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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Then you are apparently too close to pornography to have an objective opinion.
Pretty strong words from a newbie. You should bear in mind that not everyone who votes Republican is a member of the Christian Taliban.
Hypocrites? How so?
If only they had sons in the gay porn field.....we might see an attitude change.
If I had sons who were alcoholics, I wouldn't demand that alcohol be banned. Same with porn.
maybe if they had young teenage sons stripping for the local gay bar....
That, of course, would be illegal. Once they become adults, though, I wouldn't rely on the law to protect them from themselves.
Who is Jebus? And BTW, you couldn't kill Him if he hadn't allowed it.
BWAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAH! What a dumbass you are. The 'Prayer For the State" was created by OWK and is not a parody the Lord's Prayer anyway. Damn you are dumb.
Anyone who forces others to have sex against their will is comitting a crime. What's your point?
Call me a G-d hater again, slanderous worm.
Christian Taliban?
Know any Christians who have executed women for walking out the front door without a male escort?
I didn't think so.
How do you know? Maybe some of your beliefs are wrong before God. Child porn is disgusting, vile, and illegal. You can't impose your personal sense of morality on people where the act you are complaining of does not violate other peoples' rights, regardless of your personal belief.
If you don't like it, don't watch it. At the same time, just because you don't like it, don't stop me from watching it. Some of you guys here are so hypocritical. You want Uncle Sam to say nothing about gun control, etc etc, but as soon as porn comes up you scream for the Gov't to regulate our lives.
Not porn apologists. It's more like not wanting someone else to dictate what we can or cannot read or view.
Life in the fantasy world is free of the risk of rejection that has to be faced in the real world. In fanatasy world you're always the king, every whim is fulfilled ...
In the real world it's having a decent relationship with your wife/gf/S.O is hard, and sometimes painful, work.
Having spent years in fantasy world before doing the hard, painful work intimate relationship requires, I'll take the later.
In my porn fueled fantasy world there was never any risk of rejection. The real world, however, was the only place where the acceptance I was really after, warts and all, and coming from another human being, was possible.
I'm never going back.
What do these people have against Orgasms?
The Other World Kingdom..................???????
water is found in every carcinoma and sarcoma, thus: water causes cancer.
that's what their arguments generally boil down to.
by all means: let the government crack down on slave-trading, pimping, child-pornography, etc (all, btw, already illegal)... leave the entirely adult and entirely consensual stuff alone.
Please excuse me. You stole Psalms 23 and used a prayer and praise to God to support your haterd of anyone DARING to tell you that you are wrong.
Rep. Harris, I challenge you to prove that you are not a deep-cover al-Qaeda agent -- hell, I challenge you to prove that you are not a deep-cover spy for an invading force of space aliens.
How do imbeciles like this get into positions of responsibility?
I for one do not like Porn, have I seen it, yep and who hasn't at one time. For some, porn starts in the bra ads in the newspaper, for others it starts in the Victoria Secret Catalog or Frederick's of Hollywood.
It is progressive, and it does lead to deviant behavior. It is also a mockery to God's creation, if you are a Jew, as you stated you were in an earlier post, then this topic is off limits for you as well. God said to not participate in it because of the problems it creates in the future.
Fantasy... Jesus said on the Mount, if you think of a woman with lustful thoughts, you have commited adultery already. YOu think it, you fantasize about it, then you will eventually do it.
Sorry. I got confused.
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