By Bob Frank *, No-Debt Living newsletter

October 1997 – It’s safe to say that we have been blessed (and plagued) with advances in research and technology – television, digital and cellular telephones, medical technology and more. But with those blessings come responsibilities.

One of the latest advances in electronic/computer wizardry is the Internet. This breakthrough provides nearly instant access to oceans of useful and not-so-useful information, both Christian and secular. However, like television, the Internet also provides easy access to the worst pornographic trash imaginable. Advertisements for this morally corrupt garbage spill quietly and anonymously into millions of E-mail accounts every day, via a process known as “spamming.”

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Internet, spamming is the junk mail of the electronic age. Open up your electronic mailbox, via your computer, and there it is. Loads of ads promote everything from cheap gasoline credit cards, to vacations, weight-loss programs and more.

If that were the extent of it, there would be little to complain about. Pornographers, however, have plunged junk mail practices to all-time depths. When a porn dealer sends you a message, the return E-mail address is usually bogus, so you can’t fire back a message that says, “Take me off your list.”

Even if the pornographer’s return address is active, the problem just gets worse if the recipient sends back a message. The spammers have computer robots that treat any return message as an opportunity to identify a new active E-mail address. Then the robots put the address of the person complaining on more and more spam lists.

Be aware and flee
The sad thing is, people who are not well-grounded in the scripture and who have not learned to immediately flee from this stuff (I Corinthians 6:18, 10:11-14 and II Timothy 2:22) are often sucked into its addictive web.

Doctor sees intense addiction
One person who has seen this trend firsthand is Dr. Thomas Harrison, an associate professor at the University of Utah and a private practitioner in psychotherapy, who has specialized in treating addicts of pornography for 25 years.

Each month, for the past several months, Harrison’s private practice, which is limited in size, has been adding three new patients, all hooked by pornography on the Internet. This type of pornography, he said, is “intensely addicting,” because it provokes an “adrenaline-dopamine” rush or high.

“It’s a very profound addicting response because you don’t have to go out on the street, you don’t have to buy anything, you don’t have to go anywhere. You can get it at work, in an airplane, at home, anywhere you can connect with the Internet,” Harrison said.

“In a normal relationship, you can’t do that. To achieve that response with a partner, you have to be kind, polite and gentle; and you have to show a sense of caring and love. With Internet pornography, you don’t have to do anything other than pay your computer bill and your Internet server.”

Harrison compared the risk of porn addiction to II Timothy 3:1-9. The first few verses of that passage state:

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

The world would have you think Internet pornography is all freedom of speech and the press. It has nothing to do with freedom of speech or the press. This is full-blown, in-your-face pornography, and the Bill of Rights, as authored by this nation’s founders, was never intended to protect such garbage. Furthermore, we as Christians should not sit idly by as Satan and the world build another stronghold from which to launch enemy missiles that will cripple or destroy the morals of our young people, as well as adults. (Ephesians 6:10-11; II Kings 23:1-25; Proverbs 5:1- 10; 7:6-27)

Studies have shown that the vast majority of sexual offenders begin their deviant behavior with off-the-rack pornography, then progress to violent acts. Like an addiction to drugs, pornography is often progressive, leading the victims to deeper and darker levels.

Where are women's groups?!
What’s amazing is that women’s groups across the nation are not crying out vehemently and persistently to local, state and federal government officials to put an end to pornography, regardless of whether it’s sold on the Internet, in the supermarket, in porn shops or in the mail. After all, women and children are nearly always the target of rape and sexual violence.

If various women’s groups united and rallied behind this effort – as they did in the early 1900s when they were seeking the right to vote – the war against pornography could be won in a relatively short time, on the local, state and national level. But the attack must be multilevel.

First and foremost, this battle must be bathed in prayer, as participants seek the wisdom and blessing of God. Without His empowerment and guidance, it will never happen. With His blessing and power, nothing will stop it.

Federal, state and local representatives must be targeted, but so must prosecutors, law enforcement officials, chambers of commerce, media executives and, most of all, other citizens on a grassroots level. In addition, people must be willing to use their time, skills and finances in related efforts.

Every Christian in the nation could and should be involved to one degree or another – whether it’s praying once a week, making donations to lobbying groups, calling elected officials, or boycotting pornography dealers. Let’s face it, folks, this should be a winnable war.

Turning the tables
This month I had the pleasure of downloading the website of a local Christian group that is using the Internet to turn the tables on pornographers. That website is the homepage for the Hardin McNairy County American Family Association, found at www.public.usit.net/shank/hmcafa. ()

In essence, a handful of local folks are using a non-profit webpage site to provide local citizens with a list of local porn dealers and recruit their help in the war against pornography. The cost to maintain this website is probably under $30 per month. These people have taken the resources that God has provided and have begun using them to His honor and glory. Other creative, inexpensive means have also been used effectively throughout the nation by people willing to become involved.

If you're concerned
If you are concerned about the impact of pornography upon your family and/or society, you need to pray about this issue, let the Lord lead you and then get involved in some way.

Here are a few things you can do:

➤ Pray with your family, church friends, or local citizens to develop a strategy to fight porn in your area.
➤ Subscribe to the AFA Journal, P.O. Drawer 2440, Tupelo, MS 38803. Donation: $15 per year. Website: afajournal.org. The AFA Journal will keep you up to date on anti-pornography efforts, as well as on movies and TV programming.
➤ Protect yourself and your family on the Internet by installing software to screen out pornography. There are several of these programs on the market.
➤ Establish a system in the workplace that screens out pornography on the Internet. Studies have shown that the majority of people visiting pornography sites do so during regular working hours. Chances are, your employer would be interested in knowing how to economically stop this trend in your organization.
➤ Whenever there is legislation concerning pornography, get informed and contact your elected officials, via phone, fax or mail.
➤ Set up a table near the entrance to a local pornographer’s business and hand out cookies and Christian tracts to people (provided you are on public property). This mild approach has driven more than one local porn shop out of business.
➤ Work with local Christian business people and consumers to develop strategies to get rid of pornography sales outlets in your area.
➤ Use the Internet to set up a local “Hall of Shame” webpage.
➤ Complain to your local Internet server, AOL, Compuserve, Prodigy, and others about the pornographic junk E-mail you are receiving.
➤ Ask local business owners who carry pornographic material (grocery stores, gasoline stations, convenience stores, etc.) to eliminate those products from their shelves.

The bottom line is this: Whenever God provides us with skills, blessings and resources, we, as good Christian stewards, should be looking for ways to use those resources to His honor and glory to further the kingdom of God. The war against pornography is a winnable war and each of us needs to get involved. The price of our apathy has already been too dear.  

* Robert Frank is editor of No-Debt Living Newsletter, a national monthly publication providing financial, home-management and investment news with a Christian perspective. P.O. Box 282, Veradale, WA 99037. Sample issue: $2. Subscription: $25.95/year. Phone: 800-560-3328.

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Pornography Awareness Week October 26-November 2
Pornography Awareness Week was started over a decade ago by American Family Association to help communities combat the rise of pornography.

Don Wildmon, AFA President, says “We can’t afford to wait any longer on government to do their job in enforcing obscenity laws. We must become educated and involved in the pornography issue. Our society has already suffered too much because of the silence and apathy of the Christian community on the issue of pornography.”

Here are ways you can participate in the 1997 Pornography Awareness Week:

● Pray for the success of this national campaign.
● Avoid retailers who rent pornography and let them know why.
● Support retailers who support the family by not carrying porn.
● Voice your concern to others and work toward a common goal.
● Form a local AFA Affiliate as an effective means to confront the problem. Contact the AFA Affiliate department by calling David Miller at 601-844-5036, Ext. 314.
● Order the AFA Pornography Awareness Week Information Packet.
● Encourage family members and friends who are addicted to pornography to call the AFA Outreach Division at 601-844-5128.

The 1997 Pornography Awareness Week Information Packet includes: a White Ribbon Against Pornography (you can reorder more), samples of anti-porn billboards which can be ordered, some facts about pornography, a sample proclamation for use by elected officials, a press release, picket information, a church bulletin insert, an Outreach brochure on how to deal with pornography addiction, information on how to form an AFA Local Affiliate, and a petition to President Clinton to fulfill his 1992 campaign pledge to “aggressively enforce” the federal obscenity laws.

The cost is $3 per packet. Include payment with order. Shipping is included. Order from AFA Resources, P. O. Drawer 2440, Tupelo, MS 38803.