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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Thank you. For your information - and that of the nut job we are responding to, the first time I ever went into an adult store was at the behest of my significant other, not the other way around. SURPRISE! Because it is mutual, it is not a big thing with either of us. She is confident, BY MY ACTIONS TOWARDS HER, that my devotion is to her in every way.
Why can't some of you get that through your thick heads?
I also like watching UFC and Mixed Martial Arts - oh I guess these holier than thou wack jobs think that should be banned to?
Give me a break.
That robs the attention the wife deserves.
You are right, I don't know him, he doesn't know me, but porn has the same initial effect on all relationships. Sure, he says his wife enjoys him watching. I have seen too many relationships go down the tubes because of it. NO matter how much is watched. and yes, I am a Marriage Counselor
Probably. I'm willing to bet the people who think it's perfectly reasonble to base a discussion on pornography around Jeffrey Dahmer would consider it a cheap shot to bring Jim Jones up in a discussion about religion.
Probably no doubt! I mainly just think that sexual repression is quite harmful of its own accord, and that's why I'm debating here today. Sexual abandon can be quite harmful as well, but that's an altogether separate topic. I sure don't think people should just let it all hang out nor do I ascribe to an 'anything goes' hedonism, but I think that our society has a very unhealthy relationship with sexuality (that applies to most modern societies).
is there a term for someone "addicted to" logical fallacy?
And, above all else, irrational argument really chafes my hide!
yomank!
What can the average Joe do about porn? Whatever he wants, he is a grown up and can make decisions for himself.
Unless he is a little nanny that has to pry into everyone else's lives and be the moral arbiter for all.
sheeesh, another crazy day eh?
Ummmm....I think sex is a wonderful, wonderful thing, yet I would never enage in it in front of my children. There isn't room here to list the acts that I enjoy with my wife that I wouldn't even do within earshot of the children. Just because you wouldn't do something in front of children, doesn't make it wrong or ugly. It just makes it adult and/or private.
it is galling, yes.
For your info - I compete in bobybuilding, am in tip top physical shape. You know nothing about my life, and I am talking to you about what goes on in a normal guys head.
If you think a guy really wants to hear about how his mother is not nice enough to his wife, someone is lying to you terribly.
I guess I am a nut job.. 4 kids married to the same wife for over 20 years...never been arrested or had a speeding ticket. Had my share of porn and booze...
I guess I never learned. I just don't know anything
And some are now raising their voices preemptively to insure that it never does.
As I've previously stated on this thread, believe as you wish but don't expect everyone to fall in lockstep behind you.
they aren't working for the Lord, but actually driving people away from Him.
Bingo!
The same holds true for a narrow group of Bible thumpers in the Republican party.
"Know any Christians who have executed women for walking out the front door without a male escort? "
I don't listen to those that rant and rave or act like they have to fight for God...
I say what is right and I leave it up to the listener to do what ever, "shaking the sand" so to speak. I do not argue about the Bible, I didn't write it, any one who doesn't agree, take it up with the one who dictated it....
One
Who
Knows
Well Said Z.D.
I can't be Satan. However, I was married to her for a short period of time in my early 20's. You'll be able to read it in my memoirs under the chapter: Don't marry the Goth girl.
If you want to exclude others from a conversation in a post, you might want to consider making a private reply, then. See? I just jumped on your response to someone else. If you had sent it privately, then I couldn't have done that.
Well, it seems to me that you're just getting way to personal. Obviously you don't agree. We'll just have to leave it at that.
Whew, thank you! I needed that!
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