By James L. Lambert
July 15, 2005

(AgapePress) - Dr. Judith Reisman, noted author and researcher, told me over a year ago that "all is lost on the Internet." She was referring to the enormous impact the smut industry has, attracting vast amounts of traffic to their pornographic websites. The sheer number of such websites is alarming.

In 1996, while conducting research for my book Porn In America, I discovered several reliable sources stating there were an estimated 79,000 pornographic websites on the Internet. Less than ten years later, that figure has swelled to more than 1.4 million sites -- and the number is still growing.

The sex industry is luring millions of visitors to their sites. Because of little, if any, federal oversight during the last 12 years, the level of perversion at those sites has increased notably. In the 1980s and early 1990s, it was somewhat difficult to locate bizarre and extremely graphic porn material in America. This is no longer the case. Today there are countless websites promoting incest, bestiality, rape, child-adult sex, group sex, voyeurism, and prostitution.

It wasn't too long ago that pornographers were reassuring legislators that minors were protected from these extreme porn sites because access was gained via a credit card. This claim is false -- most sites offer teasers, tours, or free "thumbnail" images that encourage customers to use and pay for access. Commonly, porn peddlers on the Internet work with other webmasters to hyper-link their sites to others that promote fellow members of the porn community. These sites range from individually operated porn Internet sites to conglomerates run by Hustler's Larry Flynt and others. The Internet is also yet another way for XXX video producers like Vivid Entertainment to sell their wares.

Another dangerous way pornographers promote their sites or products is through "spamming" of millions of Internet users by blasting out e-mails with attachments -- attachments that often contain viruses.

It is time parents put their children and families first. How? By ensuring that their computers have, at the very least, protective filters on them. Millions of Americans are clueless when it comes to this issue. They do not understand the imminent danger this perversion presents to society and their children. (On a related note: the number of registered sex offenders in the state of California has grown from slightly more than 70,000 in 2000 to more than 103,000 in 2005. Such individuals, who are quite often found to be heavy porn users, frequently use the Internet to seek out their young victims.)

Noted radio talk-show host Paul McGuire has a lot to say about this issue. McGuire talks to a large, diverse audience every weekday afternoon on KBRT in Los Angeles. Many in his audience are Christians, and McGuire regularly addresses everyday issues such as porn.

On Tuesday the Crawford Network radio host had this to say: "To not understand that pornography is one of the greatest spiritual battles of our time is to be part of the Laodecian Church that Jesus Christ [warned Christians of]. Pornography is a spiritual weapon used by the powers of darkness to enslave both children and adults. Pornography is the driving force behind the sexual molestation of children, sexual immorality, abortion, fornication, homosexuality, adultery, rape and divorce. When a parent or a pastor fails to take a strong stand on this issue, they are literally opening the door for the floodgates of hell. That may not be fashionable to say in today's seeker-friendly Christian culture."

McGuire further elaborates: "American Christians need to understand that there is no difference in God's eyes between watching the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah on the Internet and what the men and women were doing in Sodom and Gomorrah."

If McGuire's comments don't convince parents to acquire porn filtering software for their computers, perhaps the following data -- provided by Scott Nelson, vice-president for www.ContentWatch.com -- will persuade them:

• More than half of all requests on search engines are "adult-oriented"
• The average age of a child's first web exposure to porn is 11 years old
• 80 percent of 15- to 17-year-olds have had multiple exposures to hard-core Internet pornography
• The National Research Council reported between two and eight million subscribers to pornography in 2002
• The National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families states that approximately 40 million people are involved with some form of sexual content on the Internet
• Pornography produces more revenue in the United States than the combined revenues of all professional football, baseball and basketball franchises

All this should convince parents and families of the urgent need to protect themselves from the onslaught of perversion on the Internet. A good way to start is to visit FilterReview.com to see the full range of filtering services available. Now is the time to protect your family -- today!