'And
have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather
reprove them. For it is a
shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in
secret.'
Ephesians 4.11-12
The proliferation of extreme and violent games and pornography mandates
the immediate censorship of the internet.
The abuse of internet filtering by totalitarian regimes doesn't justify
the woeful abdication of supervisory control by those in authority.
Governments, national and regional have an absolute responsibility
before God and to their citizens for the material accessed via servers
on their territory. Western governments have failed to censor and
regulate films, videos and games properly in the past, to the
profound wounding of the health of their own
citizens, but the absolute licence displayed on
the internet is an outright and growing scandal.
In the Day of account, civil authorities, ISPs, Governments and hosting
servers, will give an account for the appalling wickedness on display
now - they would do well to remember the Saviour's deliberate but savage
words before it is too late:
'But whoso shall offend
one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him
that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned
in the depth of the sea.
Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that
offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast
them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or
maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into
everlasting fire. And
if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is
better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having
two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto
you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my
Father which is in heaven.' Matt. 18.6-10
Unfettered liberty has become a sacred cow that must
and should be slain now - before more immense moral damage is done.
This may be seen as opening the door to the curbing
of unpopular and critical material, like much that is found in this
site, but my call is for the monitoring, banning and filtering of sites
that promote lewdity, gambling, and the sales of illict substances, not
for the restriction of sites that express critical political or
religious opinions, provided they do not fall foul of these provisions.
The issue does not just devolve to the protection of children and
adolescents, though it most certainly does focus on them, but also
encompasses the effects of the internet on people trafficking, gambling
and money laundering.
There is not much common ground between Dr Mahathir and I, but I
congratulate him for speaking the truth here, even if his own country
would seek to extend the ban to areas that will weaken it considerably,
and fail to expose its own appalling abuses of truth
and
conscience:
'The
amount of filth coming out of the internet is terrible'
