Several years ago I had a secretary by the name of Desmond Walls Allen, who did a fantastic job of typing the manuscript for my daily radio shows. In our casual conversations around the office, she also taught me a lot about life. She had some health problems and I remember her telling me about visits to her doctor. She said, “I told my doctor, ‘I don’t want you to pat me on the leg and say ‘Honey, everything is fine’. I want you to tell me like it is. If I have a problem I want to know it.”

While it is not a pleasant subject, that is what I want to do here in this column. We have a serious problem in our nation today, one we don’t hear much about, but I want to tell you just like it is. The problem we have is the terrible scourge of pornography. If we don’t take steps to correct it, in time, this is a problem that will eat us alive.

Each month my wife Janis gets a newsletter called “The Trumpet” put out by Dr. Bill Probasco, who used to pastor a church here in our community but now lives in the great state of Alabama. Here is some information along with statistics that will tell us just how serious this problem has become. Dr. Probasco reports, “Pornography, which promotes every conceivable brand of fornication, bestiality, and adultery, will in a few more years take over the majority of youth ages 13 through 24.The free porn sites on the internet had 42 BILLION visits last year. There are 624 known child pornography traders on line. Police are swamped with calls about children being enticed into porn roles. Our society has developed a ‘bondage mentality’ and we are subject to whatever can control us.”

Now, I am sure this comes as no big surprise, but it is not just the kids who have a problem with pornography. It is also the source of breakups of many marriages across our nation. In an article titled “The Scourge of Pornography,” Dr. Willard F. Harley Jr. presents a case of married couples where sexual activity has waned, and the wife catches her husband viewing pornography. I will spare you the graphic language, but this problem is a source of contention that never goes away. In this case, here we can see very clearly that if this problem is not resolved, divorce is just a few weeks or months away. To be sure, this is a case where we all lose, especially if the couple has children.

Since this problem is so wide and pervasive, you may ask the question: why even talk about it? Simply because this is a problem that has the potential to destroy people’s lives and I care deeply about people. If I can help to spread the word about pornography being a very serious problem and cause others to think and talk about it, and help them realize the long-term consequences, we can save some people who may get involved. In doing research for this column I went to the Internet and read an article titled, “Citizens Guide to U.S. Federal Law on Child Pornography” and it is very revealing. If you are also concerned about this problem, I encourage you to do the same.

While God knows I am not perfect, far from it, I can truthfully say I have never viewed a pornographic video or visited a porn site in my entire life. If you are a Christian you understand the reason why, but if you are not and have a problem with this, talk with someone of faith who may be able to help you. Life is far too precious to spend time this way.

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(Editor’s Note: Jim Davidson is an author, public speaker, syndicated columnist and Founder of the Bookcase for Every Child project. Since its inception in 1995, Jim’s column has been self-syndicated to over 375 newspapers in 35 states making it one of the most successful in the history of American journalism.)