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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Of course not.
Hardly. I am fully aware of what is written in the Bible.
Faith is a personal thing. "Gorilla pimping" someone else to accept the beliefs of another is Talibanesque.
Nah, to be perfectly honest, you're looking for excuses. More specifically, you're shifting the blame. You're rationalizing your behavior, and actually blaming it on your wives or girlfriends. You'd be better off if you just admitted you like porn.
I don't dislike porn. I could lie down next to it and go to sleep. I just don't find it particularly arousing, and that really has nothing to do with how much sex I'm getting at home. I don't watch sports either. I think I just lack the spectator mentality, period.
Sorry, wrong again!!!! She actually finds it interesting and it helps add spice to our life. Sometimes we just joke at it.
Of course, that is true by consensus, but two mutually contradictory opinions cannot both be correct and valid (they can also both be wrong). My previous post demonstrates why at least yours is not, at least in part.
However you don't believe in absolutes then.
That is false, and demonstrably so. It is also demonstrably true that you should know that this is false, since you have clearly been informed of that. The last time I checked your creed condemns lying. Who is the alleged prince of lies? ;)
God is the supreme absolute. to not believe in God, you don't have a standard for truth.
That is your opinion. I regard your opinion as absolutely false and invalid.
I can guarrantee you if men gave thier women the attention they crave and deserve then you wouldn't find those excuses i.e. headache, tired, etc.
You really need to learn more about your woman. I see you think you have it figured out.
Justifying the sin with lame excuses is easy, after all, Adam blamed Eve for his sin.
Give it time the thread is still young.
Comments like that must come from a twisted mind. I'm a responsible 26 year old adult and can look at legal adult material all I want. So can my girlfriend, who likes porn also.
Pornography gives way to rape and pedophilia?
OK... You know what, I've seen plenty of porn and have yet to commit rape or sexually assault a child. I have this thing for adult women, consenting adult women.
Sorry to shatter your misconceptions.
Sure there are some that are extremist... I count them as looney, they aren't working for the Lord, but actually driving people away from Him. They spout scripture as if they wrote the Bible. That doesn't matter to me, Satan knows everyword too...
Absolutely not, I am telling you based upon my conversations and discussions with close friends, we came up with the same consensus.
I refer you to Dr. Laura's book about men as evidence, not my anecdotal claims. She hit the nail on the head so dead on with that book based on interviews with 3500 men. Were they all wrong too?
She was crucified over that book! Unfairly, of course.
Uh. OK.
Good job there, Minister Goebbels.
Ah geez, another dimwit in office. Yikes.
Hmm, this is like someone hitting you in the head with a baseball bat and you are telling yourself it's a feather. In reality, you and I are going to die, that is the extreme absolute.
I agree. People really have some wild misconceptions don't they?
“No one gets addicted to The Washington Post. No one gets addicted to James Joyce [author of Ulysses, a book with some erotic scenes].”
I love my porn, but I am far more addicted to FR.
I don't mind watching porn if that is the question. As far as excuse, I am not trying to blame anyone, but trying to describe a dynamic that many many guys I know seem to experience.
Its seems to me that many guys and females do try in the beginning to give the tit for tat as far as attention goes, but somewhere one seems to give more and the other seems to get less.
It could be a human thing I guess, just what is told to me.
Ok, so you aren't effected by porn as some.
Bella Bru just got told to shut up on another thread concerning rape and torture of children.
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