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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Well who is the husband paying attention to when he's wanking to a porn video? Not his wife that's for sure.
I don't dialogue with people who start out calling me an idiot. Have a nice evening.
"You want a nanny government, just a different one than the Democrats do."
My view is, they go hand and hand. The issues associated with production are a direct consequence of the product being produced. In my estimation, the industry can't be "cleaned up" in any substantial way because of the types of people who choose to be involved with pornography. Porn will always need damaged girls and heartless bastards willing to exploit them for an easy buck... and everybody's going to need their coke. That stuff can't be changed or regulated. It's the nature of the industry.
So we're back to my original example. If I don't want my children to drink wine, I shouldn't either. If I don't want my children to have sex, I shouldn't either. And religion is a personal choice.
Yep okay. Whatever suits you. As long as you aren't a christian believing porn is fine and in line with your religion like the unitarians.
"Except that folk don't understand"
I don't dialogue with idiots who try to bait people into showing pornography to minors.
Huh? You're crazy. I never said that but do continue in your delusion.
Okay whatever. We disagree. Have a nice evening.
"If it's good for you, should be good for your children too."
I don't see where you are getting all that from what I said. If you don't want your children to look at porn, why look at it yourself? Parents are supposed to be the moral authority of the home. A marriage is the union of man and woman. The ten commandments aren't ten suggestions. I wasn't accusing YOU of anything. If that doesn't clarify things, I don't know what else to say. We'll have to disagree as dialoguing futher with you is making me real uncomfortable.
WKB,
it is not that we who disagree with you on this are simple-minded, it is that your point is itself too simple-minded for us to bother refuting over and over again.
You keep claiming that failure to show porn to children indicates in some way that we recognize that porn is unwholesome.
Not so.
As I said in an earlier post: I would not allow a kid of mine to skydive until he or she was mature enough to handle the activity. This in no way indicates that I am ashamed of having jumped out of airplanes or that I am ashamed to have thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
(Nor, for that matter, does this experience or my enjoyment of it indicate that I am "addicted" to it.)
Skydiving is serious adult fun, not to be meddled with or dabbled in by those unready for it... and a kid ain't ready for it.
Similarly, though I have trained seven-year-olds in the proper care and use of a Ruger 10-22 .22cal.lr, I have not and will not teach one so young to handle a 3"magnum 12ga shotgun or a bullpup AK47 - the kid ain't ready for it.
"The kid isn't mature enough for it" does not equate to "it is unwholesome because I will not get a kid involved in it."
If at this point you cannot see the error in the argument you have been presenting, there is no hope anyone will ever make it clearer to you.
I never heard of anyone being a addicted to a 22 rifle.
OR raping anyone after looking at one.
I would not call people simple minded BUT a man is the head of the home. He leads his children and is supposed to be a role model to them, esp. sons. Ten commandments,not ten suggestions.
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doctors can perform a simple proceedure to remove the wax that seems to be clogging your ears.
"If you don't want your children to look at porn, why look at it yourself?"
".... I wasn't accusing YOU of anything."
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