The Block Porn Campaign, headed by Claire Perry MP, calls for UK-based Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to provide anti-porn filters at network level.   This would stop most pornography from reaching our computers and internet-enabled devices, and protect children much more effectively.   Convergence, which means the internet can be viewed on our TV screens, makes this doubly important.

Safermedia are asking for your support of their 2011 Block Porn Campaign.

Here’s the latest update on the campaign:

Safermedia news’n’action no. 89

Dear Friends,

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and MPs respond to growing public concern – well done!

On 20 June, Claire Perry MP, Safermedia and several other groups attended a meeting in Parliament of ISPA, the Internet Service Providers Association. Your support is making a big difference, and we were able to put some good points to the meeting. Despite a diverse range of views, there was general and encouraging agreement that more would indeed be done to block internet pornography.

The ISPs are coming under ever more pressure. Seventy MPs are now supporting Claire and have just set up a Parliamentary Inquiry into Online Child Protection in September and October. This is another major step forward.

Next Stage of the Campaign

We are continuing to press for ISP-level filters plus a default OFF setting for porn, rather than device-level filters (see our templates for more detail). However the ISPs are still reluctant to go this far, and when they will act is far from clear. Claire has emphasized that we must continue to rally more MPs to maintain the momentum of this groundswell of public opinion. In David Cameron’s statement to Parliament on the NewsCorp scandal, he said this was a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity to try and get media regulation right.’

ACTION

So, if you have not already done so, please write to both your MP and ISP.

If you have already sent those letters, our thanks, and please now:

Send David Cameron a copy of the letter to your MP (by filling in the MPs letter again, writing COPY across the top and posting it 10 Downing Street, London SW1A 2AA or emailing it at https://email.number10.gov.uk/Contact.aspx).

Please forward this email to your contacts.

INSTRUCTIONS

Please use our 2 template letters for your MP and ISP, shown below and downloadable at: http://www.safermedia.org.uk/2011internetfiltercampaign.htm

You will find all the addresses you need on these templates. If you prefer, you can use the template simply as a guide and write a letter in your own words. (NB: The details about an opt-IN system being required are vital.)

Can you also make hard copies of the templates and distribute them to clubs, churches, your workplace, friends and family too? Numbers matter.

Please spread this information as widely as possible to all your contacts. (NB: If you are an organisation, it is best to pass on the template letter, approved by Claire Perry’s office, as it is.

Thank God for answered prayer and pray for continued progress in this campaign. Also ask for God’s will to be done in the current scandal surrounding the Murdoch empire – that it will eventually lead to higher standards throughout the media world.

We now have a new website! Check it out for updates and more information: http://www.safermedia.org.uk/welcome.htm

Thank you and best wishes for the summer break,

Miranda, Pippa, Tushar and the SafermediaTeam

Let’s think now about the more personal issues that a man faces.  Sure, there will be a façade that most men construct that says, “Hey, I’m doing just great” but behind that there is often a much more raw reality.  Many men are really wrestling with issues such as sexual temptation (Channel 4 and 5 after 9pm and the Internet), serious debt, failure at work, family communication breakdown, rage and anger etc., yet too often we never touch on these matters, preferring to handle only safe subjects such as parenting, studying the Bible, or tithing.

If we don’t get real in church we won’t get men.

How about a seminar for men on a regular basis that tackles issues such as: “Overcoming addiction to pornography and masturbation” (you might not want to give that title but let’s hit the issue because a significant percentage of men who are in church will be seriously struggling with it). Or how about: “Dealing with rage”, “Handling your debt” or “When promotion passes you by”? Let’s engage the men with some solid Bible-based teaching and let them see that being a Christian isn’t for wimps but for those who have real guts and courage.

Let’s also briefly think about the culture of church:

• We talk of Jesus being our lover when men want a leader and a captain.
• We talk of surrender and going on retreat which carries connotations of defeat (and is only mentioned in the Bible in those terms!) But, men will bend the knee and submit to a higher authority!
• The language of personal devotion time, the “quiet time” is a passive term not suited to those with testosterone.  (Perhaps we can keep the principle but recast the language?)
• Men don’t like to get too close too soon yet we think it really helpful to break into small groups or say “grace” whilst looking into each others eyes.
• Men want leadership whilst the church provides pastoring.
• Men love to declare objective truth about God and yet we sing about our feelings.
• Men want to be challenged yet we wrap the gospel up in fluff.
• Whenever we speak of church we think instinctively of the Sunday meeting not what happens in the rest of the week.
• Most church websites feature activities for children and use religious jargon.  A male turn off.
• Most church decoration is childish or female.
• Teaching styles tend to favour the female psyche.

I’m scratching the surface and you may find cause to disagree with some of what I suggest … but hopefully it will get us all thinking!?