Readers of this blog (surely no-one: ed.) will know that I have long weighed in against the dangers of pornography. The dangers are not universally applicable but there is sufficient clinical evidence (as well as that garnered in criminal cases) that a sizable minority of men (and perhaps women too) become obsessed, even addicted to using pornography.

A smaller minority again go on to viewing harder and harder pornography, going way beyond what they would possibly imagined they might when they first started their unfortunate journey. And the road gets even worse for yet another subset of this group, who find themselves looking at illegal material, such as bestiality or child abuse pictures and videos. They have truly reached the bottom of the barrel and descended into depravity.

Only today, a world-wide child abuse ring has been exposed in which men, such as described above, actually filmed themselves as they viewed this deplorable content, which they then went on to share with other users. Who could fathom why they would do such a thing? The fact that they have put themselves at such a risk of disclosure and disgrace only goes to show the powerful hold these images have. The drives created seem to override all moral sensibility, no consideration for the poor children abused, no recognition of the consequences.

And you know, there are always consequences, whether you are caught or not, and the fall is very hard indeed. I am not pointing the finger or wringing my hands, for to sit in judgement is foolishness. But if you are reading this and you are somewhere on that journey, the best time to take stock and stop, is now.