Closing one’s eyes to the phenomenon just isn’t a good option for evangelical women. “If they don’t know it and we can’t talk about it, they’re going to get caught out in ministry blindsided.” In some parts of the evangelical world others are even trying to move beyond using the novel only as a cautionary tale. Instead they want to explore what the book’s prominence can bring to Christian conversations about healthy sexuality.

Ask Kelley Taylor, a Southern Baptist college student, if she’s opened the steamy pages of “Fifty Shades of Grey,” and she has a ready response.

“Some of my friends have read it but I decided not to because I just heard about the content and didn’t think it was something I should be reading,” said the North Carolina State University senior, who is majoring in wildlife biology. “I think that it’s kind of contrary to what the Bible says about fleeing from sexual lust and temptation.”

Taylor is not alone. Many evangelical women say they wouldn’t touch the best-selling book, often described as “mommy porn” because of its escapist appeal to working mothers and suburban housewives. But evangelical leaders also realize that some members of their churches and Bible studies can’t resist.

A month ago, worried that the book — the first in a trilogy and the basis of a highly-anticipated movie adaptation — could harm Christian marriages, leaders at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary hosted a closed-door women’s meeting on what it all means and what churches should do about it.

“I think they’re asking first of all, ‘Is it truly pornography?’” said Terri Stovall, dean of women’s programs at the seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Stovall moderated the session for the school’s young women, who often are married to ministers or are single and pursuing ministry themselves. “We say yes it is because it creates pictures in your head.”

Many of the sexual practices featured in the book — such as bondage, domination, sadism and masochism, or BDSM for short — were described during the meeting. “Especially my single students, they were, ‘Oh, my goodness,’” said Stovall.

But she said that reaction shows why they needed to talk about the book, even as many prominent women leaders cautioned against reading it.

Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson recently asked his female co-host about the book, expressing his “shock” that the paperback is selling at such a rapid-fire pace.

“You’re a sweet, Christian girl — lady,” he told Kristi Watts in early November on the Christian Broadcasting Network’s “The 700 Club.” “Do you see anything in porn that attracts you at all?”

“That is not an issue for me, thank you very much,” responded an incredulous Watts.

Stovall said that closing one’s eyes to the phenomenon just isn’t a good option for evangelical women. “If they don’t know it and we can’t talk about it, they’re going to get caught out in ministry blindsided.”

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