Dangers of internet pornography and a radical solution<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

He sat at his computer hour after hour absorbed in high-tech porn. No sneaking into an adult bookstore, X-rated movie house or sleazy strip joint. He didn't have to buy a magazine, hide it in a bag and find a secluded place to indulge his lust. Private access to as much pornography as he desired was at his finger tips.        
Did he think these personal moments of lustful indulgence would become public knowledge? Perhaps. Was he willing to gamble the loss of his prestigious position? Evidently, the pleasure outweighed the risk. Fear of potential loss could not deter his electronic liaisons. And this man, who fell from high places, was not alone in his habit.
American is the world's leader in production and distribution of pornography - and the "electronic playground" has become the primary means. Annual cyber-porn profits number in the multi-billion dollar figures.
Porn revenue in the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />US is larger than all combined revenues of all professional football, baseball and basketball franchises. US porn revenue exceeds the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC. There are 4.2 million pornographic web sites and 68 million daily search requests for pornography. 116 thousand of these are requests for child pornography.
It all seems so easy; so harmless. People log on in the privacy of home or office for immediate access to hard-core porn. If they want to save images or videos, they simply download them for future viewing. This was the downfall of the man referred to earlier.  

Before his fall, he held the enviable position of dean at Harvard Divinity School. At first he "stepped down" from his position, for what he called "personal and professional reasons." His resignation occasioned great suspicion. The 52-year-old Lutheran theologian had been dean for 13 years and appeared to have many more ahead of him. What did he mean by "personal and professional reasons"?            
Late in the spring of 1999, the facts surrounding his departure became public.  The dean had requested the assistance of school computer technicians for help with his computer. He asked them to install a larger hard drive and transfer the content from the old drive to the new. In the process, the technicians discovered thousands of pornographic images stored in the dean's university owned computer. 
Perhaps the dean did not realize that school rules forbade the use of its computers for material that is inappropriate, obscene, bigoted, or abusive. If he did know, he miscalculated the risk. The dean was asked to resign. 
But how did he get hooked on Internet porn? Perhaps, like many, the dean inadvertently discovered a pornographic site and found the temptation irresistible. He is the only one who knows the answer to this question. What is certain, however, is that the dean allowed a completely natural human desire to become a perverted obsession. Unfortunately, the dean is not alone in his liaisons with the "electronic version of the other woman." 
An alarmingly large number of people admit to being obsessed with cyber-porn. 40 million adults admit to regularly visiting pornographic web sites. 10 % of adults (mostly men) admit to pornography addiction. It's a habit that has threatened and, in many cases, destroyed marriages.         
We have not yet witnessed the long term effects of this corrupt cultural tidal-wave. Many mistakenly believe that viewing internet pornography is harmless. But the reputations, careers and marriages destroyed by this habit contradict this opinion. The most damaging consequences of this deceitfully private habit of illicit pleasure are yet to be witnessed. We will see increases in sexual crimes, incestuous violations of minors, and an overall desensitizing of the conscience of society. It is as inevitable as the growth of the industry.           
Only a radical solution will change this massive decline. And, this is exactly what Jesus taught in his Sermon on the Mount. He required a radical solution to sexual temptation when he said, "If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell."  (Matthew 5:29). 
Although most agree that Jesus was not literally advocating the removal of one's eye, he is at least requiring decisive action against the source of temptation. Some form of self punishment of the offending part of one's body must be part of the application. In the case of Internet pornography, this could mean that the person who cannot exercise self control should cut off all access to the Web.           
Perhaps the most disturbing part of Jesus' teaching for modern readers is the motivation he suggested for such action. Jesus did not recommend sexual purity for the protection of one's reputation, career, or marriage. He spoke of horrible eternal consequences awaiting the person who places the members of his body at the disposal of sinful desire. Being "thrown into hell" is a picture of coming under God's judgment. This is the ultimate motivation for sexual purity.   
Steve Cornell