Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals released the following statement. In consideration of Foursquare’s membership in the NAE and our support of its mission, and because of the significance of the content of this alert, leadership of The Foursquare Church felt compelled to share the statement with our churches and ministers.

Rev. Haggard writes:

Dr. Jerry Kirk and Brother Thomas Trask recently brought an issue to my attention and asked me to make sure the NAE was informed about what could potentially be a very damaging situation for the evangelical Church. This is a disturbing matter and one I thought was imperative for all pastors to fully grasp.

We are all continually amazed at the newest and greatest electronic devices that come out on the market. One of the latest innovations is wireless handheld devices with video capabilities. Many of our young people are eagerly awaiting their opportunity to own one of these phones, PDAs or iPods.

What you may not know is that all the pornography on the Internet may be available on these devices without effective monitoring or filtering options. Our already sexualized culture is about to be inundated with yet another avenue for corrupting the innocent and ensnaring our children to the bonds of pornography.

We need to do something. The technology itself is wonderful but until the appropriate safeguards can be implemented we need to educate and inform evangelicals of the dangers to which they may be unknowingly exposing their young people.

The National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families (NCPCF) and the Religious Alliance Against Pornography (RAAP) are working hard on this issue. You can read their joint letter Pornography on Wireless Devices on the NAE web site. You can get more information about what is happening at www.nationalcoalition.org or by calling Jack Samad, NCPCF vice president for Internet safety, at 513-521-6227.

Please, for the sake of our children, spread this message to your pastors and congregations through whatever means you have available. We must take proactive steps to safeguard the next generation.