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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That is very true. Don't stand on one leg and play with yourself. You're liable to hurt yourself. ;)
um, ah, huh?
I was a personal trainer for 6 years. I set people up on diets and programs. I told people to eat whatever heck they wanted, just in balance and small portions.
Although people want a perfect diet or a perfect program, reality and common sense dictates that it is usually impossible to maintain perfection, which leads to failure. Long term success depends on doing little things right, over and over. for an extended period of time.
Anyone who claims purity in anything is usually full of garbage, whether it be morally or whatever.
yes: the "womyn's lib MOVEMENT" is nothing but destructive folly.
otoh - true meritocracy is always just.
It has seemed thus to my eye as well.
placemarker
Similar to perfection? Doing something correctly, over and over for an extended period of time.
Doing something correctly does not mean perfectly. The two are not the same. For example:
Someone who drinks two cans of regular soda a day will put on about 20 extra pounds of fat.
Someone who decides to lose weight and substitute the soda with water or sugarless tea or something, over time, will lose a lot of fat. It does not happen overnight, but that little step, nothing draconian or perfect, leads to long term results. However, if I advocated the person run 10 miles a day, eat wheatgrass all day, and starve himself, I would set the person up for a disaster, not weight loss.
ooo-ooo-ooo!
ovation!
remind me not to earn your contempt!
I second that.
Again. Morality, your view of right and wrong is going to dictate your logic.
Hitler thought what he was doing was logical.
Our Arguements aren't irrational, it's just on a different level.
I am indifferent to the basis of your arguments.
If that basis leads you to conclude that 1 + 1 does NOT = 2, your arguments are ILLOGICAL, not "moral"
Show me where my arguements are illogical. You accuse me of being illogical, show me the logic in that statement.
I believe in absolutes. Truth is truth, it applies to all people, to all things in all places. You cannot distort the truth, it will no longer be truth.
Truth is in the standards that God gave us. a logical statement 1+1=2 = True, which equals truth. therefore it is logical, moraly it is right.
Porn is wrong. it is illogical for the Christian to devulge in it and still want to be called a Christian. It is an immoral act
No sir, you may be indifferent to the basis of my statements. But my base is in the believe in God and the Bible. I am not a thumper, nor do I force conversions, but I am strong in my faith and belief.
"I believe in absolutes"
all or nothing.
QED
Right and Wrong...
this is getting nowhere.
what evidence, within human capacity to provide, would suffice to earn your admission to having made a factually erroneous all-or-nothing statement as the basis for one of your varied arguments?
more to the point: "believing in absolutes is not "all or nothing"
incorrect. It is binary morality. Zeros and Ones. or, as you put it: Right and Wrong, Truth or Lies.
That's strict binary. That's the very essence of all or nothing.
Nothing intrinsically wrong with it... unless it is factually erroneous (eg: neglects to notice the very real existence of values between 0 and 1)... which your noises concerning abstainance vs. addiction (ignoring moderation)certainly does.
With out absolutes, we wouldn't die, we would...uh just go zombie like...need more proof? with out absolutes, 1+1 =11 , I mean what proof do you need? If 1+1 didn't equal 2, an absolute, would you take the whole equation or not? " All or Nothing"
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