Guest Column: Avoiding Porn Is Weird to the World—Good

Decency,

Recently, Rolling Stone magazine reported on an emerging scandal involving the new speaker of the House of Representatives—not financial corruption, an illicit affair, or ties to foreign powers. No, it turns out that Mike Johnson and his son use the Covenant Eyes app to keep each other accountable about pornography and the internet. 

According to Rolling Stone, this is weird. And, seizing on the article, others called it creepy, even grooming, as if they could not grasp that the point is to keep each other off of porn and out of addiction. 

Not only did the whole episode reveal an utter ignorance of a basic belief of the world’s largest religion, it also betrayed how much a view of normal can be upside down, as if porn is not a cancer on society or a curse on women and children, corrupting the souls of those who consume it.  

 If the Johnson boys’ behavior is weird, then as historian Tom Holland has reminded us, let’s stay “weird,” Christians. 

Copyright 2023 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.

READ MORE

Guest Author: If You Give a Kid a Phone, You Give a Kid …

Decency

In an article at The Guardian, theater director Abbey Wright described talking with 10,000 children and teenagers about the impact of pornography on their lives. She was careful not to tell young children more than they knew, asking them simply, “What is bad about the internet?” Still, she was shocked how many described pornography finding them. 

Children as young as six recalled popups and ads placed in otherwise innocent content. Some were shown porn by friends or siblings. Yet many parents remain naïve about what their kids are seeing. 

One teenager offered this reality check: “If you put a phone in a child’s hand, you are putting porn in a child’s hand.” 

There’s more to the fight for the souls of our kids than keeping phones and tablets away from unsupervised children, but there is not less. The average age of porn exposure is 12, and the availability of internet browsing devices is the most reliable predictor that a child will be exposed. Don’t take the risk. It’s not worth their innocence or wellbeing. 

Copyright 2023 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.

READ MORE

Arkansas Attorney General Joins Coalition Urging Congress to Address AI’s Exploitation of Children

Technology, , ,

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office recently joined a coalition of state attorneys general urging congress to address the ways in which artificial intelligence may be used to exploit children.

In a statement, Attorney General Griffin said,

AI poses a very real threat to our children. This ‘new frontier for abuse’ opens the door for children to be exploited in new ways, including publishing their location and mimicking their voice and likeness in sexual or other objectionable content.

The bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from across the country expressed concern over how artificial intelligence and “deepfake” technology might be used to generate child sexual abuse material — also known as child pornography.

In 2001 the Arkansas Legislature passed Act 1496 addressing computer exploitation of a child. The law generally makes it a felony to produce or reproduce child sexual abuse material “by computerized means.”

At the time there was serious discussion about how computers and computer software could be used to manufacture child sexual abuse material. Of course, in 2001 very few people could have imagined the artificial intelligence technology that exists today, but lawmakers recognized the need to address the issue — and Family Council supported the good law they passed.

As technology changes and artificial intelligence advances, lawmakers likely will need to enact new legislation to protect children. That is what this coalition of state attorneys general is calling on lawmakers to do.

You Can Read the Coalition’s Letter and Call to Action Here.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

READ MORE