Power of the mind
Dateline NBC has done several shows called “To Catch A Predator.” Each episode is the same. A group called Perverted Justice, in conjunction with local police and Dateline NBC, sets up a sting operation targeting predatory adults seeking to have sex with underage kids. The Perverted Justice people make contact with potential predators through online chats. As conversations progress, the predator many times sends pornographic and profane pics of themselves to what they suppose is a teenage girl or boy. A date is then set for the predator to come visit the child. What the predator does not know (though sometimes by their own admission, they suspect) is that Dateline has 10+ cameras and microphones set up inside and outside the home to record everything.
Tons of guys show up during each episode – college age guys, middle age guys, old guys, white collar guys, blue collar guys, military guys, religious leaders, teachers, etc. Just about every one of them says “nothing was going to happen. I wasn’t going to do anything. I was just coming by to talk.” Chris Hanson, the Dateline NBC guy, then proceeds to read the graphic words from chatrooms that the predator wrote. Busted!!!
One thing I wonder is why Dateline has not done an episode on how these would-be predators got to the point where they think it is thrilling to send pics of their genitals to underage kids and how they ended up at an underaged kid’s house for a sexual liaison.
They have lost the battle for the mind. One could argue they have lost their minds.
They have become so demented that they get sexual thrills from taking pics of themselves and even more thinking about how excited the recipient of such pic will be looking at the pics. NOT!
Then they buy into the delusion that a sexual liaison with an underage kid is going to be the thrill of a lifetime. They show up (to the sting), enter the house, sit down, and then get to meet Chris Hanson, not the teen of their dreams. I cannot even begin to imagine how they must feel at that point (like a hummer being dropped on your head maybe).
What’s even sadder, is that there are other predators not at a sting getting busted like they deserve.
How did these would-be predators get there?
I have a theory. The first part of the theory is that I don’t think they have ever had the slightest thought about guarding their mind. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to “take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.” I remember being challenged by my youth pastor, Michael Catt, to guard my mind. I actually saw the results of not guarding one’s mind when a youth intern had an affair with a church secretary. He was single but she was married. BAD!
Satan is out to blind and deceive us. 2 Timothy 2:26 says that Satan can hold people captive to do his will. By not guarding your mind, you set yourself up for being held captive by Satan. I believe this starts as mental captivity, but leads to actions eventually.
Josh McDowell, one of my spiritual heroes and famous defender of the faith (an apologist), tells teenagers and college students all over the world that the most powerful sex organ is the brain. It is absolutely true!
The second part of my theory is that these predators have filled their minds with pornographic images and videos and have dwelt on them for so long that they feel they have to act on their “fantasies” to get further stimulation. They become dominated by their fantasies and are willing to chance everything in their life (family, reputation, job, freedom) to pursue a sexual thrill.
It is absolutely tragic that our government allows pornographic materials (including sexually explicit TV shows and movies) to be distributed so freely and with such little regard to the consequences of those who consume the content. And people rationalize watching this stuff by saying things like, “we’re married so it is okay to watch it” or “it’s only make believe; it’s only Hollywood” or “it’s not hurting anyone to look at this stuff in the privcy of my own home.” Yeah, right!
Andrea and I are already talking to our kids about guarding their minds and respecting women and men as “people” made in the image of God not “things.” We’re also teaching them about safety on the internet and setting up safeguards for them and
I am truly scared for my children as they grow up in our sexually-charged society today. I pray hard that they and their future spouses will be free from the bondage of any addictions, but especially sexual addictions.
