I used to spend a lot of time at a reasonably popular forum where people from across the world gathered to discuss, well, just about everything. Though the site was dedicated to computer gaming, something I used to devote a lot of time to, the forums seemed to be devoted to just about everything else. We had some great discussions there, talking and arguing (usually nicely) about all sorts of topics, both spiritual and non-spiritual. I had the reputation of being one of a handful of Christians who would defend Christianity when it started to come under fire. Those were good days.
Unfortunately, like most things on the Web, popularity changed the site for the worse. Where I was about the 120th person to register for the forums, there are now several thousand. Where discussion used to be intelligent, it now seems to focus on smart-alec remarks and pornography. While the site does not allow porn to be posted on it, it certainly is a popular topic of discussion. Just try to convince people that their addiction to pornography is bad and you’ll come under some of the most severe attacks you’ll see in life. For every intelligent post, there now seems to be twenty or thirty unintelligent, offensive ones. Most of the people who have been visiting the site for three or four years and remember what it used to be like back in the good ol’ days seem to have moved along, frustrated that it has devolved into just another immature forum.
I found the following scientific chart and it gave me a good laugh. It really does seem to sum up that particular forum as well as so many others. While the Internet is an amazing blessing and can be used for so much good, the bad seems to be pressing forward so much faster. If you ever want some interesting food for thought, consider that pornography is one of the main forces that has made the Internet what it is. It is such huge business and generates so much money, that in a sense every Internet user has pornography to thank for making the Internet faster, better and bigger. Those dollars generated by sexual perversion have gone a long way to supporting the infrastructure of the Net. But I digress. Here is that chart I promised. I will endeavour to never allow this site to follow the chart!
