Microsoft wants you to buy Internet Explorer 8, and so is selling its distinctives. One of those distinctives is ‘InPrivate Browsing’, a feature which leaves no history, no temporary internet files and no cookies on your computer.
In other words, you can now ensure no family member needs to view what you are viewing.
Dangerous, right?
The news today is that an advertisement created for 'InPrivate Browsing' has been withdrawn, because it was 'found offensive'. You don't have to watch the video, all the information you need is here: Microsoft withdraws offending ‘puke ad’. I quote:
The ad, starring former Superman actor Dean Cain, depicts a woman spewing uncontrollably after apparently finding hardcore pornography on her husband’s computer. The man then slips over on the mess before his wife continues to vomit on top of him.
Cain then steps into the foreground telling viewers that none of this would have happened if the man had used Internet Explorer 8, which includes a feature called ‘InPrivate Browsing’ that lets users browse without leaving a trace.
Cain diagnoses the woman’s problem as “Oh My God, I’m Gonna Puke” (O.M.G.I.G.P) syndrome.
'In Private Browsing' is known in various outlets as The Porn Mode. Microsoft suggests legitimate reasons why one may want this feature, but the ad is clearly about pornography.
What's right?
The ad got one thing (kind of) right: the puking bit. Sin is terrible. Terrifying and terrible. Gag-worthy. All sin is. It is to God. And it is to the woman in the story. She pukes at her husband's sin. She is right to. We may think that sin is OK, but it never is. Sin is a mess. Let's take sin seriously.
What's wrong?
The ad then suggests two ways forward:
First, try misdiagnosis. Deflect the sin.
The problem is with her, not with him. She is diagnosed with the ailment, not him. She has 'O.M.G.I.G.P syndrome'. And 'InPrivate Browsing' is then the treatment.
Second, try concealment. Hide the sin.
I quote again:
Taken to the extreme, the ad could be seen by some as Microsoft offering tips on how to browse such material without getting caught by a spouse.
The logic is that no-one is (really) damaged by what you look at personally, and so the only real sin is in offending people. And if the offense can be taken away by removing every trace of the sin, then things are back to OK. If no-one sees you, no-one is offended. 'InPrivate Browsing' then becomes an asset to both you and your loved one: no more puke.
And yet, exposure is one of the ways God uses to make both sin abhorrent and Christ's Lordship real.
We know that King David tried to erase his browser history, and was exposed in the end. The writer of Hebrews says "Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account", and John says that every eye will behold Christ, even those who pierced him.
No ‘In Private Browsing’ will change that.
