Harvard Dorm Mother Advocates “Fair Trade Porn”
by Cathy Ruse
February 7, 2012
by Cathy Ruse
February 7, 2012
by Peter Sprigg
February 1, 2012
Legislation to change the definition of marriage – abolishing the “one man, one woman” definition codified only 14 years ago – is now working its way through the Washington State Legislature.
There is little doubt that the legislature has the power to engage in such social engineering if it chooses to do so. Such official affirmation of homosexual conduct would be a way for politicians to appease the two to three percent of the population who self-identify as “gay” or “lesbian” and placate others who do not grasp the implications of this massive social change.
But same-sex “marriage” is not being sold as a political payoff, or even (primarily) as a social service providing a package of legal and financial benefits to this population. Instead, advocates of redefining marriage argue that a belief in “civil rights” and “equality” actually compel such a radical redefinition of our most fundamental social institution.
Yet it was only six years ago that the state’s Supreme Court, in the case of Andersen v. King County, rejected such arguments in upholding the 1998 Defense of Marriage Act.
Tags: Judge Barbara Madsen, Same-sex marriage, Washingtonby Krystle Weeks
January 26, 2012
Caitlin Flanagan recently released a new book, Girl Land, which takes a look at the world of today’s adolescent girls and the issues they are facing. Of course, Flanagan has again enraged feminists everywhere with her perspective.
In Girl Land, Flanagan looks at how culture has changed over time and how it has become focused on viewing girls as sexual objects and denying them the privacy, daydreams, and crushes that normal girlhood provides. In other words, they are losing their sense of self.
However, Girl Land is also drawing some criticism from those who might agree with Flanagan’s point of view. In a recent RealClearBooks op-ed by Heather Wilhelm, Girl Land received some criticism as painting things too broadly. Wilhelm brings up a great point that this book fosters ambiguity toward men, as well as making excuses for the “boys will be boys” mentality.
On one hand, Flanagan seems to buy into the “all men are predators” narrative, speaking of the pervy uncle and the drunk father hitting on the babysitter as if they are prototypes, not anomalies. Perhaps this stems from an assault Flanagan endured when she was younger, which she details in the book. But it’s an odd quirk, particularly in a girl culture better represented by the aggressive, love-struck babysitter in “Crazy, Stupid, Love” (in the movie, she harasses her charge’s clueless father, leading to mortifying results) than anything else.
But then, on the other hand, Girl Land exhibits a strange sense of “boys will be boys” that excuses even the crassest behavior. “If I were to learn that my children had engaged in oral sex — outside a romantic relationship, and as young adolescents — I would be sad,” Flanagan writes. “But I wouldn’t think that they had been damaged by the experience; I wouldn’t think I had failed catastrophically as a mother, or that they would need therapy. Because I don’t have daughters, I have sons.”
Wilhelm also argues that girls are facing a society that promotes promiscuity over abstinence. Girl Land did not mention anything about respect for this critical moral choice.
Kids need to know how their behaviors will impact them in the long run, and the implications of not making the right choices behaviorally. Shouldn’t Girl Land be focused on holding both sons and daughters to high moral standards? Our society needs these standards now more than ever.
Tags: Caitlin Flanagan, Culture, Girl Land, Heather Wilhelmby Krystle Weeks
January 16, 2012
While I was in the line at the grocery store recently, I happened to glance over at the magazine rack when I noticed the recent copy of Cosmopolitan Magazine. The model on the cover looked young, and in fact, she did not look old enough to be on the cover. It was Dakota Fanning, who is only 17 years of age, and the headings around the cover provided the usual standard of sex advice.
I was disgusted by this display. I turned around only to see a little girl pick up a copy of the magazine only to run back to her mother and say how pretty the model was. The mother of the girl also looked disgusted by the magazine and told the little girl to put back the magazine.
Fox News has focused on this recently, and they were shocked by this recent image as well. In fact, Rachelle Friberg, a media expert who was interviewed by Fox, said:
Cosmopolitan is going overboard by putting an underage girl on its cover surrounded by such article titles. It is one thing to educate young women about sex and their bodies, but putting a young, underage girl on the cover of a magazine that had long been known to push the limits is sending the wrong message.
Cosmopolitan, of course, defended its decision to have Fanning as the magazine’s cover model. Of course, their decision generated controversy, and there is no doubt that teenagers, who are fans of Fanning are lining up to buy the issue and being exposed to Cosmopolitan’s agenda of promoting immodest behaviors and promiscuity.
Today, I was glad to read that a former model is calling out Cosmopolitan for its practices and is calling for the magazine to be marketed as an adult-only publication, which would require the magazine to be sold in packaging that would not show the cover. Nicole Weider is leading this effort and has a petition urging the FTC to help protect our youth from vulgarity. The petition has almost 21,000 signatures, and there is no doubt that will garner more signatures from those who agree the magazine has gone too far.
Tags: Abstinence, Cosmopolitan, Dakota Fanning, Decency, Modesty, Petitionby Peter Sprigg
January 13, 2012
This week brought yet another of those “you’ve gotta be kidding” stories.
The Associated Press reports that the Greek government has expanded its list of officially recognized “disabilities” to include pedophiles (as well as exhibitionists, kleptomaniacs, and pyromaniacs).
This mean pedophiles in Greece may now qualify for government-funded disability pay—not despite, but because of, their pedophilia.
I assume that the “disability” classification stems from identifying pedophilia as a mental illness. Yet not every “illness” is a “disability.” Wikipedia offers several definitions of “disability,” but a central concept is the existence of a “restriction in the ability to perform a normal activity of daily living.” Pedophiles do not have a “restriction in the ability to perform a normal activity.” They have an inclination to perform an abnormal activity. This is not a disability.
Taking pedophilia out of the realm of moral judgment and into the realm of mental health is one step toward normalizing it. Some advocates, like those at a conference in Baltimore last summer, would like to go the rest of the way and remove pedophilia from the list of mental disorders altogether. Now Greece is on the verge of actively subsidizing it.
Taken to an extreme, the Greek action runs the risk of creating a truly perverse incentive—for otherwise healthy individuals to become (or pretend to be) pedophiles merely in order to obtain government support payments.
Fortunately, Greek disability advocates have condemned the move as “incomprehensible.” Yannis Vardakastanis, who is blind, said, “It’s really not not serious to grant Peeping Toms a 20-30 pecent disability rate and 10 percent to diabetics.”
Given the fiscal crisis that has confronted Greece in recent years, it boggles the mind that they would even consider giving payments to pedophiles.
Tags: Disability, Greece, Pedophiliaby Peter Sprigg
January 4, 2012
Book review: A Queer Thing Happened to America: And What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been, by Michael L. Brown
Note: Dr. Brown will be giving a policy lecture about his book at the Family Research Council in Washington, DC on Thursday, January 5, 2012. For more information and to register, click here.
Reviewed by Caleb H. Price
In the span of a few short years, American culture has undergone a breath-taking shift in attitudes about homosexuality and transgenderism. Behaviors that were recently viewed by most to be unseemly, if not immoral, are now embraced. What was good is now evil. What was evil is now good.
And while homosexual and transgender activists insist that there is no agenda in play, a closer look shows that this 180-degree turn was no accident.
In his latest book, A Queer Thing Happened to America, Dr. Michael L. Brown documents this cultural sea-change. Here, he takes the reader on an eye-popping account of the strange and bewildering trajectory that gay activists have charted for America.
And he persuasively argues that the trip we’re on will result in the catastrophic deconstruction of the most basic building blocks of human society – biological sex, marriage and family.
The topics covered in this comprehensive work are timely and helpful for understanding the GLBT political agenda. Brown fearlessly engages political correctness on these issues and winsomely encourages concerned citizens to step up the plate and take action before it’s too late.
Specifically, Brown details how our schools and universities have been strategically targeted by GLBT activists to bring about their revolution in the span of two short generations. Terms like “tolerance” and “diversity” now almost exclusively refer to sexual orientation and gender identity. And intellectually honest debate on these issues has been completely stifled in the academic and mental health professions.
In this context, Brown offers a strong rebuttal to the “born gay’ myth and the largely unquestioned view among cultural elites that “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” are equivalent to race. And he points out the undeniable and disturbing parallels of this equation to issues like polyamory and pedophilia.
Tags: Book Review, Homosexuality, Michael Brown, Transgenderismby Jessica Prol
December 1, 2011
It’s World Aids Day—a time to unite in the fight against HIV and commemorate those who have died of the disease.
Political parties will vehemently disagree on the precise tactics and funding levels required to address this horrific disease. But in a refreshingly bipartisan event this morning, President Barack Obama made the following comment:
As we go forward, we need to keep refining our strategy so that we’re saving as many lives as possible. We need to listen when the scientific community focuses on prevention.
My good friend Suzanne Taylor just released a film that tells the moving story of the treacherous AIDS epidemic in the African country of Botswana. The Road We Know documents what a small group of college students are doing to encourage prevention.
In Botswana, 1 in 4 people adults has HIV/AIDS. But while the government has done everything the Western world has encouraged—like handing out condoms and offering free testing—the formula has clearly failed.
Desperate for a solution, the government invited a small group of college students to help save their generation with a message of hope and behavior change.
In the film’s trailer, the student leaders share an upbeat message across the country–a message that sex is good and that abstinence isn’t only possible, it’s life-saving. As President George W. Bush remarked in his 2004 State of the Union Address, “Abstinence … is the only certain way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases.”
In a 2010 report, UNAIDS could point to a 25 percent drop or more in new infections for young adults ages 15 to 24 in 15 of the most infected nations–primarily due to sexual behavior change. This confirmed that story documented in Botswana was not an isolated trend.
Now that’s a message of hope and change. The kind we should all believe in.
To watch the film or host a screening, visit www.theroadweknow.com.
To connect with Evangelical or Catholic AIDS ministries, check out FRC’s Real Compassion website at www.realcompassion.org.
Tags: Abstinence, AIDS, Botswana, HIV, President Bush, President Obama, The Road We Know, World Aids Dayby Peter Sprigg
December 1, 2011
Ever since the highly-publicized suicide of a New Jersey college student in September of 2010, pro-homosexual activists have been using the issues of bullying and teen suicide as tools in pursuit of their political agenda, and as rhetorical weapons against those who oppose it. Every time another report surfaced about a suicide by a teenager who identified as or was perceived to be “gay,” and who had reportedly been bullied, the finger would be pointed directly at conservatives. Bullying causes suicides, we were told, and public expression of conservative political, social, or religious viewpoints concerning homosexuality causes bullying. Affirm homosexual conduct as morally neutral, or more kids will die.
As early as October of 2010, however, experts on suicide prevention were warning that this simplistic approach linking suicides (which are always tragic) to bullying (which is always wrong) could do more harm than good. An article based on an interview with Ann Haas, research director for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, asked, “[W]hat if the way we’re talking about these suicides could actually be encouraging vulnerable young people to copycat the tragic behavior?”
Tags: bullying, Homosexualityby Rob Schwarzwalder
November 17, 2011
According to today’s Wall Street Journal, a homosexual activist named John Becker owes Marcus Bachmann’s counseling practice $150 for failing to cancel two counseling appointments. Becker disputes this, asserting that he canceled the appointments on time and therefore owes nothing. As a result, Bachmann has told the gay rights organization “Truth Wins Out,” under whose auspices Becker secretly filmed an interview session with a Bachmann counselor in an effort to get anti-homosexual comments on tape (Becker failed; the counselor was tasteful and helpful throughout) that he will turn the bill over to a collection agency unless it is paid forthwith.
Bachmann, whose wife is running for the presidency and is therefore a target of activists who oppose his views on traditional marriage, argues that “it’s not the amount of money. For us, it’s the principle.” Imagine that: a business owner standing up for his staff and himself, using legal means to do so, and insisting that since Becker “signed a contract that stated he would pay for no-shows,” that Becker be held to account.
All I know of the case is what the Journal reports. If Becker is telling the truth – that he canceled his meetings in an appropriate time-frame – let him prove it. If he’s not, let him pay what he owes.
This is not a “petty and vindictive campaign of harassment and threats” against “Truth Wins Out,” as the group’s director, Wayne Besen, asserts. It’s about responsibility, keeping one’s word, and paying what is owed. “A promise made,” wrote the poet Robert Service, “is a debt unpaid.” Enough said.
Tags: Homosexuality, John Becker, Marcus Bachmann, Truth Wins Out, Wall Street Journal, Wayne Besenby Rob Schwarzwalder
October 31, 2011
I went to theological seminary in Portland, Oregon. That might sound rather ensconced and safe, but I worked at a large commercial bakery in a run-down industrial section of the city. This exposed me to some things I would rather have not seen, as when, driving along a side-street one evening, I found myself running a narrow gauntlet of hectoring prostitutes; I drove away as fast as I could.
Portland has a justified reputation for urban renewal and natural beauty. Bisected by the Willamette River and set among lush, fir-laden hills, Portland’s charm is hard to forget.
Yet now, as Katelyn Beaty documents in her moving article about the sex trafficking trade in the City of Roses (that would be Portland; I proposed to my wife in the city’s massive rose-test garden, albeit in the winter when none were in bloom), Portland has become perhaps the single most dominant city in one of the ugliest “industries” ever devised – the trafficking of persons for sexual purposes. Veteran journalist Dan Rather has called Portland “Pornland,” and according to Joslyn Baker of the Multnomah County (Portland area) unit that specializes in child prostitution, “most Portlanders accepted the ubiquitous strip clubs as part of their premium on individual freedom—until February 2009, when the FBI swept the Portland-Vancouver area and found seven underage girls, the most in any FBI raid at the time. With the ensuing national media coverage, Portlanders began realizing that their lucrative sex industry is the main ‘gateway’ for pimping children.”
Christians are fighting back, with love and tenacity. They have now started the Oregon Center for Christian Voices (OCCV), which over the past four years “has … become Oregon’s flagship nonprofit for passing laws that make it harder to sexually exploit children. In the same four years, two Christians in Portland’s leading assault advocacy group and police department have created a unique model for assisting underage victims. Their model earned their county a $500,000 federal grant that created a special committee on CSEC (‘commercial sexual exploitation of children’).” Additionally, Oregon State Legislator Andy Olson (R-Albany) “has worked with OCCV to try to amend Oregon’s Constitution (whose free speech provisions open the door for prostitution and illicit sexuality among youth). A Christian, he calls trafficking a ‘family values issue.’”
Rep. Olson is dead right, and the noble efforts of committed Christians to change Portland’s culture of prostitution and sex trafficking are animated by the same spirit of sacrifice and compassion that led the early believers to rescue unwanted babies from the Roman ash-heaps. As Shoshan Tama-Sweet, executive director of the Oregon Center for Christian Voices, told journalist Beaty: “The church has something special: We have the Good News. We have a vision of the way the world is supposed to be. And it doesn’t include the rape of children on our streets. When you realize that God loved every victim when they were born, that he’s with them every day they’re traumatized—it’s incumbent on believers to protect them, to help them become whole, and to insist that, in our society, we are not going to tolerate the antithesis of God’s beloved community.”
I believe Mr. Tama-Sweet is among those Jesus is unashamed to call brothers (Hebrews 2:11). May God bless him and his colleagues in their efforts.
Earlier this year, FRC held two events focusing on human trafficking and what Christians can do to fight it. You can view them here and here.
Tags: Human Trafficking, Oregon, Oregon Center for Christian Voices, Portlandby Peter Sprigg
October 21, 2011
Two acts of vandalism were committed in recent days against facilities associated with the debates over homosexuality—one on each side of the issue.
In Arlington Heights, Illinois, bricks were thrown through the glass doors and windows of the Christian Liberty Academy. That night, the Christian school was to host a banquet put on by Americans for Truth about Homosexuality (AFTAH), a pro-family organization led by Peter LaBarbera. The banquet was to feature presentation of an award to Scott Lively, another pro-family activist who heads Abiding Truth Ministries.
In the other incident, an office door and two display cases of the GLBT Center at North Carolina State University in Raleigh were defaced with spray paint, including an anti-gay epithet.
Both acts of vandalism were contemptible, and Family Research Council (FRC) condemns them both equally. The debates over homosexuality, however emotional they may become, should be carried on peacefully by those on both sides. Physical attacks on people or property are never justified. (Will liberal groups join us in equally denouncing both acts? The Southern Poverty Law Center, which is quick to accuse conservatives of “hate,” chose to blame the victims, criticizing the attackers in Illinois primarily for “[a]dding fuel to a fire started and stoked by anti-gay activists.”)
So are there any differences between these two incidents? Yes. There is not the slightest evidence that the spray paint attack at NC State had any connection with any religious or political organization or public policy issue, or that it was perpetrated by anyone other than a lone thug.
Tags: Christian Liberty Academy, Christianity, Hate Crimes, Homosexuality, Scott Lively, Violenceby Jeanne Monahan
October 4, 2011
The New York Times ran a stunning story yesterday “Contraceptive Use May Double Risk of H.I.V.“, about a new study published today in the Lancet showing that hormonal contraceptive use is strongly correlated with an increased vulnerability to contracting HIV/AIDS.
The study was conducted in seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the region most impacted by HIV/AIDS in the world. Three thousand, seven hundred and ninety serodiscordant couples (one partner is HIV positive and one is not) participated in the longitudinal study running for six years, from 2004-2010. The bottom line? Women who used hormonal contraception had a “two-times increased risk of acquiring HIV.” Additionally, women who were using hormonal contraceptives were significantly more likely to transmit HIV to their partners.
The NYT reports that the World Health Organization is convening a meeting in January to review the latest research about the relationship between hormonal contraceptives and HIV/AIDS vulnerability and review if/how current recommendations require revisions.
For more information click here.
Tags: AIDS, Contraceptives, HIV, New York Timesby Ashley Skidmore
September 28, 2011
A recent Relevant magazine piece entitled “(Almost) Everyone’s Doing it” reveals that young adults ages 18-29 are having pre-marital sex more often than not. According to a 2009 survey by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 88% of all young adults have had sex before marriage. What should be shocking is that 80% of all self-identified Evangelical young adults have done the same.
Don’t Christians understand the Bible on this issue? According to a Gallup poll quoted by Relevant, 76% of Evangelicals have a clear Biblical understanding on this issue. Or, to reverse the data, 24% of Evangelicals are alright with premarital sex.
Is the data really shocking though? In a world where nothing is sacred, and where what used to be considered sacred is now fodder for ridicule via every form of entertainment and media, why should the sanctity of marriage be considered any different? Young adults have grown up in an “MTV” world, where sexuality is glorified in television shows like “Skins” and where one cannot buy groceries without being confronted by magazine covers taunting chastity.
One professor quoted by Relevant says that a major sociological difference that contributes to (but does not excuse) the growing statistic of pre-marital sex is the average age of marriage. He compares Biblical arranged marriages of early adolescents to the current average ages of 28.1 for men and 26.1 for women. I posit that this temptation is not a modern one: Paul addresses it in 1 Cor. 7:8-9. Instead, it can be argued that adults ages 18-29 have grown up in an “instant gratification” society, where patience is no longer a virtue. This is even understood and glorified by secular society, as exemplified by the Black Eyed Peas song “Now Generation” with lyrics like “I just can’t wait, I need it immediately.”
Merge the two contributing factors of an over-sexualized society, along with a generation craving instant gratification, and it is no surprise that young adults are engaging in pre-marital sex more than ever. What we need is an Evangelical culture that not only volitionally is against pre-marital sex, but practices what is preached. The church needs to restore that which is sacred, encourage young adults to stay pure, and exemplify purity to the secular world. Eighty percent of young Evangelicals is eighty percent too much.
Tags: Abstinence, Religion, sexby Peter Sprigg
September 19, 2011
This is Part 2 of a 2-part blog post based on the transcript of the Proposition 8 trial–the legal challenge to the state constitutional amendment, adopted by California voters in 2008, which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Today (Monday, September 19), Broadway will be the scene of a star-studded “staged reading” of a new play–one based on the transcript of the trial in the case of Perry v. Schwarzenegger (now known as Perry v. Brown). The unprecedented trial, presided over by the (then closeted, now “out”) homosexual judge Vaughn Walker, resulted in Walker’s opinion in August 2010 declaring that the male-female definition of marriage violates the U. S. Constitution. The ruling is currently on appeal in the Ninth Circuit.
Yet the testimony of one of the actual plaintiffs in the case, Sandra Stier, undermines the argument by same-sex “marriage” advocates that “gay people are denied the fundamental right to marry just because of ‘who they are.’” It also directly contradicts Judge Walker’s “finding of fact” number 51: “Marrying a person of the opposite sex is an unrealistic option for gay and lesbian individuals.” In fact, Stier’s testimony undermines two of the most fundamental premises of the entire homosexual movement–the claims that people are “born gay,” and that a person’s sexual orientation can never change.
Tags: California, Homosexuality, Perry v. Schwarzenegger, Same-sex marriageby Peter Sprigg
September 16, 2011
On Monday, September 19, Broadway will be the scene of a star-studded “staged reading” of a new play—one based on the transcript of the trial in the case of Perry v. Schwarzenegger (now known as Perry v. Brown).
The Perry case is the federal constitutional challenge to Proposition 8, the state constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman which was adopted by California voters in 2008. The unprecedented trial, presided over by the (then closeted, now “out”) homosexual judge Vaughn Walker, resulted in Walker’s stunningly biased opinion in August 2010 declaring that the male-female definition of marriage violates the U. S. Constitution. The ruling is currently on appeal in the Ninth Circuit—but if upheld by the U. S. Supreme Court, it would force the legalization of same-sex “marriage” on all fifty states (overturning the constitutions of thirty).
The play, titled simply “8,” was written by homosexual writer Dustin Lance Black, who won an Oscar for his screenplay for the biopic “Milk,” about the murdered homosexual San Francisco politician Harvey Milk. Actors Morgan Freeman and John Lithgow will portray attorneys David Boies and Ted Olson, the prominent Democratic and Republican attorneys (respectively) who teamed up to argue the case against Proposition 8. The one-night reading is a fundraiser for the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the organization formed to finance the lawsuit.
Tags: Perry v. Schwarzenegger, Proposition 8, Same-sex marriageby Jeanne Monahan
August 18, 2011
A study released earlier this week by sociologists at the University of Buffalo shows an area where men and women are NOT equal: oversexualization in the media. “Opportunity Objectification? The Sexualization of Men and Women on the Cover of Rolling Stone” reveals that women have become increasingly overly-sexualized by the media over the last few decades whereas men are not increasingly viewed in this demeaning and harmful way.
This is a “lose-lose” in that not only does the oversexualization of women have negative ramifications for a healthy understanding and anthropology of the dignity of women, and ultimately lead to exploitation of women and girls with such as things as child pornography and sex trafficking, but it is getting worse and worse as time goes on.
For more information you can read the study here.
by Peter Sprigg
August 12, 2011
Last month’s Senate hearing on a bill to repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) featured a clash between Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) and one of the witnesses defending DOMA, Tom Minnery of Focus on the Family.
Minnery’s testimony referred to the social science evidence showing children do best when raised by their own mother and father. He referred to one such study in his prepared testimony this way:
“In fact, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services explains in its new and exhaustive report, Family Structure and Children’s Health in the United States: Findings from the National Health Interview Survey, 2001-2007, that children living with their own married biological or adoptive mothers and fathers were generally healthier and happier, had better access to health care, less likely to suffer mild or severe emotional problems, did better in school, were protected from physical, emotional and sexual abuse and almost never live in poverty, compared with children in any other family form.”
Franken, however, triumphantly noted that in fact, these superior outcomes were associated with “nuclear” families, defined as “one or more children living with two parents who are married to one another and are each biological or adoptive parents to all children in the family.” Since the definition made no mention of the gender of the “married” parents, he concluded that “nuclear” families could be headed by “married” homosexual couples, too.
Tags: Defense of Marriage Act, Families, Homosexualityby Cathy Ruse
August 11, 2011
Have you ever wondered what it was like to be a federal prosecutor taking on the ugly, arrogant criminals in the porn industry, and winning?
Wonder no more, and read this interesting PBS interview of Bruce Taylor from 2001.
Bruce is the most experienced porn prosecutor in our history and, in my opinion, a national treasure.
by Cathy Ruse
August 11, 2011
This week CBS online reported that Playboy is getting out of the pornography business. According to Jim Edwards of Bnet, the whole commercial porn industry is tanking. He cites Playboy’s losses of $15 million last year on revenue of just $55 million (down 9 percent from the previous year), as well as the declining revenues of other companies and cable pay-per-view porn.
Wouldn’t you just like to gloat? I sure would. That reaction might be misplaced.
As for Playboy, while it will no longer actually make pornography, CEO Scott Flanders says the company is moving into “brand management,” licensing its name and logos. So it could survive and thrive yet.
And the assumption from every quarter is that the hits to this vile industry are due not to some beneficent cause but to the glut of free porn on the Internet and elsewhere. It could be even worse than that. My friend Donna Rice Hughes, who heads Enough is Enough, believes it’s not quantity but content: the big industry leaders can’t compete with the type of deviant hard-core material that is now available on the Internet.
I hope she’s wrong. Whether it’s big porn syndicates tied in with organized crime or “mom and pop” amateurs dumping more and more deviant material on the Internet, the heart of the issue is still the same. As Bruce Taylor, the nation’s most experienced porn prosecutor, told PBS: “It’s still the same industry. These are a bunch of pimps who make hardcore porn […] by hiring people, turning them into prostitutes, and then distributing illegal obscenity.”
The problem is the same, and so is the solution. These people are violating long-standing federal obscenity laws. Prosecute them and convict them. It’s deceptively simple. Enforce the law, and the Internet porn industry will decline.
Tags: Pornographyby FRC Media Office
July 15, 2011
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s (R-MN) husband recently came under attack for his involvement in Christian-based counseling for individuals with unwanted homosexual attractions. While it is no surprise to see Christianity under assault from homosexual activists, these groups are also on the wrong side of medical research. In this interview with Washington Watch Weekly, FRC President Tony Perkins speaks with Dr. Julie Hamilton, President of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), about what the research shows and the importance of using this successful therapy to help patients achieve their self-identified goals.