Covenant Eyes– two years later
The faint, far-off results of those energies which God’s creative rapture implanted in matter when He made the worlds are what we now call physical pleasures; and even thus filtered, they are too much for our present management. -C.S. Lewis, from The Weight of Glory
For this is the will of God, your sanctification… -1 Thess 4:3
Lewis’s quote is so true, but without downplaying these lifelong, colossal struggles, aren’t “addictions” often just sinful habits? We do things not only because we’re inclined to do them, but because we are used to doing them. If it’s too easy to wander on the internet, make it harder to seek after “strange women” (Prov 22:14) by using Covenant Eyes. It lets you go where you please on the internet, but all activity is logged and can be viewed later by an accountability partner (wife, parent, friend) in a tidy report. Covenant Eyes also offers filtering software that blocks porn sites. We just use the accountability software, and it has never caused any compatibility problems on our machine. A little “CE” icon minds its own business on our taskbar.
Since I last wrote about Covenant Eyes, they’ve revised the look of their accountability report and upgraded the scoring system. There’s good news and bad news here. The bad news is that the overall score provided by the new scoring system is useless. The good news is that the accountability report is much easier to read. The report lists the sites that have the highest scores, then further down it will show you the specific pages in those sites that score highly. The system isn’t perfect. Sometimes the report catches stuff on sites like cnn.com that are inoffensive and yet get moderately high scores. However, when you see cnn.com you know that there’s nothing of concern there other than their usual political bias. Really, Covenant Eyes does a great job at a daunting task. You should be able to sweep through the report in a few minutes a week once you know what to look for.
Comments are open. I’d be curious to hear reviews from users of Covenant Eyes filtering.
March 24th, 2008 at 11:20 am
We’re very interested in hearing from our members about our new “Quick Look” feature. I appreciate your comments here about it. Several people have started commenting about it on the Covenant Eyes blog. Please stop by and leave your comments for more people to read: http://www.covenanteyes.com/blog/2008/03/14/a-new-quick-look-at-ce-reports/
Our scoring system itself has changed very little (we, of course, update our scores continually, but the overall way we score remains the same). The individual scores found on your report are still rating not each webpage but each PART of each page that appears on your screen: every story, ad, photo, etc. Each of these items is a URL and every webpage may contain several if not dozens of URLs, each with its own web address that is scored by our system.
CNN, for example, has links to Sports Illustrated, which, as you know, contains many low-rated URLs of stories and photos about sporting events. But the Sports Illustrated swimsuit calendar and videos are also URLs on that page.
If I do not click on those questionable links, then my report will show a couple of high scoring hits that show I ran into temptation, just like I do when I watch TV at night or when I walk through the mall.
But if I do click on the swimsuit link, it will take me to a web page that has dozens of photos, cutlines, stories, and more that will receive scores that show mature content. Each of those URLs will appear on my report, which will provide the web address of the URL, a score, and the time and day I viewed them.
So, in short, Covenant Eyes reports show the temptations we face and the choice we make.
The “Quick Look” feature just replaced the familiar “1-5″ overall report score with phrases that indicate what the 1-5 system really meant in the first place. I’m glad the accountability report is easier to read.
By the way, thanks for your helpful “Death to Porn” posts. I’ve really enjoyed reading them and have referred to them several times in my blogs on the Covenant Eyes blog page.
Blessings,
Luke Gilkerson
Internet Community Manager
Covenant Eyes
http://www.covenanteyes.com
“I have made a covenant with my eyes” (Job 31:1)
March 30th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
I have been a long time subscriber to CE. I still struggle deeply with Porn…particularly on my work PC. I am so discouraged with my total lack of progress in this area. It just feels like the grip only tightens. CE is good, but there is no software program that will address my sinful habits. I am only getting in deeper.
April 6th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
You’re rights, it’s not a cure, just a tool that helps. And it sounds like it has helped to some extent.
I’m hardly a counselor, but a couple of things: (1) Don’t give up. The battle against sin is a lifelong, often maddening struggle. (2) We sin because we like it in some way, so cultivate competing desires. (3) If Covenant Eyes can’t be installed on your work computer due to security, there may be something out there that can… X3watch? In many places (including my job) they can monitor usage, so consider your career. If you have a closed-door office, perhaps it’d be best to seek work somewhere where you don’t. The point is to keep finding ways to snuff out occasions for sin. It’s key to get out of the habit with any ongoing sin. (4) This seems to me something worth bringing to the attention of one of your elders or the pastor.
April 7th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Thanks for the input. I have actually engaged an elder in my church (in his formal capacity) on the whole issue. I am trusting this issue can be dealt with redemptively in that context. BTW, thanks for the website. I have realy enjoyed your thoughts….the longing that it stirs in my heart gives me hope.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Thanks brother. It seems to me a sign of God working in you that you’ve taken what was surely a humbling step by going to an elder, and it’s a joyous thing to look forward to the day when we won’t be at war within ourselves any longer.