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Law enforcement officials: ‘Sexting’ won’t go away
By Hannah Davis Current in Noblesville For many teens, it’s hard to ignore the temptations that technology provides. At a community forum Sept. 23, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department warned parents and teens about the consequences of personal pictures that often become public. “Sexting,” the act of sending sexually explicit messages or images to others, is a growing problem across the country. These inappropriate messages can have lasting, devastating, and emotionally scarring effects. “If someone who’s involved in child pornography gets a hold of that, it’s over,” Noblesville detective and cyber crime specialist Mike Widener said. “It’s happening every place,” Hamilton County Sheriff Doug Carter said. “This is not an issue that’s just going to go away.” Widener shared the story of an Ohio teen whose sexting exploits ultimately ended in her suicide. After an explicit cell phone picture sent to
her boyfriend ended up in the hands of hundred, she decided that she couldn’t handle the stress. “It was too much for any 18-year-old to handle,” her mother explained in a video shown at the meeting. “There is no changing your mind in cyberspace… nothing you post or send will go away,” Hamilton County sheriff Alex Petty said. Widener suggested that photos taken on cell phones will be accessible for more than 50 years. The first step, police say, to ensuring a child’s safety is knowing what his or her cell phone is capable of doing. Checking for Internet access and the capability to quickly share photos is vital. It’s recommended, though, that parents don’t stop there. “You pay for that cell phone. You own that cell phone,” Petty pointed out. “Read their text messages. See what they’re doing.” Although immediate responsibility belongs parents, Widener said, “We (law enforcement agencies) are doing the best we can to stay prepared… I know that technology always changes, but we’re doing the best we can.”
Reason and discovery By Bob Walters It slipped my notice, but Sept. 17 was the 222nd birthday of the U.S. Constitution. I am fascinated by the Christian and nonChristian implications of America’s founding philosophies, and by the mix of religious and nonreligious colonials, who all agreed that personal liberty, economic autonomy, spiritual freedom and limited government composed the best stateof-being for mankind. “Separation of church and state” appears nowhere in America’s founding documents. It was penned in an otherwise obscure letter written by Thomas Jefferson; a “reason and nature” deist who believed God created the world and left it to run itself. While “Father of Our Country” George Washington wrote fabulous Christian prayers, Jefferson, like several of his contemporaries, was a humanist who dismissed the Christian supernatural – virgin birth, miracles, Christ’s resurrection, etc. Jefferson framed the liberty-loving language of the Declaration of Independence and had almost nothing to do with the writing of the Constitution. “Separation of church and state” is nonetheless considered a Jeffersonian dictum and Constitutional tradition. Nearly forgotten is that it was uber-patriot Thomas Paine, not Jefferson, who wrote rebelliously against religion. Famed for “Common Sense,” published in 1776, Paine provided the American revolutionaries – from farmers to intellectuals – with a compelling call to arms. The Declaration of
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Independence was signed that summer, and in late 1776 Paine’s “Crisis” was published containing the line, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” Paine’s words crystallized the colonials’ yearning for freedom and lit the emotional fires of the American Revolution. Yet negative blowback from his anti-religious views caused him to leave America for Europe, where he was an outcast in England and nearly executed in France. His 1794 anti-religion book “Age of Reason” sparked further outrage. Paine considered scripture to be mere hearsay. Not quite an atheist, he believed in one God, hoped for “happiness beyond this life,” and obviously conceded the existence of men’s souls. But he saw no faith, only “reason,” and considered any church or religion an impediment to man’s freedom. “My own mind is my own church,” he wrote. How many times we Christians hear that line, or some version thereof, when non-believers are invited to share our faith. “I’m too smart for church,” they imply. It seems reasonable that God gave us the great gift of intelligence not so we could merely find ourselves, but so we could discover Him. That’s the proper use of freedom. Bob Walters (www.believerbob. blogspot.com) hopes we are indeed “one nation under God,” and not a reasonable facsimile..
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