The Dark Side of the Internet

The text below was taken from Scepter Institute's brochure The Dark Side of the Internet. Printed brochures may be purchased in quantities of 100, see our Products page for more information.

The Dark Side of the Internet

"Hey Rand, can I talk to you?"
"Sure, what's up?"
"The other night, about two in the morning, something woke me up. I walked down the hall and looked into the living room ... and there was my dad ... looking at pornography on the computer. I don't know what to do. Do I tell my mom? I don't think I can talk to my dad. Can you help me, please?"

Conversations like the one above become more common every day. With the advent of the Internet, there are not only new research and communication possibilities, but also new opportunities for sin. Today, Satan has gotten his hands on a weapon of mass destruction: the dark side of the Internet.

The Internet has made it possible for us to have instant communication with missionaries and fellow believers worldwide. Much good can come from this technology. So can much ill. The problem is not the technology itself but that evil men are using the Internet to tempt and trap God's leaders into sin.

God gave Ezekiel a vision. What went on in the midst of God's people then is going on today. Read Ezekiel 8:1-18. The application of this vision can be seen in the following outline.

WWW.ITSPOWER.COM
Read Ezekiel 8:11.
No one who accesses the Internet is beyond the power and pull of its dark side, no one. No matter how godly or how influential—no one. It has been reported that over 40 percent of Internet traffic on America Online is adult-oriented, and over 75 percent of men who access the web have chosen to access pornographic sites. How old was David when he committed adultery with Bathsheba? He was around fifty! His boys were already in their mid-twenties. Did David love God? Yes. Did David meditate on God's Word? Yes! Did David have a heart for God? Yes!! Did David sin? Yes!!!

"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall" (I Corinthians 10:12). "Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41).

WWW.ITSPERVERSITY.COM
Read Ezekiel 8:7-10, 13-14.
The dark side of the Internet is extreme in its content. Every type of perverted, wicked immorality is on line. The deeper you dig, the more deviant and more disgusting it becomes.

What are the dangers? Easy and anonymous access to pornography. The Internet is home to thousands of images that would be illegal to sell, even in adult bookstores.

Pornographers know that all they need to do is to reach out with that ugly claw of pornography, grab hold of an inquisitive or innocent mind, and they've got it! I talked to a teenage boy recently who was doing a homework assignment online with his mom. He and his mom have no idea how the porn appeared on the screen, but there it was. They immediately turned the monitor off and rebooted their computer. The fourteen-year-old boy told me that he had never seen anything like it before or since—but he wanted to see more. God asked Ezekiel in Ezekiel 8:17: "Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here?" Is it no big deal? Does it not matter to Christians that they choose to be involved in that which God hates?

WWW.ITSPRIVACY.COM
Read Ezekiel 8:12.
Many think, like those in Ezekiel 8:12, that God is not watching and doesn't really care. Look at Ezekiel 8:12 again. "Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth."

There is no privacy. "Delete" does not actually mean "delete." Your secret sins may not be as secret as you think they are. There is no privacy—none. I'm not a computer geek, but I have been told that there are over ten ways that a computer can record what you have accessed. In addition, your Internet service provider (ISP) knows where you have been. There is no privacy.

Slowly read through the following verses three times. Concentrate, to see what God says about secret sins. Think, to understand what God says about those who try to hide their sin. Meditate, to fully comprehend that there is no privacy—none.

"There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves" (Job 34:22).
"The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me" (Job 24:15).
"For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:14).
"Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance" (Psalm 90:8).
"For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes" (Jeremiah 16:17).

WWW.ITSPRICETAG.COM
Read Ezekiel 8:17-18.
You cannot sin and win. In all my research I have found nothing, nothing, good about chat rooms. Those involved don't know to whom they're talking. They meet people they would never hang out with in real life and say things they would never say in person. I recently received this e-mail from a concerned teenage boy.

"I caught my dad a couple of months ago chatting with another lady. I followed a couple of history trails and found that he had been sending her Internet e-cards, which were kinda mushy. I approached him about it, and he said that he made a mistake and it was over. I trusted him that it was. Last week I walked by the computer, and I saw him typing e-mail to someone. Rand, I am really struggling right now. My parents are both Christians, and they have raised me well. I really love my dad, and I don't want to lose him to something stupid."

Here is another story involving a fifteen-year-old girl. We'll call her Kayla.

Kayla was a great kid. She was home-schooled, and she taught Sunday school to younger kids. She was very shy and not a bit "boy crazy." One night, Kayla's dad woke up at 3 a.m., sensing something was wrong. He went to Kayla's bedroom, and she wasn't there. Disturbed, he quickly woke his wife. They prayed, then started to call the police.

Before they could place the call, they heard the door open downstairs. Kayla came up the steps, and what they heard next they could not believe.

Kayla had met a boy online. For a while, she was smart enough not to tell him anything about herself or who she was. Over time their exchanges became more personal. "Do you like me? I like you. What do you look like?" As they described themselves to each other, their descriptions became intimate. From that point their conversations became very, very wicked. Eventually, he talked her into sending him her phone number so they could meet face to face. But what Kayla didn't know was that this other "kid" was a twenty-nine-year-old married man.

Because they had talked for so long and had talked so dirty, it was easy for him to talk her into sleeping with him. Since Kayla was only fifteen, her parents took the matter to the police. The police went straight to Kayla's ISP to find out what she and the man had been saying to each other. Because of everything Kayla had said and sent, she was put into a mental health facility for a few months. The man got a slap on the wrist.

God forgives, but He does not promise to remove the consequences of sin.

WWW.ITSPREVENTION.COM
Read Ezekiel 8:1-6.
What can we do? Ezekiel 8:4 says: "Behold the glory of the God of Israel." Behold, look at, observe, learn about, concentrate on the glory of God! When we understand Who God is and what He is like, we learn to hate what He hates and love what He loves.

Prevention Guide for Internet Usage

The "secret agent" principle
Don't try to sneak around like a secret agent, pretending that no one can see you. Maintain accountability and visibility and always be aware of your vulnerability. Accountability: Never go on the Internet alone. Visibility: Stay out in the open. Vulnerability: Never talk to strangers. Refuse to give personal information to anyone. Keep in mind that God is watching. "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer" (Psalm 19:14).

The "surfer dude" principle
Refuse to surf! It will keep you out of deep water. Know where you are going and what you want. "A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished" (Proverbs 22:3).

The "safeguard" principle
Constantly protect yourself and your family. Keep temptation as far away as possible. Make it hard to sin. Protect with passwords. Protect with software filters. Protect with filtered ISPs. Protect with the delete button. "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof" (Romans 13:14).

The "strange woman" principle
Stay away from the "strange woman," the temptress. Concentrate on your relationship with your family. Concentrate on your relationship with your spouse. Concentrate on your relationship with God. Think of the lifelong consequences of getting caught in the dark side of the Internet! "Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth" (Proverbs 5:8-10).

Don't get caught in the web!