Americans Urged to Campaign Against Porn Floodtide

Americans concerned about the floodtide of pornography pouring into homes, the workplace and even churches are urged to raise their voices about the harms of sexual addictions that many believe is devastating the country.

"Our nation ... faces a moral crisis, giving rise, among other things, to teen promiscuity, sexually transmitted diseases (including AIDS), abortions, children born to single mothers, divorces, sexual abuse of children, sexual harassment, rape, and trafficking in women and children," said Robert W. Peters, president of Morality in Media, which is spearheading a national awareness campaign. "It is clear that the explosive increase in the availability of hardcore pornography is helping to fuel this moral crisis."

The 20th annual White Ribbons Against Pornography (WRAP) Week kicked off on Sunday as a yearlong effort to combat the spread of porn across the American culture and to push for the enforcement of federal obscenity laws.

Conservative groups including Focus on the Family, Concerned Women for America (CWA), American Mothers, Inc., and GirlsAgainstPorn.com have joined Morality in Media this week to raise public awareness of the harmful effects of porn and to call for a respect for sexual virtue.

"Seventy-five percent of convicted rapists admit they were acting out what they had seen in pornography, and 80 percent of child molesters admit their spiral down began with pornography," noted CWA president Wendy Wright.

Over the last decade, employers have cracked down on those who view online pornography at work, but with laptop computers, cell phones and BlackBerrys and other portable devices providing wireless access to the Internet, reports indicate that porn viewing at work is still a major problem.

"Liability is the thing that keeps me up at night, because we are liable for things people do on your premises. It's serious," said Richard Laermer, CEO of the public relations firm RLM, according to ABC News. "I'll see somebody doing it, and I'll peek over their shoulder, and they'll say, 'I don't know how that happened.' It's like 10-year-olds. And it's always on company time."

The majority of U.S. adults say viewing pornographic websites and videos is morally unacceptable, according to a 2006 survey commissioned by Morality in Media. Younger Americans (ages 18 to 34) are more likely to think viewing porn is morally acceptable compared to 35- to 54-year-olds.

"A disturbingly larger number of our nation’s youth and young adults are viewing pornography, and they don’t even see this as a moral problem!" said Peters. "Our nation has failed miserably in shielding minors from pornography."

Explicit sex scenes bordering pornography have increasingly hit the television airwaves this season, raising eyebrows among critics who say it's too much.

"This season I think cable has pushed the limit of acceptability of sex on television as far as it could possibly go," Mary Murphy of TV Guide commented on CNN. Murphy believes several shows, such as HBO's "Tell Me You Love Me," are bordering on obscene.
Explicit sex scenes are even found on network TV including ABC's "Dirty, Sexy, Money."
"When I'm looking at some of these shows, I say to myself 'What is the difference between this show and porn?' I look at it two ways. I look at it as a critic and a reporter and I say 'Is it essential?' I don't think so," said Murphy. "And then I look at it as a daughter and a mother, and I pray that neither my mother nor my daughter will ever walk into the room while this is on television."

"I don't think it's appropriate at all," she added.
Matt Barber, CWA's policy director for cultural issues, said many people don't realize that many forms of widely accepted pornography "are in fact a direct violation of federal and state obscenity laws."

"These laws should and must be enforced," he said. "Ultimately, it is women and children who are most victimized by pornography and the lack of obscenity law enforcement."
The Supreme Court determined in 1973 that the First Amendment does not protect "obscene material" (hardcore pornography).

Morality in Media's Peters calls for obscenity laws to be vigorously enforced. During WRAP Week, Peters urges Americans to sign anti-porn petitions, hold rallies in their city or state capitol, and to write letters to their local, state and federal representatives against pornography. People are also encouraged to invite someone to speak against pornography at your church or civic group.

And as Americans are soon to elect a new president, Peters called on all presidential hopefuls to pay attention to the "moral crisis."

"While President Bush’s record of enforcing obscenity laws has been disappointing, to date it is clearly superior to the Clinton record, and we will be working to encourage the Bush Administration to pick up the pace of prosecutions, with the hope that the next President will build on that progress," he said.

"Given a choice, I think most adult Americans would rather live in a safe, healthy and decent society than in a pornographic cesspool," said Peters.

Morality in Media (MIM) was established in New York City in 1962 to combat pornography. MIM works to inform citizens and public officials about the harms of pornography and about what they can do through law to protect their communities and children. It also works to maintain standards of decency on TV and in other media.

White Ribbons Against Pornography Week runs through Nov. 4.