Commentary by James L. Lambert

Last week, while I was driving to Las Vegas to interview gospel signer Annie Meadows, I noticed a large billboard advertising a porn industry convention that was planned to open in the upcoming months. The event like other ones that occur in Los Angeles, draws thousands to area hotels as Convention Center’s guests. These so-called conventions are a way for the porn industry to introduce new ‘products,’ acquaint the public with new technology within their industry and share new ideas with those within their industry. According to one local newspaper paper “(these conventions) are a home to a tawdry display (of ) the lucrative business of selling sex (LVRJ).”

 Some of the new trends (the convention addressed) includes selling X-rated videos to patrons who have cell phones that have graphic capability. Some reports by the media indicate this type of video transmission will broaden and continue to enrich the porn industry itself. With millions of our kids now already possessing this type of technology, it’s time that parents are no longer complacent concerning these matters.

In an interview with Citizen Magazine, Daniel Weiss, (senior analyst for Focus and the Family), explained why the business of pornography has grown so rapidly over the last 15 years. Weiss said, “In the early 1990s AG Janet Reno directed DOJ resources away from obscenity prosecutions. Within a few years, Internet use became widespread … The absence of prosecutions coupled with the advantages of a new technology that could deliver porn right into the home led to an explosion in (this) material.”

It has also not helped that the George W. Bush did not effectively deal with this problem also. And don’t expect Barack Obama to be any better! 

Despite the media perception that the public largely accepts pornography, there are still a significant number of people who are aware of porn’s intrusive and detrimental effects on the family.  People, especially those who have not viewed hardcore porn, cannot fathom how destructive and morally incomprehensible this type of material really is. According to former DOJ prosecutor Pat Trueman, “what you have today is a whole generation of people who have grown up with pornography who don’t think there’s anything wrong with it (Reuters).” But to think that there are so many sites on the Internet that feature child-adult sex is outrageous. Pornographers are obsessed with ‘featuring’ girls who look very young (mid-teens), who look innocent (virgins) and who look ‘like daddy’s girl’. It’s sickening. To think that the ‘adult industry’ (there is nothing adult about these people), treats group sex as normal and monogamy as if it’s abnormal, is surreal! 

America, it’s time to wake up to what these people are about! They are not the friends of our families. Instead, they are peddlers and the polluters in our culture. They peddle sick material with sick themes. If you are a Christian, today’s pornographers represent everything that the Bible speaks against. It is really sad that there are so many people that are too faint of heart to see this. We are to love these people but we are also to hate the sin of pornography. It is a constant struggle.

If you want to be proactive, protect your kids and become involved in a war against a ‘business’ that is culturally destroying America, here are some ideas on what you can personally do:

·    Make sure your family has a good Internet filtering system (with mom, preferably having the access codes to its entry).

·    Check the history of web site’s visited on your computer to see if you child has entered some ‘dark’ sites … Talk to him / her about the dangers of porn (if necessary). American Family Association has some excellent places of referral for you (www.afa.net)

·   Tear out and toss the pages of porn ads in your local yellow pages advertising “models, escorts, entertainment, massage, etc.” The greater Las Vegas area has over 100 such pages in their yellow pages.

·    Be aware of local zoning laws. If a strip club, adult book store, etc. is located close to a school, church, or residential district, it could be in violation of city zoning laws. (Each city and county has different regulations, you’ll have to check). If you see a violation – don’t be afraid of reporting it to your local police department.

·    See if you local children’s library computer has a filter on it. If not question the librarian and complain to the Director of the library. If a child cannot walk into an adult book, he/she should not have access to porn in a public library.

·    Make sure the friends of your son or daughter have computer filters or see if their computers are monitored.

·   Continue to complain to mainstream companies where you give you business that promote and offer porn (re: hotel chains). Some airlines are showing more and more graphic films on their flights.          

·   Tell grocery story managers that you are offended by some of the sleazy and tawdry magazines that are ‘in your face’ during check outs.

Hopefully these suggestions will help you in your endeavor to keep your family clear of the never ending deluge of smut we are all facing today.

James L. Lambert, a frequent contributor to ChristianMirror.net and author of Porn in America, is a licensed nationwide real-estate mortgage loan sales agent and can be contacted through his website.