Pornography a Growing Problem, National Activist Tells KC Group

Kansas City Star ^ | September 13, 2002 | Erik Petersen

[gdani]

September 13, 2002

Pornography a growing problem, national activist tells KC group

By Erik Petersen
The Kansas City Star

September 13, 2002

Pornography hurts the women it exploits, the men it addicts and the children it traps, a national anti-pornography leader said Thursday in Kansas City.

Jerry Kirk, chairman of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families, came to Kansas City to help announce the launch of Kansas City for the Protection of Children and Families.

The group plans to focus on children and teen-agers with a message that counteracts not only pornography, but also the overly sexual messages they receive through television and other mainstream media.

The group plans to introduce a series of videos and lessons aimed at teen-agers. The series, "Sex and Young America," is based on talks with hundreds of teen-agers and will offer views about sex, popular culture and the choices teens face, said Matt Schoenfeld, executive director of the local group.

In a lunchtime speech to church and civic leaders , Kirk said the pornography problem had worsened since he began fighting it two decades ago in Cincinnati.

"Every person of faith must do something about pornography because it is assaulting everyone you love and everyone God has called you to love," he said.

Kirk sees porn as a monstrous and insidious threat.

"I believe this crisis is far worse than nine-one-one," he said.

Kirk, a Presbyterian minister, cited various studies and research to paint a grim picture.

The average American 10-year-old has seen pornography, he said, largely because the Internet has made porn much more accessible. Most children now see their first porn in schools or libraries, he said.

"The pornographers have now figured out how to seduce our children no matter what their age," he said.

Kirk and local leaders said the problem did not affect only young people. Kirk also spoke of grown men addicted to porn, of jobs lost, of marriages wrecked.

Dan Lehman, a minister who counsels couples at First Family Church in Overland Park, has seen firsthand the disaster porn has made of marriages. He believes the new Kansas City group has the opportunity to approach the problem from a different angle.

"To clean up in a positive way," he said after the luncheon. "Not through anger. Not through hostility."

The session did not deal only with porn. Other media, from MTV to movies and commercials, can give young people the wrong ideas about sex, Kirk said. Popular culture, he said, tells teens that promiscuous sex is good, that having children is a negative byproduct of sex and that a woman's primary function is to sexually satisfy men.

"We're in a cultural war, and frankly, we've lost the culture," he said. "The question is, can we win in the church?"

[gdani]

"I believe this crisis is far worse than nine-one-one," he said.

Jerk.

[AppyPappy]

Hey, it's how he makes a living.

[Junior]

There's trouble,
Right here in Kansas City!
Trouble with a capital "T"
And that rhymes with "P"
And that stands for porn!

[APBaer]

Wer're possibly going to get nuked
and this jerk off has a big problem about [better not]

[WyldKard]

Dan Lehman, a minister who counsels couples at First Family Church in Overland Park, has seen firsthand the disaster porn has made of marriages

Oh yeah, because its SO much easier to blame evil "objects" for people's behavior, instead of holding people accountable for their own personal failings. This guy sounds like a perfect Socialist to me, looking for ways to absolve people from taking personal responsibility in their lives.

Wait a second, did this guy say this problem was bigger than 9/11? Crap, this guy sounds like a freaking a-hole to me, now...

[MEGoody]

You may view him as a jerk. But in some ways, he is right. Porn affects millions of families directly and continues to do so on a daily basis. I would not have made the particular statement this person did, but I do view porn to be a pervasive cancer spreading throughout our society. Many believe it to be harmless, but it's not. Those who are hurt by it don't speak up for fear of being further humiliated.

[Billthedrill]

Every myopic two-bit political activist in the country, right or left, Jerry Falwell to Jeremy Rifkin, believes his own little cause is far more important than 3000 real people dying in a flaming holocaust. There is a difference between keeping one's focus on one topic and putting ideological blinders on. It's called a sense of proportion, and political activists seem born with that part of their brains missing.

[AZLiberty]

Yes, now that we've been so successful with the War on Poverty and the War on Drugs, it's time to fire up the War on Pornography.

Or, just maybe, the Federal Government should focus on its constitutional duties, such as national defense.

[newgeezer]

If porn doesn't cause the marital and family problems -- the real cause being the heart -- porn is, at best, grease on the slippery slope to the bottom.

[KC_Conspirator]

I hardly see Ray's Play Pen and Pricilla's as a bigger threat than 911. A concern, yes. Bigger than 911, no.

[gdani]

It's called a sense of proportion, and political activists seem born with that part of their brains missing.

Well, at least the irresponsible activists - of which there seem to be plenty.

[gdani]

Yes, now that we've been so successful with the War on Poverty and the War on Drugs, it's time to fire up the War on Pornography.

Someone should start a pool on how long it is before someone sues "Big Porn" for ruining their lives. I give it less than 2 years.

[BikerNYC]

Very clever. Where's Robert Preston when you need him.

[general_re]

Where's Robert Preston when you need him.

Dead. Luckily, you've got me - having held a (very) small part in a high-school production of "Music Man", I figure I can step right into the role ;)

[hopespringseternal]

True. But when preaching on adultery, one mentions adultery, not just the heart. When preaching on greed, one mentions materialism, not just the heart. Porn is no different. It is a "stronghold" on the minds and hearts of many Christians.

The big difference is that adultery and greed have victims other than the perpetrator. That doesn't make porn ok, it is just a lot less of a problem than screwing around and stealing things.

Porn is becoming more of a problem because the internet means that anyone can get to it at any time. That is a big change from when you had to purposefully buy a magazine.

BUT, keep in mind that in 1st century Roman society, porn was likely rather ubiquitous as well and it was not even mentioned specifically in the NT. More than likely, people will adjust to it.

We preach against vices so people can know the symptoms of illness, but the illness is not the vice.

[RAT Patrol]

"I believe this crisis is far worse than nine-one-one," he said. Jerk. Poor choice of words maybe, but that doesn't make him a jerk.

[JediGirl]

From Jerry Fallwell (link here)

In 1983, Dr. William Marshall revealed that his study found that 87 percent of molesters of young girls and 77 percent of molesters of young boys admitted to regular use of hard core adult pornography. He found that obscene material was used by these sex offenders for three reasons:

• to stimulate themselves;

• to destroy the consciences and lower the inhibitions and resistance to sexual activity in their intended child victims; and

• as teaching tools for the child to imitate or model in their real-life sexual encounter with the adult.

  ---

1. How many non-sex offenders have used porn?
2. Should sex toys be banned because pedos might use them?
3. How many sex offenders also brush their teeth in the morning and at night?

[onedoug]

Porn should've been banned after the '70s.