Let’s face it – in some form or another, pornography has been with us throughout human history. It really wasn’t very prevalent until the middle of the last century, when the late Hugh Hefner (1926-2017 — yes, that Hugh Hefner) had something very rare – a photo of actress Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) in the nude. Hugh Hefner then started Playboy magazine in 1955 – and that’s where the downhill slide began. Since that time, dozens of pornographic magazines have, sadly, become widely available in convenience stores / gas stations, supermarkets, bookstores, and the like. And that’s not all – many mainstream publications not traditionally known for pornographic content now contain at least a few photos that would have to be considered pornographic, with the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition being the most prominent example.
Even worse, there are some photos and videos that used to be considered pornographic some 20 or 30 years ago that are now considered perfectly OK. But the problem is, if our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, which He is (Hebrews 13:8), the only logical conclusion that we can draw from this is that His standards never change. Sadly, in 1987, the southern gospel group The McKameys summed it up in a song called “Getting Used to the Dark”, which describes how society in general, and sadly, many churches, have become lax regarding sin in their ranks. Friends, these things ought not to be (James 3:10), because God demands that his people strive for holiness in this life, without which no one will see Him in the next (Hebrews 12:14).
It used to be that, in order to find some really raunchy hard-core pornography, you often had to go to an adult bookstore to find it. But many people were very hesitant about doing so, thinking “what if so-and-so sees me there and recognizes me?” And then, in the mid-1990’s, Internet usage in the home became commonplace. Almost immediately, numerous pornographic websites went online, allowing anyone at all to get their fill of all the porn they could want and then some, without anyone else ever knowing. Problem is, sin has a way of ultimately coming to the light, because no matter how well you hide it, your sins will eventually find you out (Numbers 32:23). There are, of course, any number of ways in which online porn usage in secret will affect you, which include, but are not limited to, the following:
- If you are married, porn will reduce your desire for your spouse. Or, if you are not married, porn will wreck your marriage before it even starts due to lack of desire for your future spouse.
- Porn will give you the urge to “cut to the chase” with no foreplay. In other words, you will become a pathetic lover who thinks only of your own needs while ignoring your spouse’s.
- Porn makes you more hyper-critical of your spouse and less “in love”.
- Porn makes it more likely that the porn addict will cheat on his/her spouse.
- Internet pornography usage is a factor in 56% (over half) of all divorce cases.
- Porn makes you crave more deviant acts and makes you less loving, caring, and tender. This is due to hard-core material that depicts abuse, causing a considerable number of porn addicts to become very abusive toward their spouses. I am not saying that all porn users become abusive, but it is highly likely that if a man abuses his wife, you can almost bet he is addicted to hard-core violent and abusive forms of pornography. Also, it is not at all uncommon for one to first dabble in “soft porn” but ultimately get to the point where they desire more abusive content.
- On a related note, some porn users will get to the point where both a) they become abusive, and b) want what they want right now, with complete and total reckless disregard for the rights and feelings of others…and commit rape. If one is convicted of rape, it often means spending years or decades in prison followed by decades or, worse yet, life on the sex offender registry, which is a very high price to pay for what started out as a pornography addiction.
- Many long-time pornography addicts eventually, either consciously or subconsciously, begin searching for pornographic material featuring younger and younger subjects until, next thing you know, they are looking at pornographic material of subjects under the age of 18. In the United States and most other parts of the world, such material is considered child pornography, the possession of which is a felony, even if the subject in question looks older, and even if the subject is, in fact, over the age of 18 but looks younger. In other words, there is no universally accepted standard defining what constitutes child pornography, which means that those accused of possessing it are purely at the mercy of police officers and prosecuting attorneys, who won’t bother to investigate if the subject really is 18 and worse yet, couldn’t care less how it got on one’s computer, even if it was the result of a virus, which has, sadly, happened to a few people. Again, as with rape, being convicted of child porn often results in decades in prison and decades if not life on the sex offender registry, and in some cases, being prohibited from using computers. All of the above are a very, very high price to pay for a pornography addiction.
- TRIGGER WARNING: Even worse, some child pornography addicts have gone so far as to engage in the most despicable crimes against children. A very sad and shocking case comes to mind that happened in February of 2014 in Springfield, Missouri, when 10-year-old Hailey Owens was walking home from a friend’s house when Craig Michael Wood was driving down the same street at the same time and pulled over to ask her for directions. He instantly grabbed her and threw her in his truck and sped away. A witness to the crime got the license plate number, and that evening, police came to his house, and found where he had murdered Hailey Owens in his basement. Further investigation revealed that Craig Michael Wood not only had a stash of child pornography on his computer but even went so far as to write his own pornographic and obscene stories involving children. At the time of this writing, Craig Michael Wood is currently on death row for Hailey’s murder (no execution date has been set at this time) – the ultimate price to pay for a pornography addiction.
One of the biggest casualties of online pornography is the effect that it has on children. Ever since the Internet became accessible from people’s homes in the mid-1990’s, 9 out of 10 children have viewed pornography online before the age of 18, either by finding it accidentally (such as through a mistyped URL or through search results) or through a friend. This has led to some very alarming statistics regarding children and porn, such as the following:
- The largest group of porn users are children between the ages of 12 and 17
- 76% of Christian young adults age 18-24 regularly look for porn on the Internet
- 49% of all Christian young adults say that their friends regularly look for porn online
- 62% of all Christian teens have received nude images
- 40% of all Christian teens have sent nude images
- 33% of all Christian young women age 13-24 are addicted to porn
- Only 7% of all churches have a program to help those struggling with pornography
20% of all online porn involves children – this makes any online porn use extremely dangerous, as it could trigger police, possibly in the form of a SWAT team, coming to your door, inspecting your computer, and leading to your arrest, conviction, a lengthy prison sentence, and a lifetime on the sex offender registry. Worse yet, over 20,000 child pornography images or videos are added weekly. To search for porn online is like playing Russian roulette with your freedom and your reputation.
As I have stated elsewhere in this manifesto, the Bible commands us to, as much as possible, pursue peace with others and to pursue holiness, without which no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). You would think that Christians would be much more likely to refrain from pornography usage. Sadly, even among professed Christians, this does not appear to be the case. Consider the following:
- Approximately 60% of all professed Christian men have viewed pornography in the past week. Sadly, this is at approximately the same rate as those who do not claim to be Christians.
- Approximately 38% of all pastors have viewed pornography in the past week.
Sadly, this is all in spite of numerous warnings in the Bible that the sexually immoral will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:21, and others). In fact, God considers lust to be just as bad as the physical act of adultery (Matthew 5:27-28).
About 60% of all professed Christians who admitted to viewing pornography have said that they deeply regretted having done so. This is due to the Holy Spirit having convicted them that what they were doing is wrong. Let me make it clear that such people are Christians — otherwise, they would not have felt such conviction from the Holy Spirit. After all, none of us will ever be completely sanctified while still in our fleshly bodies here on earth. Sanctification is a lifelong process that can be like, to quote the title of the last #1 hit that the Beatles had in 1970, “The Long and Winding Road”. The book of 1 John was written to early Christians to encourage them in their walk with the Lord. 1 John 1:8 reminds us that “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us”. In other words, we’re only kidding ourselves if we think we’re sinless. All of us, no matter how close our walk with the Lord is, are capable of sinning at any time. King David, for instance, was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22), yet that did not stop him from committing adultery with another man’s wife and then murdering her husband in a lame attempt to cover up his adulterous misdeed. Thankfully, David repented (Psalm 51) – but the repercussions of his fling with Bathsheba continued to haunt him for the rest of his life. Interestingly, one of the sons born to David and Bathsheba, Solomon, was an ancestor of our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ (Matthew chapter 1).
It is important to note that there is a difference between sin and habitual sin, especially if there is no intention of ceasing from sin. 1 John 3:6-9 specifically refers to willful, continual, and habitual sin with complete disregard toward how it affects others, complete disregard for what God has to say about it, and the absence of any feelings of conviction from the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 12:8 says that if we feel no sense of rebuke or chastisement when we have sinned, then that is a clear sign that such a person is not saved and is spiritually in a very dangerous situation. Moreover, such people have been spiritually blinded by Satan and sadly, don’t even know it (2 Corinthians 4:4), and desperately need Jesus.
Finally, it is important to note that just as we cannot save ourselves from sin, we cannot sanctify ourselves, either. Both justification (the initial moment of salvation, through faith in Jesus Christ’s death on the cross for our sins) and sanctification (the process of becoming holy, pure, and righteous) are the work of the Lord. As I have stated earlier, sanctification is a lifelong process, and it can be a very painful process at times. Yet, for those following the Lord, we have the assurance that “…He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” (Philippians 1:6, from the KJV).
There is, of course, much, much more that could be said here. Pornography has clearly adversely affected the minds, hearts, and attitudes of all who view it. It also even adversely affects those who don’t view it, such as in rape, being ridiculed for taking a stand against pornography, or being the recipient of unwarranted feelings of distrust. Any way you slice it, pornography negatively affects us all.
The reasons stated above are just a few of the reasons for F3OS’s existence. Children are naturally drawn to computers, the Internet, and to technology in general, and as such, digital safeguards such as those offered for free in F3OS are a must in today’s families due to the pervasiveness of pornography on the Internet. Moreover, the vast majority of schools, colleges, and universities use computers in some way in their academic programs. Thus, our society in America is heavily dependent on computers…yet, that very same source is also, sadly, the very same vehicle by which most pornography is spread. Thus, it is my conviction that there is a need for a free operating system whose goal is to guard our eyes against pornography. True, F3OS is only one Linux distribution, and Linux in general, at the time of this writing, only holds a market share of about 4% on all of the world’s desktop and laptop computers. Yet, with Linux being free to modify and use for whatever purposes one wishes, it is the tool God gave me to make a difference in this world – and F3OS serves to harness the power of Linux for good by stopping the flow of pornography into the world’s homes.