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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one good reason to not watch adult materials with your children, is because it is illegal.
and no, I don't watch or possess any of them to begin with.
nor do I rent them.
you should know better than that.
and you do.
Because your question is idiotic.
So...............are you guys married?
The reason I ask is because if your wife knows about your love of porn, and doesn't mind, then she's the exception to the rule. Perhaps it's used as a tool in the bedroom. I'm cool with that. :-)
If she doesn't then I would guess it's because you know she probably would consider your "dabbling" and "dribbling" as a form of infidelity. I know I would. Now, if you couldn't care less why women would think that, then perhaps you also live by the reasoning that "what she doesn't know won't hurt her?"
Just by some of your opinions here, that she must be at fault for your horniness which is why you allow yourself this type of entertainment, I see why so many relationships break up. If she's "not putting out", which justifies your scanning the porn sites for "relief," then something else is wrong in your relationship. HMMMM........maybe not hard to figure that one out.
It is discouraging that so many men consider it OK to slobber over strange women's genitalia while they work their own into submission. Sad really........and shows a complete disregard for women in general, except to oggle their privates for your own entertainment and because "it's there for the looking." A fella I was dating, and whom I trusted, was not only checking out the "boobies" (an immature term for breasts) but was also trying to connect with other women in chat rooms. He was "getting it" plenty at home by the way. I dumped him quickly.
A gentleman that I fell in love with a few years later understood the importance of treating a woman with respect which in turns breed respect. For society to have come to a place where sex and all its other activities are no longer a private matter, but for everyone to slurp up, shows the overwhelming proliferation of deviancy. To find it so normal to have so many women to look at, at any given time, is not normal. It's just another example of a society that has lost its meaning of decorum, manners, and a healthy respect for a wonderful act.
You're turn.......and don't bother calling me a prude. I have a very imaginative sexual nature. Just picky about whom I share it with.
Because your question is idiotic.
Maybe watching porn is idiotic.!!!
Indeed it is.
Whenever I see the concerned women, crap... I know it's going to be a day for the flake jobs.
Nanny staters in the name of Jesus.
well, as long as it makes the world safe for a three year old... the state ought to enact it, right?
Even for an occassional drink, if there is a desire for it it leads to a want, then a permanent need... All progressive. and as I have stated before, it does matter on your ability to control yourself, there are those that cannot and dive head first into the arena, then there are those that are thinking they a mature enough to handle it then end up like the "frog in the pot"...
NO thanks, I will just leave it at this. Those that defend porn are destined to be taken by it.
That is my opinion and try to prove me wrong. Instead of trying to bring me down, why don't you do the research yourself? Become a marriage counselor and listen to the arguements, I am sorry.
If there wasn't a desire to watch, then this wouldn't be a discussion, if it wasn't a heated debate, then there wasn't a need for justification and if there wasn't a need for ustification, then there isn't anything wrong
I shared this thread with my wife, who commented, "They just don't understand that you've substituted bike porn in your life. If they saw the motorcycle magazines in the bathroom, on your nightstand or on the coffee table, they'd understand." So there you have it, I'm addicted to bike porn. I'm an addict.
Couldn't have put it better myself, sister!
I'm divorced. When I was married, I had almost zero interest in pornography. That wasn't because I had a problem with the idea, I just don't have that much interest when my sex life is satisfactory. Now, ironically enough, my second wife toward the end actually suggested a few times that we watch porn together, because she thought the problem was that I was unsatisfied. The problem was not that I was unsatisfied in that regard, but that she was obsessively possessive and did not ever want me out of her sight.
I'm starting to think that you're just mad. I get the occasional urge for a drink every now and then. As a matter of fact, my wife and I went out for margaritas just this Saturday. Not all desires and wants lead to permanent needs. The very idea is just crazy.
Perhaps if you let some of these things go, you would have to struggle with this burden.
I think that's a good assessment. The article brings up the case of Ted Bundy, but we need to bear in mind not only that Ted Bundy probably knew no more about what motivated him to kill than the professionals who were examining him, but also that there are millions of adult men who look at porn, but only a small handful of rapists and serial killers active at any one time. Porn may be reprehensible, but it's obviously not causing violent crime.
You want Bella to repsect the ally that co-opted and changed her religion and now tries to get her to 'convert' to theirs. Good one!
Bundy did nothing but lie on death row. His last lie was his last ditch appeal to postpone his execution so he could take investigators to the bodies of women he claimed to have murdered, but told no one about.
Simply put, Bundy lied to save his ass. Bundy lied to Dobson in the hopes of winning Dobson's sympathy, and hoping to leverage that sympathy into something that could save his ass.
Those of us that know, really know. THose that think they know are really faking it. NO WANT FOR ANYTHING, I am free from those vises!
I have no problem believing that sexual predators and pedophiles are influenced by porn. However I don't buy the argument that it is the fault of the porn. This is just the perps trying to avoid responsibility for their actions.
IMO a person with 'healthy' sexual urges, would be repulsed by the violent, abberant and kiddie porn cited in this article. I could see those with perverted urges being attracted to this sort of stuff.
I never said all blue-ink tats were prison tats. But all prison tats are blue-ink. If you're looking for members of a prison gang, you're looking for blue ink, that's just the way it is.
The designs themselves are the most telling element, obviously. But since this isn't a thread about prison tattoos, and since there are so many designs, I didn't feel the need to go into it.
Sorry you took it wrong. My wife has a blue-ink tattoo herself, and I know she's not affiliated.
Uhh... NO. I've never said to myself "Where are my Jenna Jameson videos and Playboys? Oh well, I'll go find some kiddie porn instead".
It DOES NOT work that way.
Normal, healthy men lust after adult women. Sick, demented subhuman pedophiles won't swtich on Spice TV or grab a copy of Hustler when they can't get illegal child porn.
I don't recall ever hearing of any of those pedophile priests getting busted with a copy of Playboy in their desks... Might be wrong there but I doubt it.
Then everyone who ever took a drink of their own volition would become an alcoholic.
Dear Father, please save us from those who live to save us, amen.
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