| OCR Text |
Show I Citizens must join fight against flood of pornography children are used in the production of child f nography. And this hard core pornography is being?'' " in the sexual molestations and rapes throughout " country. . It is time for people who believe this type of perS(, , r expression, which degrades children and women f other people's sexual thrills, to band together a c demand certain rights. ' The courts must begin to enforce the contempora r community standards yard stick to determine wh$ obscene and, therefore, inacceptable in their J community. And the courts must then prosecJ ' business and individuals who violate these standards The United State Postal Service is empowered . ' prosecute for the use of the postal service to distribut 1 obscene material. It needs to start doing so. The failu j of the Postal Service to halt the flow of hard core n? : nography is one of the biggest reasons for the recer ( growth of the industry. " ', This trash, while it is available, is not legal and canl prosecuted. But as long as good people ignore it l purveyors of porn will continue to line their pockets a they contribute to civilization's decline. ! The Reverend Dr. Jerry Kirk said it well when ht explained that those who oppose the current flood of pornography "are not against sex. We are against bad sex." Rev. Kirk urged those attending to "Get changed w together and get going" - to do something to stop the spread of hard core pornography's influence. Unless and until we take that step, the flood f continue. There's a fine line between allowing individual freedom to flourish and maintaining the overall health and stability of a society. In the past decade or so, the individual freedom side of the argument has held sway in virtually every major decision by the U.S. Supreme Court and those agencies who are charged with keeping obscene material under control. As a result, in this age of increased freedom and electronic-age accessibility to images and information, a multi-million pornography industry has developed in this county -- an industry that is weakening the very fabric of our society. On it's face, the argument in favor of letting the porn industry flourish is a good one. After all, who has the right to say what an individual can or cannot do in his own home, as long as he or she is not interfering with the rights of others. But that's an argument based on the assumption that what a person reads or watches will never cross the boundary between exercising personal freedom and start infringing on someone else's rights. Evidence is mounting that the current flood of violent pornography and child pornography has crossed over that imaginary line that separates freedom and responsibility. And still good people continue to do nothing. Those attending the People Vs. Pornography conference con-ference held in Salt Lake City last Saturday were urged to get involved in the battle against the obscenity which is invading our society but it is going to require a much larger effort to make the courts understand that what is now available in the way of "adult" entertainment has gone beyond the limits of personal freedom. The problem with this type of pornography is that the people not involved in creating it, selling it or buying it are not fully aware of what is available as near as your mail box - and they don't want to be. Those who are involved in the porno industry, either as producers or consumers, have a stake in maintaining the current supply of obscene material. That gives the smut peddlers one more unfair advantage ad-vantage in the battle for decency. There is no way to describe in a family newspaper, without being offensive, the type of material that is a phone call and credit card charge away. Video tapes of every possible sexual coupling and configuration -- in graphic detail - are readily available at competitive prices. Magazines available in the state publish dozens of telephone numbers of women ready to simulate sex with any one of any age over the phone lines for a price in one of the fastest growing and most lucrative twists for those obsessed with sex - dial-a-porn. And all of this has possible consequences for individuals in-dividuals who would never consider being involved with this type of material. As Leonard Poelman, and Salt Lake attorney and vice chairman of Citizens for Positive Community Values, told those at Saturday's conference: "We are coming to realize that what begins in the privacy of our homes may result in tragic consequences for others." The evidence is in the growing number of the abused. According to conference speakers, every year 300,000 |
