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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What a person does to himself is his own business. I do not want others interfering in my life, therefore I will not interfere in theirs.
(I do have one small criticism of your post: Snuff films are an urban legend. There's no evidence that one has ever been made. This is a small point, however, since those who want to interfere in the free speech rights of others would be loath to argue the point.)
Great libertarian point of view, to which I agree.
Reality calling... Adults have sex. Children shouldn't... Nor do most adults think it's good for kids to watch it, talk about it or even learn about it till later.
Hey we disagree. There's nothing unrealistic about what I said. If a father doesn't want his son watching porn, he shouldn't watch it either. It's called being an example and a role model. I would not marry a man that watches porn because I don't want porn in my house.
In reality, sex wasn't meant for recreation, it was meant for Procreation. It was also made enjoyable between partners that are married. So, should children have sex, mine will when they are married..(unless there is something I don't know about yet) So yes, sex is good for my children too (adult children)
If you don't want your mother to hear it repeated, don't say it.
If you don't want your mother to see it, don't watch it
Oh yeah, one more... If you don't want your mom to read it, don't post it.
And I don't advocate that all marriages can be saved. You sound like you actually tried to work through the problems by at least showing her the respect she deserved as your wife, instead of running naked to your monitor. Ha!!
It was clearly meant for both.
It was also made enjoyable between partners that are married.
Why? Sex doesn't need to be enjoyable in order to procreate....
I try to live by the one an old priest told me, if you want to know whether something is right or not then live as if you have to account to Jesus Christ that same day. Porn is a vice and should have stayed that way but it's now gone mainstream.
Just pointing out the fallacy of your post. There are many things parents do that may not be good for children to do. That's why we have laws against minors driving, owning hand guns, etc. Parents have sex, doesn't mean that children should.
We have to disagree.
Well I've been reading this for quite a while and this is what I know about porn.
Watching it or not watching it is a moral issue.And where you stand on those morals dictates the action a person will take
Gods word is absolute and there is no gray area in it. He basically says its wrong.
Christians are more addicted to porn than anything else even drugs or alchocol.
It has destroyed more Christian marriages and ruined more Ministries than any other sin, in modern Evangelical church life.
Did the porn destroy the marriage or the ministry?
Well technically the answer is NO.
But the ease of getting porn and the nature of it is to entice.And the enticement will cause you to add to the sin of lust. By lying,or being decietful and those sins will destroy a marriage or a ministry.
Let me have it I can take it.
RB<><
I could care less about porn one way or the other. I'm not going to act like it's this great threat, nor great treasure. I think while it's been amusing under very rare moods, it's boring after about ten minutes.
I wouldn't want it on all the time, and I don't think I'd be amused or aroused by my husband playing it. He doesn't. I have no need to lay down some rule about it like I am his guardian. To me, it's sortof like anything else that should be personal... If you aren't doing it with me, don't get caught doing it. ;~D
Wait a minute. . .
It was okay when you looked at it -- and either you were never caught or nover molested anyone, I don't know which -- but now it's not okay for anyone else to look at? Am I reading that right?
If you looked at porn and survived without raping someone, why can't everyone else make the same choice? Why did you look at porn? Were you married at the time?
Ordinarily I would never ask these questions, but you set yourself up a a moral arbiter and I think that we are due an explanation.
Disagree about what? Owning hand guns, driving, drinking wine, reading or watching porn, parents having sex?
geez, I'm addicted to David Drake, Eric Flint, Caleb Carr, Orson Scott Card, Victor Davis Hanson, and Tom Clancy, then ;)
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