Child pornography is worse than you think.
Child pornography is on many dark websites. It is also on more easily accessible sites. Ready for some surprising numbers?
The numbers I use here come from Children’s Advocacy Centre website (cacjc.org) but I have seen similar numbers elsewhere. The article written by Tammi Pitzen, “The Shocking Facts About Child Pornography” mentions that there is no way of knowing the actual numbers since this is a hidden and secret evil abuse of our children.
Here are some from the article:
- 3,000 is the approximate number of English language websites that distribute child pornography;
- 1 in 7 youths report being solicited for online sex;
- 11 is the average of exposure to adult material;
- 34% of teenage girls and 15% of teenage boys have shared photos or physical descriptions of themselves online; and
- 58% of the 1,536 pornography sites (2008) reported by the Internet Watch Foundation were housed in the United States.
A young girl or boy chatting online can be easily manipulated by a predator. The child shares some pictures and begins to feel trapped and embarrassed. The perpetrator then demands more daring and pornographic photos or live streams and the child acquiesces to avoid their pictures being made public.
This is a real problem. The people who make money off pornography will only do what sells. Excitement sells. As the excitement grows in the viewer, so too does the appetite for perversion. Instead of simply using it as an enhancement of their relationship, some viewers will be drawn to more perverse forms of pornography. This is called hardcore pornography or hardcore. Often some of these made-up scenes are not so made up and there are times that teenagers are used in these productions.
I am not saying that all porn users are going to slide into child porn. I am saying that like any other sin, the beginnings are merely temptations and then a sample. Then the sample is too tame so a darker sample is taken.
Often there is acting out what the viewer watches and the cycle leads towards more hardcore porn and more desire to act out. This continues until there is moral confusion regarding sexuality and relationships. Even how we view the opposite sex is itself perverted.
While there are those who may be drawn towards child pornography, it is not a sexual act. Although all pornography is sinful since it involves lust and adulterous thoughts, this is child sexual abuse. These children are in effect being raped by mostly adults who exploit them and manipulate them for gratification and/or profit.
This is a powerful and perverse stronghold of sin that has most of the world turns a blind eye. Just as in rape, there is a tendency to only blame the perpetrator if they are not in our circle or if they are different than us in some way. Cases in point are the Roman Catholic Church hiding child abuse crimes of their own priests while speaking out against child pornography. The Democratic Party in the United States fiercely attacks Republic nominees regarding sexual misconduct, but keeps silent on their own sins of the same nature.
And the high-profile Jeffrey Epstein case and the number of political leaders and other elites that visited or knew about what he did to children.
The silence speaks volumes.
Are we silent because it is too frightening to think about such sins being committed every single day right under our noses? Are we not willing to stand and protect our children? Child pornography is not just an online problem. As Epstein’s sex island and other live rapes of our children show, it is in the secret dens and homes of these criminals.
And it is worldwide.
What does the Bible say about protecting our children?
“Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.” Luke 17: 1-2
An abuser, rapist, exploiter, or viewer will face woe as God comes against them for what they do to our children. My advice to you. Quit sinning!
“…sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.” James 1:15
You who bring spiritual and emotional death to our children will surely die yourself if you do not repent.
Only the Lord can forgive sins and change the hearts of people. Please, do not be silent and do not have anything to do with this crime.
More in this series:
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Andy Becker is a pastor, retired counsellor and former CEO of a Hospice organization. His book, The Travelers, is available at Amazon.com and Amazon.ca.
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