met his wife.
“I enjoyed it,” said Baker. “I was thankful that he talked about his relationship with his parents. I was really appreciative, and even to some degree surprised that the Lord put in his life a woman that was not going to judge him based on the things that he’s done in his life.”
Another student, who chooses to remain anonymous, said they thought the talk was interesting, but were skeptical about Broome’s claims about the amount of human trafficking in the industry.
“I thought the talk was interesting and very informative,” said the student. “I really liked how he connected his religion to all his points and explained how it helped him get out of that life. However, I disagreed with him when he said that everyone in the porn industry is being trafficked.”
Campus Ministry had said previously when they invited Kim Zember to speak on campus that they hoped to start conversations like this on campus, and it seems they have succeeded with Joshua Broome’s testimony.
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