It’s 17 years since two-year old Jamie Bulger was killed by two young boys in Bootle, Merseyside.
On conviction, the two boys were detained for a period of nine years before being released on license and given new identities.
In February this year one of those boys, John Venables, was taken back into custody, but the reason was not revealed at the time.
Four months later, reporting restrictions have been relaxed and we now know that he has been charged with possessing 57 images of child pornography, downloaded from the Internet. He is also accused of distributing indecent images by allowing others to access his computer via peer-to-peer networking.
Quite apart from the alleged offences, this case is attracting media and public attention because of the notoriety of the person accused. There have been many other cases of people downloading and peddling child pornography over the Internet on a much grander scale which, though reported, have attracted somewhat less interest.
It is perhaps not so surprising that this should be the case in a society that has such a relaxed attitude to almost every form of sexual conduct – apart, that is, from that which involves children.
The Bible calls for restraint and self-discipline in all areas of life, including sexual conduct. Too much so called “freedom” in this area undermines society and the family unit that has traditionally been the basic building block of a health society. Furthermore, the bible has specific warnings for society – not by way of externally imposed acts of judgement from God but in terms of society destroying itself from the inside.
This is not to suggest that sexual restraint is easy but we can know God’s help if we are willing to surrender control of our lives to Him.
Whatever the crimes of which John Venables may eventually be convicted and for which he must answer to the courts, we need to recognise that none of us are without sin. We all need to be saved from our own guilt and experience the power of God’s Holy Spirit who is able to go on and transform our minds.
