Thursday, March 3, 2011

When porn filters are unhelpful

I don't have to convince you - especially if you're a man - that pornographic sin has escalated thanks to the internet. Net porn is epidemic and precious few teenage boys and men who are regularly on-line are immune to it. How pervasive is its reach and power? Check out some stats I saw today:

"According to compiled numbers from respected news and research organizations, every second $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography. Every second 28,258 internet users are viewing pornography. In that same second 372 internet users are typing adult search terms into search engines. Every 39 minutes a new pornographic video is being created in the U.S. And it’s big business. The pornography industry has larger revenues than Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, Apple and Netflix combined."

So, it's logical for a godly guy to rush to put a smut filter on his computer. There are loads of them available, many are free and they're easy to use. Perhaps even more effective are programs which forward your viewing history to your spouse or accountability partner to help you think twice before surfing in dangerous territory.

How should we think about internet filters? On the one hand, we should praise God for them. I have two young sons and I deeply want to protect their minds from sensually titillating images which could lead them to lust - and worse. I need to be especially vigilant as they approach the teenage years when images, which they would have ignored at age 5, suddenly stir up sinful urges. I think internet filters can be very helpful, and I think we need to use them wisely in certain contexts with those under our care who are especially vulnerable.

On the other hand, as a biblically-minded Christian, I have to acknowledge that internet porn filters can be bad - really bad. How so? Well, what is such a filter accomplishing? It's guarding a person's eyes and mind from an opportunity to sate his or her lust. What's it not accomplishing? It's not allowing the reality of that person's sinful heart (which is lustful whether he's looking at porn or not) to be dealt with. It may be wise for an alcoholic to steer clear of the local bars, but doing so doesn't force him to face his true problem: idolatry (satisfaction in something which is not God). An internet filter superficially masks lustful idolatry which is lurking in the heart. If a man chooses not to have a filter on his computer, then he has to depend upon the power of the Holy Spirit when he surfs the web, he has to nurture deep love for his wife in order to say 'no' to his flesh's lustful appetite and when he does look at smut, he is in a position to confess to his Christian brothers that he's an idolater who's desperate for their prayers and the grace of God in his life.

An internet filter might help a man avoid smutty websites, but it won't help him face his own sinful heart and it won't drive him in desperation to the Cross. Like a child needing training wheels, my sons need an internet filter when they're young, unwise and unable to protect themselves. But if they intend to grow spiritually, one day the training wheels will need to come off. The glory of Christ in their lives and their desperation for the gospel depends on it.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So true. I've seen this firsthand in my own life. My wife has me on "parental controls" mode (at my request), yet being kept "out of the cookie jar" certainly hasn't done much in curbing my actual desire for a cookie. While I'd never want to go online without safeguards in place, God continues to show me that only HE can effectively change my appetite, from the inside out.

Anonymous said...

This was very thought provoking... Yet, I don't know if I would consider a filter "training wheels". Don't you think there is enough porn and smut just walking through the mall, seeing billboards along the highway, and flipping through the channels of the TV? There are plenty of opportunities in this world to address the heart issue of lust and idolatry and confess sins.