ACWORTH - "On a Screen Near You: Cyberporn"

That was the headline of an article published in Time magazine on July 3, 1995. The article that appeared a decade ago brought the issue of Internet pornography to the attention of the media, legislators and the general public.

Last November witnesses before a Senate Commerce Committee subcommittee described Internet pornography as the new crack cocaine, leading to addiction, misogyny, pedophilia, erectile dysfunction and breast enhancement surgery.

The National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families reports that there are more than 300,000 pornographic web sites on the Internet and that this number is growing every day. It is the fastest, cheapest and most anonymous pornography outlet available.

While Internet pornography has dangerous aspects for both sexes and all age groups, statistics reveal that one in four kids reported having at least one unwanted exposure to sexually explicit pictures during the past year, and one out of five reported receiving a sexual solicitation.

An appropriate question is: How can we best safeguard our children from online predators and sexually explicit material on the Web? Furthermore, how can any Internet-active person guard against the temptation to succumb to the allurement of pornographic Websites?

 

Forming an answer

Shane Kenny, president of SafeEyes.com, thinks he has the answer to those pertinent and probing questions. Shane and his brother, Aaron, both Georgia Baptists, have developed an Internet filter called Safe Eyes, which will protect the Internet user from seeing material he or she deems to be inappropriate.

Recently conducted independent and unbiased testing has confirmed Safe Eyes as the best Internet filter on the market. Eleven leading products, including offerings from Norton, MacAfee, AOL and Microsoft, were tested and it was concluded that Safe Eyes provided the fastest, most effective and most affordable solution available.

Mike Cleveland, founder of "Setting Captives Free," a non-profit ministry designed to help people find freedom from habitual sin and addictions, says the filtering program is worth looking into.

"Safe Eyes is a quantum leap forward in both filters and monitoring and reporting software," says Cleveland. "In short, this product does what no other product does. (It) not only includes Internet filters and accountability usage logging, but also one of the most innovative features I have seen in years called 'Usage Alerts.' With 'Usage Alerts' enabled Safe Eyes will actually place a phone call to an accountability partner when a user wanders into inappropriate content."

When asked about Safeeyes.com being a Christian company, Kenny stated, "I do not believe there is such a thing as a Christian company, however there is such a thing as a company that is run on Christian principles.

"I also strongly believe that a business should be known as "Christian" by its actions and not because of a Jesus-fish symbol on its website or letterhead. Safeeyes.com is operated on Christian principles and I hope that is evident by the way the company is run."

Kenny indicated that two Bible verses serve as the motivation for what he and his brother do in their business. The first verse is Philippians 4:8 where the Apostle Paul challenges his readers to focus on the things that are "pure." He explains, "To me this means that every Christian home should be taking precautions to make sure that 'unpure' things are not easily accessible on the Internet in their home."

The second guiding verse of Scripture is I Corinthians 10:13: "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able: but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

 

A way of escape, protection

Reflecting on this Bible verse, Kenny declares, "The temptation is out there and available to anyone using the Internet, but God has made a way to escape this temptation through software like Safe Eyes."

Kenny was born in Honolulu, Hawaii where his dad was stationed in the United States Navy. After 10 years in the Navy, Kenny's dad decided to go into full-time ministry. He felt led into missions and after graduating from a Bible College began to start churches for U.S. military personnel stationed overseas. As a result of his dad's ministry Kenny graduated from secondary school in Scotland before coming back to the United States to enroll in Pensacola Christian College.

While a student at PCC Kenny met Heather Lewis, an MK (missionary kid) and fellow student. They fell in love and were married after graduation. Kenny worked for a little over a year in the college's Information Services Department as a computer programmer, but in 1998 the newlyweds moved to the Atlanta area where Kenny took a job in the same field with Automated Logic Corporation in Kennesaw.

The Kennys joined Picketts Mill Baptist Church in Dallas where they are making a vital contribution to the ministry of the church by working with the children. Pastor Tony Samples has praised the couple for their faithfulness and service to the church.

Associate Pastor Leslie Whitney says, "The Kennys epitomize what it means to have a servant's heart and are willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. They are true leaders."

 

Establishing a new company

In January 2001 Kenny and his brother, Aaron, resigned their jobs and began the process of estab- lishing a new company, Safeeyes.com. They wanted to bring something "new" to Internet users and came up with the idea of "Flexible Filtering," a new filtering concept that allows each family to choose what level of filtering is right for their family.

The Kenny brothers are now making Safe Eyes available to our military service men and women free of charge. Shane Kenny says, "During off-duty time in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, Internet pornography becomes one of the 'entertainment' choices easily accessible to our service people.

Former GBC pastor Tommy Dingler is heading up this new program and calls it "Protecting the Protectors." Churches interested in implementing the "Protecting the Protectors" program should contact Dingler at (678) 715-8144.

Safe Eyes has a growing number of endorsements from across the country, but one meaningful endorsement came from the pulpit of First Baptist Church in Woodstock at a Men's Conference earlier this year. It is good when businesses and churches can work together to help men (and women) maintain physical chastity, moral purity and spiritual integrity.

To learn more about Safe Eyes visit www.safeeyes.com.