When Online Surfing Turns to Illegal Activity
We live in the digital age. With the click of a mouse we can research any topic, any image and any piece of music. Then with another click of the mouse we can knowingly or unknowingly commit a crime. Illegal file downloads. Whether it’s the saving of an image, pdf document, text or music file, without having purchased or gotten permission to use that file, it is illegal.
There are many excuses for this activity. These are some common ones.
“I didn’t know that was illegal.”
“It’s no big deal, everyone is doing it.”
“No one will ever know.”
“It doesn’t hurt anyone.”
These are all lies, Satan convinces men of to make it appear to be ok. But let’s look at what God says.
1 Peter 1:14 (ESV)
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance“
Exodus 20:15
““You shall not steal.“
Romans 14:8-10
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
Psalm 33:13,14
“The Lord looks down from heaven;
he seesall the children of man;
14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out
on all the inhabitants of the earth,”
Ephesians 4:28
“Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.”
Parents Responsibility to Teach the Truth about Stealing
As parents it is our responsibility to teach our children right from wrong. We are responsible for their actions until such a time as they become accountable to God. If we fail to teach them the important lessons concerning stealing, including digital piracy, we fail in our role as teachers of light.
1 John 1:5-7
“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Today we are sharing with you an article written by Jon McKenzie from his blog, Dad is Learning. In it he discusses the role of music piracy in our digital age and makes it clear the reality of the sin. This article is a part of a larger series on Raising Good Kids in an R-Rated World, where he examines the content of music, games and more. Be sure to click See More… to read Jon’s entire article.
Music Piracy: Raising Good Kids In An ‘R-rated’ World
There are few topics that received as much ‘push-back’ in my media presentation as piracy or the stealing of music, movies, and games. As we transition to a few weeks of talking about music, I wanted to get started with
- Image courtesy of Grant Cochrane
/ FreeDigitalPhotos.ne
this very important topic.
I’m Not Hurting Anyone
According to Forbes magazine, the highest paid musician in 2012 was Dr. Dre whose annual income was pushed to $110 million by his popular line of Beats headphones.
R16:16 