Sex Offenses | The Recovering Legalist

Warning: the following article may not be suitable for young people.

Questions

Is it a double standard to say a thing is completely acceptable, and then criminalize the use of the thing?

Is it hypocritical to say something is protected as free speech under the law, and then prohibit someone from listening or viewing the “speech”?

If something is deemed simply natural, not immoral or subject to the restrictions of an objective moral code, then is it acceptable to restrict someone from doing or partaking in what is simply “natural”?

These are honest questions. They are not meant to be leading. They are simply questions which I have been asking lately, because the double standard and hypocrisy are evident in our laws.

No Internet

For a while I have had the opportunity to counsel with a paroled sex offender. He is trying desperately to rebuild his life. He is completely repentant and wants to be the man God wants him to be, including provide for his family. The problem is the internet.

Almost everything we do these days, from sending emails to filling out applications, is done online. There are hardly any cell phones for sale that are not internet accessible. Yet, in the case of this man, he is not allowed to be on the internet – period. No phone, no computer, no iPad – nothing that will allow him internet access. Why? Because he might view pornography.

Excuse me? I thought pornography was perfectly legal. I thought pornography was protected as free speech. I thought that porn was safe, even good for one’s marriage. I thought porn was supposed to be art. Was I wrong?

Evidently, a convicted sex offender on parole is prohibited from viewing pornography because it might cause him to want to do sexually illegal things. Really?

Told You So

Now wait a minute! Haven’t we Christians being talking about the dangers of pornography for a while? Haven’t we said Scripture advises against such things? Sure! And here are just a few applicable verses:

But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. – Matthew 5:28 NKJV

Marriage [is] honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. – Hebrews 13:4 NKJV

I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a young woman? – Job 31:1 NKJV

Was the Bible wrong? Why is it that Christians and their pastors who preach the Bible are considered “Victorian” and backward? “The human body is a beautiful thing,” they say, “and you Christians are just prudes.”

No, God designed sex for marriage, not the gratification of anyone with internet access. And anyone who views pornography is not only lusting, which is a sin, but he is flirting with a ticking time bomb. Pornography IS dangerous. Pornography IS obscene. And pornography can lead a man to act out his fantasies when viewing them on a computer is no longer good enough.

My question is this: if it is so wrong for a sex offender to view it, all because it might tempt him to commit another sex crime, then why is it perfectly OK for everyone else to view it?

It’s called HYPOCRISY.