For me, it began with She-Ra, Princess of Power. If only the First Amendment had been repealed way back then, I could have been saved :(
Posted on 05/24/2005 1:42:28 PM PDT by CHARLITE
Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions that may be difficult for some readers.
A crowd of people gathered on Capitol Hill last Thursday to hear experts* in obscenity law and sexual crimes speak in recognition of Victims of Pornography Month.
What they said in that room should be heard by every American. (It just so happens that you can download and listen to the presentations, including one by CWA’s chief counsel, Jan LaRue, on our Web site by clicking here.)
First, if you aren’t convinced yet that we, as a society, should crack down on pornography, consider some of the facts presented at the summit.
Where should we start? Maybe with this statement from Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values in Cincinnati, Ohio: “I’ve never met a police officer yet who investigated a pedophile that did not find pornography. Every one of them said pornography is always on the scene.”
Or perhaps that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMC’s) Cyber Tip Line (http://www.cybertipline.com/) collected about 1,500 reports of possible child pornography being transmitted online in a seven-day period earlier this month (and 293,000 reports since 1998), according to Marsha Gilmer-Tullis, Director of the Family Advocacy Division at NCMC. They received 35 reports of adults trying to meet and greet children in chat rooms that same week.
Or, we could also consider facts presented by Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, a psychiatrist, professor at Princeton University and researcher at the University of Nice, that the sexual slavery trade is the third-largest source of funds for organized crime, right behind drugs and arms, and that pornography drives that trade.
Plus, Satinover mentioned studies showing that brain activity associated with craving pornography is “identical to any other behavioral or chemical addictions.” In fact, some have pointed out that pornography is as addictive as cocaine, but even harder to overcome due to the images burned into the user’s mind. “It is not an art form,” he said. “No one gets addicted to The Washington Post. No one gets addicted to James Joyce [author of Ulysses, a book with some erotic scenes].”
Satinover also had the courage to point out the motivation behind the porn industry: “Its purpose is not to entertain.” Its purpose, he said, is to lead the viewer to “achieve arousal and orgasm” as quickly and frequently as possible. There’s a financial interest – the more the buyer gets aroused by pornography and achieves orgasm, the more he will purchase. Comparing the purchasing frequency of mainstream movies and pornographic ones makes that clear.
When the movies, magazines and Web sites just aren’t cutting it anymore, the user moves to the final stage: acting out. Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Florida) read the following quote from serial rapist Ted Bundy, made one day before his 1989 execution:
“The purveyors of pornography repeatedly challenge us to prove that pornography causes violent crime,” said Rep. Harris. “I challenge them to prove that it does not.”
Likewise, John Richter, the Acting Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division, said, “Because obscene material is so accessible, many may fail to realize that availability does not equate to legality.”
Concerned Women for America (CWA) Chief Counsel Jan LaRue wrote an excellent, full-scale paper on this topic, Hard-Core Harm.
So, what can you, as a citizen, do with the information these knowledgeable presenters gave? Here are several ideas:
Start with your own home. Supervise your children on the Internet, and teach them how to safely use it. Read CWA’s brochure, 14 Ways You Can Protect Your Children Online, for help. Watch out for peer-to-peer file-sharing sites like Kazaa and Morpheus, as they are virtually unregulated – children can easily access pornographic files and even give away your household’s personal information. If you or your spouse is struggling with addiction, there is help (see http://www.victimsofpornography.org/ for a start).
Be aware of what – or who – is in your neighborhood. Check with local law enforcement to see if it maintains a sex offenders’ registry. Use the registry to find out if any convicted sex offenders live in your neighborhood. If your state doesn’t have one, lobby your officials to make this information public.
Encourage your local officials to prosecute obscenity. If juries never get the opportunity to set community standards, then pornographers will set them. In cities where prosecutors have gone after pornographic shops and other sexually oriented businesses, all types of crimes have dropped. Local law enforcement should be enthusiastic about cleaning up communities in this way.
Encourage your local and national representatives to make laws to protect Americans from obscenity.
Sign up for e-mail alerts from groups like CWA that are fighting pornography. We’ll keep you informed as to how you can act on the issue. Sign up at www.cwfa.org.
Vote! Watch how your officials and representatives are voting, acting and responding to your requests regarding obscenity. Register to vote, and encourage your friends and family to register as well!
Educate others. One voice can start a movement! Join an organized grassroots organization like CWA – we’ll be happy to tell you how you can become active at the state level (phone: 800-964-2203). Encourage your friends to join e-mail lists, or form one of your own to pass around vital information. Organize events in your community and bring in experts like the ones at this presentation.
Contribute to hard-working groups like CWA, CCV and others. We are dependent upon generous giving from people like you.
John Richter ended his remarks by asking for continuing support of American citizens:
We aren’t backing down to the purveyors of obscenity… we do not fight these battles alone. We know that folks like you here today – decent, honest Americans – support us. And it is my last privilege today to ask for your continued support as we continue to move forward. I want you to think of our team as I think of them: As those men and women, at Justice, who seek justice, by doing justice, for those who deserve justice.
*Among the presenters were Concerned Women for America (CWA) Chief Counsel Jan LaRue; Citizens for Community Values President Phil Burress; Reps. Katherine Harris (R-Florida), Mike Pence (R-Indiana) and Joe Pitts (R-Pennsylvania); Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas); Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, John Richter; Marsha Gilmer-Tullis, Director of the Family Advocacy Division at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; Focus on the Family Media and Sexuality Analyst Daniel Weiss; Florida Deputy Attorney General George LeMieux; and Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, a psychiatrist, professor at Princeton University and researcher at the University of Nice.
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Great one! You can't argue with some people, they are totally closed to rational thought.
Didn't Dr. Laura pose for porn? I'm kidding, I like Dr. Laura! I haven't read the book so I can't comment but my husband tells me for him sex is the cure all for everything. Bad moods, bad back, headache, stress and sometimes if he really wants it - he'll pay me ;)
No, it actually isn't like that at all.
In reality, you and I are going to die, that is the extreme absolute.
Yes, indeedy. That appears to be an extreme absolute! We should all strive to live a life that will be deemed worth living when that day comes.
Generally, they have pictures of one or more legal adults participating in activities that they consented to, while being photographed and videotaped, again with their consent.
I honestly don't think I've ever seen a porn site pandering to children, much less trying to get them to follow them to their van. Remember, most pornographers are in it for the money, that's it. Trying to attract customers under 21 would be an invitation for legal action, which hurts the bottom line. Predators that try to lure children tend to use chat rooms, web sites leave too much of a trail.
Was she for it or against it?
Well, at least we can agree with one thing
Yes! Can you feel the love?? =)
For me, it began with She-Ra, Princess of Power. If only the First Amendment had been repealed way back then, I could have been saved :(
I think he meant with the intent to commit adultery with her.
Any thread on porn draws the perverts who defend it, and it is almost impossible to have an interliigent discussion on porn on FR for the addicts that quickly show up, flapping their leathern wings, to make snide, clever remarks, deride, make fun, indulge in circular arguments and in general force people who want to have an intelligent discussion on the matter to deal with them.
Porn is an addiction. Addicts are ashamed of it. They try to cover up. They try to both justify and conceal, which is what all of these people who are pro-porn are doing on this thread. I've seen it ever since I have been on FR
Quote (Cause I dont know how to put italics)
This statement has so many logical flaws it's difficult to know where to begin. First of all, the speaker personalizes the statement: "I've never met ..." I don't know who the speaker has met and who he hasn't. I don't know how many -- if any -- police officers he's met or who's investigated a pedophile. And even if the number is significant, it doesn't qualify as any kind of benchmark.
Secondly, and most egregiously, is the specious causal link. Since all these officers investigating pedophiles found pornography, pornography and pedophilia must somehow be linked. Of course, the implication is that pornography somehow causes pedophilia. If the opposite inference were to be drawn, then the speaker would be indicting pedophilia, not pornography.
Finally, the fact that pornography is "always on the scene" is a meaningless generality. What constitutes pornography, for starters? And what does it mean to be "on the scene?" In the same house? Lying all over the floor? Cut and taped to walls? Hidden in underwear drawers? I'll bet 90 percent of households in the US have some kind of "pornography" "on the scene."
These feeble attempts to make pornography a sickness do nothing but discredit their authors.
Talk about circular arguments.......
Thre truth is that men's biology is such that a normal male always wants sex and thinks about it all the time. Physically, it is an always present urge, that's reality.
For women, its hard to understand that about men because their biology is different.
Case in point, a friend of mine was on a dry spell with his wife and the grandparents were bugging him to give them a grandkid. They were akll driving home from a party and he was feeling frisky. It was like 10:00 at night and he sensed that his wife was getting a we bit tired. The in-laws stopped at 7-11 for something. He went in and got everyone the Starbucks double shot of espresso, in a sneaky attempt to wake his wife up for sex later on. The mother-in law said to him in front of wife "You are trying to get laid arn't you?" He was mortified but responded "You do want a grandkid right???"
Nothing against Dobson, but Bundy told Dobson everything Dobson wanted to hear, so Dobson believed it.
CHILD porn or legal porn? There is a difference.
damn well said.
That statement is false. Porn can be addictive, but it is not inherently an addiction.
Addicts are ashamed of it.
Actually, I see a whole lot of shamelessness in this thread! I certainly am not ashamed of anything here.
They try to cover up.
Cover what up?
Yes.
They know it's wrong.
If these folks truly believed porn *isn't* wrong they'd have no problem "enjoying" it in front of their children and grandchildren.
But porn is something to hide, because of the immorality of using it and the guilt that inevitably follows.
That's what I meant indeed. I would never cheat as I love her more than anyone on this planet and am in every way attracted to her, physically and emotionally. She knows it too.
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