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Predators & Pornography. A disturbing link.
NRO ^ | May 19, 2005, 8:15 a.m. | By Penny Nance

Posted on 05/19/2005 11:05:47 AM PDT by .cnI redruM

On February 2, 2003, when seven-year-old Danielle van Dam disappeared from her family home in the middle of the night, every mother’s nightmare was played out on national television for almost a month while authorities searched for the girl. When Danielle’s body was found at the end of that month, the police and prosecutors discovered a frightening story about a neighbor of Danielle’s who had computer files filled with child pornography and even a sickening cartoon video of the rape of a young girl.

According to a report by Robert Peters, president of Morality in Media, on the link between pornography and violent sex crimes, the prosecutor in the Danielle van Dam case said “The video represented [the defendant’s] sexual fantasies and inspired the abduction, rape, and murder of Danielle.” According to Raymond Pierce, a retired NYPD detective who worked on the sex-crimes squad for many years and is now a criminal-profiling consultant, about 80 percent of rapists and serial killers are heavy pornography users. I was a victim of an attempted rape by a disturbed man who turned out to be involved in pornography.

May is Victims of Pornography Month. Today Senator Sam Brownback (R., Kan.), Rep. Katherine Harris (R., Fla.), Rep. Joe Pitts (R., Pa.), and leaders from the values community will participate in a summit to explore the troubling connection between pornography and violence against women and children.

Florida attorney general Charlie Crist advises parents that “we must never lose sight of the fact that sexual predators make the online world a dangerous place for innocent children. Parents must be ever-vigilant to make sure their children are not exposed to images and messages that would have been unthinkable just a generation ago.” Crist warns that we cannot allow the Internet to be a “pipeline for pornography aimed at children.” But while parents can use available means to protect their children when they are in their own homes, there is a cultural climate surrounding our children that threatens them the way Danielle van Dam was threatened. Because of the availability of pornography online, there is no way of knowing what lurks in the hearts of our neighborhoods.

More needs to be done to evaluate the connection between violent predatory behavior and pornography, and to crack down on these violent predators. Police and law-enforcement officers across the country report brutal instances in which those addicted to pornography utilized its sadistic images on their female and child victims.

Just this past February, the New York Times reported a story about a teenage babysitter who had raped three young children he was watching in their homes. According to the Times, his pattern was to watch pornographic videos with the oldest of the children, a 12-year-old boy, and intimidate them all by torturing them with a knife and threats to their family members. Perhaps one of the most notorious serial killers, Ted Bundy, participated in an interview with Dr. James Dobson shortly before he was executed. In the interview, Bundy explained, “I’ve lived in prison for a long time now. And I’ve met a lot of men who were motivated to commit violence like me. And without exception, every one of them was deeply involved in pornography — without exception, without exception — deeply influenced and consumed by an addiction to pornography.”

Since 1956, the Supreme Court has made clear that the First Amendment does not protect obscene materials. If we know from the perpetrators themselves how obscenity contributes to violence against women and children, what can we do?

We need to fund more studies of the addiction to pornography and its effects on violent behavior. Parents can install filters on any computer used by children and keep the family computer in a central location, not in a child's bedroom or someplace where parents might not regularly see it. We need to demand tougher law enforcement on the state and federal level. The Bush administration is stepping up federal enforcement of obscenity laws. This is a good first step. Contact the U.S. attorney for your district and ask what they are doing to enforce the laws. We need tougher state penalties against both possession and distribution of child porn and passing any kind of pornographic material to kids. Experts indicate that pornography is often used by pedophiles to break down the resistance of child victims. Parents should check out their state’s penalties for child rape and make sure offenders are going to jail and staying there for these offenses. Florida, for example, just passed a tough new law after the tragedy involving Jessica Lunsford, whose killer was a recently released violent offender. We should pass legislation to address the threat to children on the Internet. This includes chat sites, websites, spam, and peer-to-peer networks. Peer-to-Peer networks are of particular concern because they are widely visited by kids and offer porn for free without any age verification.

As Rep. Katherine Harris has pointed out, "Pornography displays human beings as objects, obliterating the wall between an individual's sick fantasies and the compulsion to act upon them. Often, the monsters who hurt women and children start with this malignant desensitizer." We need to all work together to find better ways to protect women and children against this violence.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Front Page News; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: amencorner; artorsmut; daniellevandam; mim; needlebutts; porn; violence
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To: Antoninus
BTW, when I was in high-school (an all-boys school) in the 1980s, we had one kid who admitted that he masturbated--he was encouraged by one of our "theology" professors who said he thought masturbation was "beautiful." From that moment on, both the student and the teacher were utterly ostricized. I reckon that still happens among most boys.

You'd be wrong.

561 posted on 05/20/2005 11:05:57 AM PDT by Modernman ("Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde)
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To: Liberal Classic
The sooner the libertarians are banned from FR the better.

Dream on. JimRob has said that he agrees with the majority of libertarian positions.

562 posted on 05/20/2005 11:07:24 AM PDT by Modernman ("Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde)
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To: Antoninus

Yes I'm sure the founding fathers died for the right of perverts to view porn morning, noon and night.


563 posted on 05/20/2005 11:07:53 AM PDT by cyborg (Serving fresh, hot Anti-opus since 18 April 2005)
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To: laredo44
I have an idea, let's legislate that everyone behave just like you then see how many concur that they are truly happy.

Sounds like a good movie plot. If everyone were like me of course the world would be a much better place. No children would be abused. No wives would be murdered, battered, neglected or cheated on. There would be no income tax evasion or other fraud. Everyone who heed traffic laws. Come to think of it the world would be a whole heck of a lot smarter too! And generally better looking as well! And most of all, there would be no lack of humility! So. Does that satisfy your thirst for sarcasm - or should I go on... ;)

564 posted on 05/20/2005 11:07:57 AM PDT by QuiMundus (Learn, Act, Educate, Repeat - http://www.smithism.com)
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To: Modernman

I'm just thinking about all the extra free time I'd have.


565 posted on 05/20/2005 11:09:31 AM PDT by Liberal Classic (No better friend, no worse enemy. Semper Fi.)
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To: cyborg
Yes I'm sure the founding fathers died for the right of perverts to view porn morning, noon and night.

The founding fathers understood that liberty might well lead to free people doing things that the majority don't like. In a free society, you have to take the good with the bad.

566 posted on 05/20/2005 11:12:33 AM PDT by Modernman ("Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde)
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To: Modernman
It is not inconsistent with libertarian ideology to support controlling America's borders.

Not generally. But selectively prohibiting Mohammedan immigration would be contrary to libertarian principles, right?

567 posted on 05/20/2005 11:12:37 AM PDT by Aquinasfan (Isaiah 22:22, Rev 3:7, Mat 16:19)
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To: Publius Valerius
Assuming for a moment that it is a sin,

No assumption necessary. It is a sin. In fact, I think St. Paul uses the Greek word "pornea" (immorality or lasciviousness) when describing the list of vices that will keep you out of heaven.

God gave us all free will, and whether or not to view pornography--and sin--is a moral choice for all of us to make; as such, Jesus tells us that we should not judge others for the moral choices that they make.

You make the mistake of conflating the discouragement of people from bad behavior with "judgment." That's not surprising as it's the exact line the Jesuits tried to peddle on me. I didn't buy it. You, apparently did buy it. If I were you, I'd return it--it's defective.

If nothing else, the Gospels make that clear. Assuming, however, that viewing pornography is not a sin--because it just simply isn't sinful or Christianity is wrong--

Only the most radical, mutations of Christianty have taught that lascivious behavior isn't sinful. Back to the drawing board, friend.

As for St. Paul, he is not Jesus.

Well, if you are still a Catholic--no mean feat if you went through Jesuit indoctrination/education--you know that canonically, St. Paul's writing is considered inspired by the Holy Spirit and on par with that of the Gospel writers.
568 posted on 05/20/2005 11:14:08 AM PDT by Antoninus (Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini, Hosanna in excelsis!)
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To: Aquinasfan
But selectively prohibiting Mohammedan immigration would be contrary to libertarian principles, right?

Not really. One of the legitimate roles of government is to protect the citizenry from outside threats. A good case can be made that the citizenry would be safer if Muslims were not allowed to immigrate to this country and if non-citizen Muslims already here were deported.

569 posted on 05/20/2005 11:14:52 AM PDT by Modernman ("Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde)
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To: Modernman
I wrote: In your opinion, then, from the time the Constitution was written until the Cultural Revolution 1960s, we lived with laws that were patently unconstitutional.

You wrote: Pretty much. There were many instances where the actions of American government did not live up to the Constitution.

There you have it, folks. A product of our post-1960s educational system.

Current Communist Goals, ca. 1964

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
570 posted on 05/20/2005 11:18:32 AM PDT by Antoninus (Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini, Hosanna in excelsis!)
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To: Modernman
No, freedom is the ability to do whatever you want so long as you do not harm the person or property of another without their consent.

According to the great prophet John Stuart Mill. I don't subscribe to that particular religion.
571 posted on 05/20/2005 11:19:15 AM PDT by Antoninus (Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini, Hosanna in excelsis!)
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To: Liberal Classic
The sooner the libertarians are banned from FR the better.

I don't have much use for them myself. But since they constitute a growing segment of society, we're going to have to make common cause with them when we can, while trying to convert them. Hopefully they'll see the error of their ways. The error at the heart of libertarianism is the belief that people have a God-given right to do evil. This supposed right is usually phrased as "people have a right to do what they please, as long as they don't hurt anyone else." The slogan is diabolically clever.

572 posted on 05/20/2005 11:20:01 AM PDT by Aquinasfan (Isaiah 22:22, Rev 3:7, Mat 16:19)
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To: Antoninus
Pretty much. There were many instances where the actions of American government did not live up to the Constitution.

There you have it, folks. A product of our post-1960s educational system.

So, in your opinion, the American government has always acted in a manner consistent with the Constitution and its ideals? Okay. I'll remember that the next time some branch of government bans school prayer or something similar.

573 posted on 05/20/2005 11:20:54 AM PDT by Modernman ("Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde)
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To: JeffAtlanta
If a state government passes a law that legalizes slavery, do you think that it should go unchallenged?

You don't know the difference between the Amendment process (legitimate) and rule by judicial fiat (tyrannical), do you?
574 posted on 05/20/2005 11:23:13 AM PDT by Antoninus (Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini, Hosanna in excelsis!)
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To: JeffAtlanta
No, it is part of being a free people.

So basically, we weren't "free" until the courts granted us the right to own, view, and distribute porn. Is that it? I guess those who are still restricted by age-of-consent laws will never be "free" under the tyrannical system you endorse... /sarcasm
575 posted on 05/20/2005 11:25:05 AM PDT by Antoninus (Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini, Hosanna in excelsis!)
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To: Antoninus
You don't know the difference between the Amendment process (legitimate) and rule by judicial fiat (tyrannical), do you?

No offense, but you throw out some sort of twisted point and when someone shows you that your logic is flawed, you go off on some weird tangent.

If a state passed a law legalizing slavery, the courts would rule it unconstitutional and that would be the end of that. There is already an amendment prohibiting slavery so another one wouldn't help.

576 posted on 05/20/2005 11:26:51 AM PDT by JeffAtlanta
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To: Modernman
The founding fathers understood that liberty might well lead to free people doing things that the majority don't like. In a free society, you have to take the good with the bad.

Right. That's why Thomas Jefferson signed a Virginia bill assigning castration as the punishment for sodomy. Good libertarian deist that he was.
577 posted on 05/20/2005 11:27:14 AM PDT by Antoninus (Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini, Hosanna in excelsis!)
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To: Antoninus

First of all, I've made clear that I'm not a Catholic.

Second, if you buy the notion that Jesus forgives you of your sins, there aren't any sins that will keep you from heaven--ask for forgiveness, and you've got it. Whether you're a porn watcher, child molester, or serial axe murderer.

I don't make any mistake of confusion--you are making a moral judgment of others when you say that what they are doing is WRONG. Wrong is a moral judgment. Viewing pornography, in and of itself, is not evil. It is not "malum in se." It does not harm others. The very act of looking at pornography, in and of itself, does not harm society; thus, any opposition to it is on moral grounds--that is the type of judgment that Jesus tells us that we should not engage in.

The Gospel is crystal clear: why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye but do not consider the plank in your own? Jesus brought a NEW message when he came, and he was careful to warn about people who were so caught up in religious traditions that they missed the forest for the trees. They will not get passage to heaven.

Remember Matthew 9:11-12: The Pharisees said to the disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with the tax collectors and the sinners?" When Jesus heard that, he said to them, "those who are well have no need of a physician, but the sick do."


578 posted on 05/20/2005 11:29:02 AM PDT by Publius Valerius
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To: Antoninus
That's why Thomas Jefferson signed a Virginia bill assigning castration as the punishment for sodomy. Good libertarian deist that he was.

He also owned slaves. The founding fathers weren't gods.

579 posted on 05/20/2005 11:29:50 AM PDT by JeffAtlanta
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To: Aquinasfan
is the belief that people have a God-given right to do evil.

You do. It's called free will. God gave it to us.

Whether society has an interest in punishing certain actions is a different story.

580 posted on 05/20/2005 11:30:40 AM PDT by Publius Valerius
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