Is fighting p**nography a lost cause? Let God be the judge!

By: American Decency Staff

On occasion I like to use a Q&A to get to the essence of some of the things on my heart.  This format helps keep a narrow focus and allows me to cover a lot of ground.  Below you will find my answers to questions regarding the fight against pornography in today’s culture.  But first this reminder: The War on Illegal Pornography will host its first online conference via its Facebook page, today, Dec. 9, 11 a.m. until noon, featuring experts who will discuss the pornography pandemic and its relationship to sex trafficking, effect on marriages, and the need to prosecute obscene hardcore adult pornography. Questions may be submitted online to the panelists during this one-hour presentation.  The event will be broadcast live from the Porn Harms Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/PornHarms. The War on Illegal Pornography is a coalition of more than fifty national and state groups founded by Morality in Media, http://www.moralityinmedia.org. It is associated with the Pro-Family Forum on Pornography, which was founded for the purpose of education, strategic planning, and action on the issue of illegal pornography. The Forum has met on several occasions with the Department of Justice (DOJ) asking for enforcement of the current Federal Laws prohibiting distribution of illegal pornography. *********************** Q: Isn’t it difficult to know how to lead a decency organization today when our society is now so inundated with pornography, obscenity and indecency? A: Yes.  It is very difficult.   We have laws on the books regarding obscenity, yet little to no enforcement.  We have the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) and they are generally useless when it comes to regulating indecency over the airwaves – even more so under the current administration. This bureaucratic/political five member commission is so politicized and neutralized through outside lobby groups and weak decency standards, there seems little likelihood we will see anything of a positive nature coming out of this commission.  Indecency at the checkouts and  mall displays like Victoria’s Secret and/or Abercrombie & Fitch and others needs to be regularly monitored.  Expressions of concern still do make a difference.  Sometimes we see positive change.  At other times, we are utterly disgusted. Pornography on the Internet, of course, is a very concerning subject.  It remains largely unregulated.  Pornography flows across the Internet.  It is an international tragedy and travesty and untold numbers of children and adults are being degraded, addicted, and even destroyed. Q: What about the church?    Is the church fighting well in the battle against pornography? A: Don Wildmon told me years ago:   “There will be those few pastors who will warn, exhort and preach the word regarding pornography, but most won’t.â€ÂÂ  Sadly, I must say that has been my experience as well. Q: Doesn’t it seem as though the fight against pornography, obscenity and indecency is a lost cause in today’s ‘anything goes’ society? A: Yes it does, and that’s the way Satan would like to have it as well.  “Pornography:  the so-called victimless crime.â€ÂÂ  Satan and his minions  would like there to be no one warning, no one opposing, no one calling people to holiness,  to “place no wicked thing before their eyes.â€Â [Psalm 101:3a]    So while the battle may seem lost, we will still stand, for nothing is impossible with God! Q: What if when someone speaks no one is listening? A: If you are alluding to the fact that no one is much listening to our warnings and alerts, I would say I know that it feels like that a lot these days.  Yet, I also know that there have been those who have come before us, such as the prophet Jeremiah, who had a similar experience.  God told Jeremiah “They won’t listen to you, but tell them anyway.â€Â Q: Why do you think that keeping oneself free from pornography, obscenity and indecency is so important to any life, but especially to the Christian? A: God made it clear in His Word that we are to “be Holy for He is Holy.â€Â [I Peter 1:15,16]   He doesn’t call us to be omniscient, or sovereign, or omnipresent, but He calls us to be holy. “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness.â€Â [Matthew 6:23,24] A: God honors those who obey and removes his blessing from those who don’t.  Tens of millions of Americans wallow in godless entertainment day after day, week after week, year after year.   As they do so, they inch toward a state of reprobation which includes a crippled conscience, a growing inability to discern the difference between right and wrong.  Ever wonder how we get judges, doctors, teachers, pastors getting caught in sexual trysts on the Internet or trying to hook up with some young teenager?  As individuals wallow in darkness, how great is that darkness; and their discernment and rational thinking are deluded and filled with darkness.  Ever wonder how we elect godless politicians?   Millions of Americans are living in darkness.  They are deluded. They don’t think rightly, rationally.  America is losing moral ground as so many are in the  dark in their thinking and decision-making.  God removes His blessing from individuals and nations that follow after unrighteousness.   It is idolatry. Q: What form is pornography, obscenity and indecency taking? A: Together we could come up with quite a list:  television shows such as Desperate Housewives,  Grey’s Anatomy, American Dad, Glee, Family Guy, Cleveland Show,  Two and A Half Men, Mike and Molly,  ‘Bleep’ My Dad Says, innumerable soap operas and sitcoms; and then there is sexting; the rampant use of pornography on the Internet;  various magazines such as Penthouse, Hustler, Playboy, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, GQ, Seventeen, and the untold number of sexual advertisements, etc., etc., Q: Excuse me for being so blunt, but SO WHAT? A: So many don’t get it.  And that’s what we’re up against.    Desensitization.  Having seen so many images of partial nudity, full nudity, steamy sexual scenes and innuendo and more, there is little to no sense of moral indignation let alone activism and outreach. It is already mid-November as I write this newsletter, and I haven’t heard one complaint about Victoria’s Secret advertisements or displays at the mall.  Each year expressions of concern become fewer. Let me try to put it this way.  I will always believe that “placing no wicked thing before our eyesâ€Â as the psalmist wrote is vital because it is in God’s Word, and because I once was a regular user of pornography and know the negative impact that pornography had upon me.  By God’s grace, I became a person that honored God’s Word and did not look, leer and lust. I know that God has honored that significantly in my life as a husband, father and Christian man.   By making right choices,  I became a man that was true, single-minded, faithful in my thought life wherever I was and/or whoever I was with.  It’s about being a Truth seeker, a man who seeks after righteousness.  That’s what I want to be.  There is no room for inconsistency here.  I’m not an exception to the rule. We are called to stay true to our Lord and Savior!  It can and must be done because God calls us to that – be holy for I am holy! If your eye is full of light how great is that light.  If your eye is full of darkness, how great is that darkness.  That’s pretty straight forward isn’t it? Q: How does that spill out into our everyday life? A: It means starting your day off with a time set aside with the Lord – a time of devotions. For me it means reading from a few devotional books:  The Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers; and The Valley of Vision – Prayers by Puritans, and reading through the Bible (several chapters a day); followed by at least 15 minutes of prayer. God desires our affections, our worship!  Will we or will we not give it to Him?  He has blessed and strengthened my resolve to live for Him as I have done so over these number of years. Q: Sounds easy enough.  Is it? A: God calls us to be faithful.  It is a discipline, but one that has become very much a part of my wife’s life and my own.  I very, very seldom ever miss out on devotions. Q: Anything you would like to offer in conclusion? A: One evidence that God is working in a person’s heart and life is whether or not they are sensitive to the presence of God in their everyday life – including what they are placing before their eyes, ears and moral sensibilities. And much could be said about our children and grandchildren.  Do we allow them to watch trash, godless entertainment including crass Saturday morning cartoons and programs that use profanity and sexual innuendo to entertain? Shame on us if we are setting the stage for our children to be desensitized and accepting of godless attitudes, practices and lifestyles that will ultimately lead to their failure in their marriages and their lives. Is fighting pornography a lost cause?  My answer will always be a resounding:  NEVER!  No matter how uphill the battle, may we always stand in opposition to unrighteousness! =================================== Your support is important to our ability to make a difference. Donate online at: https://secure4.afo.net/ada/donate.php American Decency Association is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. American Decency Association Bill Johnson, President P.O. Box 202 Fremont, MI 49412 ph: 231-924-4050 www.americandecency.org http://www.twitter.com/billwjohnson

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