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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no.
one may recreationally imbibe alcohol and become neither physically nor psychologically addicted to it.
one may take the occasional painkiller and become neither physically nor psychologically addicted to it.
one may indulge in premarital nookie now and then and become neither physically nor psychologically addicted to it.
one may skydive and become neither physically nor psychologically addicted to it.
one may view nude photography and become neither physically nor psychologically addicted to it.
complete abtsention for most people is not a prerequisite for avoiding addiction to most things, vices, substances, activities.
do you get the point? liking a thing does not equate to addiction to that thing, irrespective of how many all-or-nothing rationalisms you put forth.
Stop trying to argue logic with some on this board, the concept confuses them greatly.
Yep, porn has a tendency to make men think wimmen are wired WAAAYYY differently than they really are. You can always spot a porn-baby. He's the one whining "But in the movie, this worked in 30 seconds!" Ha!
logic?
you address a question of logic to one who has maintained that he has not offered all-or-nothing arguments, yet turns around and asks whether a statement containing two refutable absolutes should be considred true?
Doc, Doc, Doc... *shaking head sadly*
So in essence, you're saying you have no problem with religion, unless someone really believes it, then it's a problem. Cute.
I see your point and you and I agree on that. It takes more than one drink to be an alcoholic, but it was the first that started it all.
Well, I just want to see what all the female FReepers will say, depending on his answer to my question...could get ugly.
We may have different views on morals, granted. And we do disagree, granted. So, let's not revert to belittling, just because I view life at a different angle.
if your moral code leads you to live ethically, good.
if your moral code leads you to embrace illogic, that's your business.
if your moral code compels you to try irrational arguments with me, that's your problem.
I will belittle illogic -not morality- when I come across it.
I will belittle one enthralled to illogical arguments when, after repeated illustration and explanation of the fallacies to which he has fallen, he persists in illogic.
Sorry. I had a publik ejukashun.
Does it matter which Holy Book it comes from? They are more similar than you realize. Christianity is not the only religion calling for chastity, purity, self control.
Forgiveness, humility, straightforwardness, purity, truthfulness, self-restraint, austerity, renunciation,
non-attachment and chastity [with one's spouse] are the ten duties [of lay people].
(Jainism. Tatthvarthasutra 9.6)
Not killing, no longer stealing, forsaking the wives of others, refraining completely from false, divisive, harsh
and senseless speech, forsaking covetousness, harmful intent and the views of Nihilists--these are the ten white paths of action, their opposites are black.
(Buddhism. Nagarjuna, Precious Garland 8-9)
As for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolators, and
all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.
(Christianity. Bible, Revelation 21.8)
There is a stream of fire from which emerge poisonous flames. There is none else there except the self.
The waves of the ocean of fire are aflame. And the sinners are burning in them.
(Sikhism. Adi Granth, Maru Solahe, M.1, p. 1026)
Men who have not led a religious life and have not laid up treasure in their youth, perish like old herons in
a lake without fish. Men who have not lived a religious life and have not laid up treasure in their youth lie
like worn-out bows, sighing after the past.
(Buddhism. Dhammapada 155-56)
Then do I proclaim what the Most Beneficent spoke to me,
The Words to be heeded, which are best for mortals:
Those who shall give hearing and reverence
Shall attain unto Perfection and Immortality
By the deeds of good spirit of the Lord of Wisdom!
(Zoroastrianism. Avesta, Yasna 45.5)
Those who live in accordance with the divine laws without complaining, firmly established in faith, are
released from karma. Those who violate these laws, criticizing and complaining, are utterly deluded, and
are the cause of their own suffering.
(Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 3.31-32)
Contentment, forgiveness, self-control, not appropriating anything unrighteously, purification, coercion of the organs, wisdom, knowledge of the Supreme, truthfulness, and abstention from anger: these constitute the tenfold law [for ascetics].
(Hinduism. Laws of Manu 6.92)
The charge to avoid the taking of life.
The charge to avoid taking what is not given.
The charge to avoid unchastity.
The charge to avoid falsehood.
The charge to avoid fermented liquor, distilled liquor, intoxicants giving rise to sloth.
The charge to avoid unseasonable meals.
The charge to avoid dancing, song, playing music, and seeing shows.
The charge to avoid the use of flowers, scents, and unguents, wearing ornaments and decorations.
The charge to avoid the use of raised beds, of wide beds.
The charge to avoid the accepting of gold and silver.
(Buddhism. Khuddaka Patha: The Ten Charges)
I realize that I'm coming in very late to this extended thread. However, I'd like to say very simply that I was never in agreement with the "women's liberation" movement. I thought, from the moment that it began with Betty Friedan, back in the 1960's, that if such arguments ever gained acceptance (which they certainly did), it would do tremendous damage to natural, wholesome relationships (even friendships of a platonic nature) between men and women.
I was right.
This movement grew into a frankenstein. As a perfectly normal woman, mother of 3 sons and 2 daughters, I deeply resent the so-called "women's liberation movement," and I have no respect for its past or current proponents.
I will never forget the sexual harassment suit which was brought against a regular "Joe" about ten or more years ago, on the silly, concocted grounds that he had referred to some mildly sexually explicit episode on the previous night's TV series, to a female co-worker......literally while they were at the office water cooler!
The "offended" female who called this "sexual harassment" was in the same league as the atrocious, infamous Anita Hill, who made up a story about Clarence Thomas about "sexual harassment," with some insignificant quip allegedly made by Judge Thomas about a pubic hair on a Coke can! How absurd that this should have thrown the women's lib movement into paroxysms of rage! It shows how hypocritical and shallow they are!
I don't know what the outcome of that suit was, but it surely illustrated how ridiculous this invented social theme is, for denigrating men in general.
What these leftist liberal females have done is to create a type of psychological Taliban in American society, where girls are being brought up by mothers, to disrepect, degrade and denigrate men, and I am appalled at it.
Char
Not at all. My point is that there are people who are totally obsessed with religion and refuse to even consider that they are not totally 100% correct. Someone throwing verses from the bible at me as support for their argument is childish.
I believe religion is a good foundation and framework, but taken to the extreme it is harmful and dangerous. I.E. Taliban, Koresh, Etc Etc.
I was brought up Catholic, but quickly realized that much of what is taught is simple crap. No one can convince me that Jesus Christ intended a Catholic Church even remotely close to what evolved after his death. Some things that people truly believe in the name of religion are simply idiotic.
Having studied about many religions, I have come to my own conclusions. Bruce Lee said of different martial arts - "Absorb what is useful, ingore what is useless." That is my belief.
THANK YOU FOR A GREAT POST.
Ahhhh. Nostalgia.
be well jack.
And you, old friend.
I am an advoate of self control. But self control does not mean total repression and stupidity like some advocate on this board.
Balance is what is key.
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
You are welcome. It seems to have generated a very lively debate on a most important subject. I very much appreciate your acknowledgment of my efforts.
Sincerely,
Char :)........and I repeat. I have nothing but contempt for the "women's liberation movement!" It is comprised of self-loathing female SOWS!....and that's my "final answer!"
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