Posted on 12/09/2004 1:16:14 PM PST by Lindykim
Pornography is Anything But a 'Victimless Crime' 12/8/2004 By Cheri Pierson Yecke How many more expert studies do we need to convince ourselves of this fact?
Jud Fry -- one of the characters in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! lives in a shack that is papered with pornographic images. He is a loner, lacks social skills, and is feared by his neighbors. He is clearly capable of murder. This insight into the character of a porn addict hit the Broadway stage in 1943.
Fast forward to 2004. A sexual assault and several attempted abductions of girls in the St. Paul, Minnesota, area are allegedly the work of 19-year-old Ryan Mely, who has been charged (for starters) with second-degree criminal sexual conduct. He apparently was a loner who was feared by his neighbors. Jud Fry is a fictitious character who bought his porn from an itinerant peddler. How did Ryan Mely get his start? Apparently, pornography was a family pastime. While some dads bond with their kids by fishing or playing hockey together, it appears that Mely and his father (a convicted sex offender) shared an interest in pornography. It was reported that sexually explicit material was found at the family home and on their computer.
Is anyone really surprised that pornography is involved here? It has been 60 years since a Broadway musical portrayed what social scientists and criminal analysis have now found to be true -- addiction to pornography can lead to violent sexual behavior. Dr. Victor Cline, a clinical psychologist and expert on sexual addictions, has identified four stages of progression among his patients.
The first stage is addiction, where the attraction to porn is overpowering and the viewer keeps craving more. The next stage is an escalation to more shocking and deviant images, as the earlier ones have lost their power to stimulate. Third is desensitization, where anything earlier seen as disturbing and repulsive becomes viewed as commonplace. Finally, satisfaction cannot be reached unless the perpetrator begins acting out the activities witnessed in the pornography. In effect, fantasy must become reality.
The events in which Mely was allegedly involved appear to follow this pattern. Perhaps the same is true for Alfonso Rodriguez, the man who allegedly abducted and murdered Dru Sjodin. Rodriguez apparently had an infatuation with Dru, who worked at Victoria's Secret, an upscale lingerie shop. On several occasions he allegedly called the store where she worked, asking for her by name.
Victoria's Secret is well known for its racy, soft-porn "fashion show" where voluptuous young models strut the runways in revealing lingerie. The liberal National Organization for Women called it "exploitative" and the conservative Concerned Women for America condemned it as a "high-tech striptease." Regularly protested by both sides of the political spectrum, the company announced in April that it will no longer air this event
The last Victoria's Secret "fashion show" aired on network television November 19, 2003. Dru was abducted three days later. Could it be that Alfonso Rodriguez, a convicted sex offender, watched the show and was propelled into Dr. Cline's fourth stage of sexual deviance? This is a question his judge and jury may consider.
In an interview the night before his 1989 execution, serial killer Ted Bundy revealed the influence of pornography on his life.
A case study for Cline's four stages of addiction, Bundy started his descent into sexual deviance and murder with magazines he found in the neighbor's trash. His addiction escalated until he felt compelled to act out his desires in more than 30 murders that were accompanied with violent sexual acts.
He warned Americans: "There are those loose in [your] towns and communities, like me, whose dangerous impulses are being fueled, day in and day out, by violence in the media, in its various forms -- particularly sexualized violence ... . There are lots of other kids playing in the streets around the country today who are going to be dead tomorrow, and the next day, because other young people are reading and seeing the kinds of things that are available in the media today."
Abundant evidence has demonstrated the tragic impact of pornography. How many more expert studies do we need to convince ourselves of this fact? The elections of 2004 have sent politicians the message that morals matter, so now is the time to focus on the impact of pornography -- the so-called "victimless crime."
Cheri Pierson Yecke is a Distinguished Senior Fellow for Education and Social Policy at the Center of the American Experiment, a conservative think tank in Minneapolis. She is a former Minnesota commissioner of education and is author of The War Against Excellence. This article first appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Used with permission.
Concerned Women for America 1015 Fifteenth St. N.W., Suite 1100 Washington, D.C. 20005 Phone: (202) 488-7000 Fax: (202) 488-0806 E-mail: mail@cwfa.org
So anything that is potentially addictive is evil?
Hell man, veiwing Helen isn't risky enough?
I read somewhere that reading porn threads kicks off a chemical addiction in the brain (like heroin), linked to behavioral changes such as a lack of reasoning ability and a desire to criminalize private conduct.
As we know, most serial killers exhibit certain behavioral traits as children, and childhood experiences help shape the serial killer. I've seen statistics that nearly 100% of all adult serial killers drank milk as children! These statistics show that drinking milk as a child can lead to being an adult serial killer!
Just because there's a relationship exhibited, it does NOT prove that there's a causal effect!
My favorite point mentioned here is where they quote Ted Bundy's claims. Bundy was a world class manipulator, and he just wanted to get over on someone just one last time. Do you really want to take his word for what caused his actions?
Mark
I'd comment on this but viewing this thread is slowing my porn downloads. I'm feeling victimized.
Bill Clinton taught Middle school kids more about head jobs in 8 years than porn did in 50.
Ban Bill Clinton.
Not a good analogy. A better analogy to porn would be getting drunk in the privacy of your own home. Being a drunk increases the likelyhood of harm to others, but it is not (nor should it be) illegal.
An act performed before an audience of millions is in no way private. If someone stole a private videotape of yours and broadcast it on the internet, the principle would become clear to you.
Pornography contributes to real harm to real people. Pornography increases likelihood of divorce => Kids harmed. Pornography contributes to both the perversion and number of pedophiles => Kids harmed. Pornography excites and emboldens sexual predators => Women and children harmed.
I don't smoke, but I do like an occasional Big Mac. :-)
The risks to others from pornography are not imagined, they are real, and they become reality for too many victims every day.
I don't consider myself a prude, but I do think that what we expose our minds, bodies and spirits to have lasting influence. The younger we are, the more pronounced this influence becomes. Without sounding strident, I suggest that you might want to check out the following website, which presents information regarding pornography and its possible effects, in a non-dramatic, compassionate way. Check it out:
http://www.pureintimacy.org/
Oh well, what can I say, its all I got.
Since those who believe that freedom includes the freedom to engage in risky or morally-questionable behavior generally restrict that freedom to consenting adults, you are attacking an argument which has not been made.
The libertine never specified an age. Just consent.
Where do the libertines get off restricting that right to just adults? With what moral authority?
BTW why do you impose your morality on me by saying the other person has to consent.
Didn't you know that Ted was a trustworthy guy?
It's a different debate, but there are a number of battered wives and children who may disagree with you.
So, once we get those pesky age of consent laws relaxed, everything's good to go. Is that a strawman also?
You'll have to help me along, what with the public school education and all.
It is if only viewed by consenting adults in non-public places.
If someone stole a private videotape of yours and broadcast it on the internet, the principle would become clear to you.
The internet is not a private place. This example would be more akin to playing porn on a billboard in times square.
"The free man owns himself. He can damage himself with either eating or drinking; he can ruin himself with gambling. If he does he is certainly a damn fool, and he might possibly be a damned soul; but if he may not, he is not a free man any more than a dog is." --G. K. Chesterton
The violation of rights there is the assault, not the drinking.
Are you favor of changing the age of consent laws? I'm not.
Tyra Banks
Mark
Jefferson reached the point where he was willing to say slavery was wrong but not actually free his own slaves. After all, they were the ones paying his bills. He was acting out of personal & political expediency, he couldn't afford to alienate his Southern base.
Contrast this with Hamilton's or Franklin's behavior regarding slavery.
Jefferson also excelled at running away from the British Military and slandering innocent men such as Adams, Hamilton, and Washington AND THEN LYING TO THEIR FACE about his actions.
Jefferson was not essential to the American Revolution, his primary skill was generating fiery rhetoric.
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