Personal note:

I recall a simpler day (which didn't seem so simple then) when I headed efforts in my local area and throughout Michigan to speak out against pornography in local convenience stores and gas stations. These were the late 1980s and early 1990s.

I spoke trying to encourage owners and/or managers to discontinue the sale and/or rental of pornographic magazines and videos. It wasn't so easy then either. It also wasn't easy getting the attention of prosecutors to enforce the law against pornography or as prosecutors refer to it - obscenity.

Prosecutors, too, by the way, weren't interested in taking a stand against obscenity. It took public pressure then too.

Now, of course, the pornography has very much expanded. It remains true that only a few will speak up and stand up. Yet, there are many who can't or won't bring themselves to speak up that - yet - don't like the easy availability of pornography and the degradation and damage that it brings.

What to do then was a problem. What to do now is a much bigger problem. We have made a difference in the past. We can again if only we don't lose heart and faint at opposition.

======================
This Friday Glenn Beck with Fox News will be interviewing Dr. James Dobson on pornography (i.e. regarding Ted Bundy) at 5PM Eastern time.

The following talking points can equip you to engage others on this issue:

*** Pornography has destroyed the lives of many individuals – including countless children.
*** Pornography is addictive, and the addiction is progressive:
Once addicted, a person's need for pornography escalates, the person grows desensitized to obscene material, and this escalation and desensitization drives many addicts to act out their fantasies on others.
*** Experts believe that a porn addiction may be harder to break that a heroin addiction.
*** Pornography destroys marriages and families. Excessive interest in online porn strongly contributes to divorce.
Pornography seriously damages a child's mental and emotional development. Children cannot filter porn out of their worldview; thus, exposure to pornography at a young age creates an unhealthy view of human sexuality.
*** Children who are exposed to pornography tend to exhibit sexually deviant attitudes and behavior, including sexual violence and crime.
Violent porn reinforces aggressive behavior and negative attitudes toward women.
*** Pornography plays a significant role in sexual violence. The most common interest among serial killers is hard-core porn.
*** Given the overwhelming evidence of pornography's harm, parents should act to protect their children from pornographic material.

Efforts might include:

*** Warning children about the dangers of pornography
*** Establishing online safety basics
*** Using computer filtering software
*** Defining clear media standards
*** Monitoring the amount and quality of all media children consume
*** Giving children a compelling biblical worldview regarding God's design for sexuality and relationships – focusing on the good, the true and the beautiful.
*** Given the overwhelming evidence of pornography's harm, the state has a compelling interest in protecting society from these damaging effects.
*** Lax enforcement of federal and state laws has essentially given obscene material the protection denied to it in the Constitution, and active prosecution must change this trend.
[Taken from material from Focus on the Family]

==============================
To donate online:
http://americandecency.org/folder.php?f=donate
==============================
American Decency Association
Bill Johnson, President
P.O. Box 202
Fremont, MI 49412
ph: 231-924-4050
http://www.americandecency.org