The precursors to modern pornography date back to prehistoric times. One of the oldest known artifacts is a 35,000-year-old ivory statuette discovered in the Hohle Fels cave near Stuttgart, Germany, which features exaggerated female sexual characteristics. We are reminded of the Bible’s description of human society just before God destroyed it in a flood: “ Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually” (Gen 6:5). Evil is ancient as is its attraction to the human heart.
Within our lifetime, pornography has moved from the printed page to the internet and from static images to video. Websites now allow live interaction from one bedroom to another, selling every form of depraved sexuality to ‘subscribers’. It is a billion dollar ‘industry’ at which society yawns, factoring it into our Gross Domestic Product. It is morally corrosive on every level, as men and women compete to make Sodom and Gomorrah look like yesterday’s news.
It is a very short step to move from the ‘intentions of the heart’ to the reality of what has been imagined. Moral depravity is nothing new, but the delivery system is.
This same unhinged attitude towards sex, was present in the first century. The Empress Valyria Messalina, the young wife of Emperor Claudius, engaged in sexual competition. She initiated and weaponized it for her own warped pleasure; degrading Roman Senators and Rome’s Aristocracy, forcing their families to commit acts of flesh publicly. A hardened Roman soldier stationed in the Emperor’s courts was so disturbed by the public acts of degradation that he escaped and fled from it saying, “ Blood dries, but shame never does.”
Her behaviour has become normalised by men and women who compete online to set new records of sexual profligacy. Perhaps the only difference is that now there is very little that shocks or offends society, unless it is those who object to immorality. When society ignores God and his commandments there is no boundary to the depravity it can achieve.
I was very disturbed to hear just a few days ago that OpenAI, one of the biggest and most accessible AI firms, will very soon provide adult content on their app. Combine that with Virtual Reality headsets and how easily the app can be used at a relatively cheap price and you have a whole new method of depraved sexuality that doesn’t involve a prostitute. But it is worse, in that it can be accessed 24/7 and gives the person using it, absolute authority over what happens. This is an instance of Man putting himself in the place of God.
When we read the words of Revelation 18:1-3 they can easily be superimposed upon the acts of man today, “After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.”
Money, power and sex have been highly connected going back thousands of years. 2000 year later, it has moved from the Emperor’s courts and pagan temples, into the privacy of our homes.
Even Christian homes are not out of reach. The danger is there and ready to quench the influence of the Holy Spirit with instant gratification.
Galatians 5: 17-21, warns: “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
As unsavoury as it is to talk about, I think it is important to be made aware of and discussed, especially for parents of young people. Our youth need to be forewarned and guided. The trap of pornography is real and addictive. It is the new “digital forbidden fruit”, custom tailored by AI to enslave, giving the Devil a foothold.
Forewarned is forearmed. Let us strengthen each other with eternity in mind.
Barrie ON