After years of debate, the p*rnography industry has succeeded in obtaining its own domain name on the Internet - dot-xxx.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) voted this past May 9-3 in favor of the change, with four board members choosing not to vote. They began selling the newly registered domains in early September.
At surface glance, the idea sounds positive: all of the p*rnography sites would have one domain name. It would be much easier for a browser to filter out the dot-xxx domains and better protect families from the intrusion of p*rnography. But because ICANN did not require that current owners of X-rated sites change their domain to the new dot-xxx endings, in actuality p*rnography will simply have a greater online presence.
"A more appropriate goal should be to stop the distribution of this destructive material by prosecuting those responsible for it, not protect p*rnography through the use of an .xxx domain, " said Patrick Trueman, CEO of Morality in Media and former chief of the U.S. Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Criminal Division.
ICANN recently announced that prior to selling the new domains they had over one million expressions of interest in the dot-xxx sites. Such an increase in the presence of p*rnography on the web would make it even more difficult for families to filter the sites and protect their homes and children. Is it any wonder that families and churches are discouraged? What can a concerned church do?
Paul urges the Galatians, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." We need to continue to strive to have influence on the government and organizations who make regulations and policies affecting the availability of p*rnography on the Internet.
But the war on immorality - whether it be on the battlefield of p*rnography, abortion, or adultery - will not be won at the governmental level. It will only be won when the church influences the world on a personal level. Too often the church either ignores issues of morality or simply cries, "Don't!" Instead, she needs to listen to find out "Why?" - why do people use p*rnography - and "How?" - how can we strengthen the individual to resist that temptation.
The website www.p*rnharms.com recently posted a study by Alan Cooper, Dana Putnam and others regarding the use of adult websites for s*xual expression. While online s*xual behavior is different for each person, ranging from recreational to pathological use, the study found users most often fell into one of a handful of categories. The types of online users discussed in this article include Recreational Users, Sexual Compulsives, and At-Risk Users (consisting of two subtypes, the Depressive Type and the Stress Reactive Type). The At-Risk User typically was in an unhappy marriage or had just ended a marriage. Perhaps the church can address this issue during marital counseling and attempt to target and intervene with the individual whose relationship has just ended.
Over the next several Pilot Light articles, we will present some ways that you can attempt to address the addictive nature of sin in a sensitive, yet firm manner. We will encourage you to address the problem on an individual level rather than simply through impersonal laws. And perhaps then, instead of wringing our hands over the uncontrolled problem, we will actually be bringing light to the soul darkened by sin's harsh grip.
Tom May
Discipleship Minister at Eastside Christian Church (Jeffersonville, Ind.)
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CITIZENLink takes a critical look at the impact of .xxx domain on churches and pro-family groups. Will churches, business and other organizations need to protect their names in the .xxx domain?