After watching the movie Fireproof, we went out to eat with some friends we had seen it with.  One member of our group made a comment that the man in the movie didn’t have to destroy his computer, just don’t go to those sites.  It isn’t that simple.  That is like telling a smoker, who has cigarettes in the house, not to smoke.  Or like telling an alcoholic, who has alcohol in the house, not to drink.  Or (maybe more can relate to this) telling a chocoholic, who has chocolate in the house, not to eat chocolate.  It is a choice; but when the urge hits, it is a battle of willpower. All of us are weak and have moments where we give in to our urges. 

There are more people out there who are silently struggling with this addiction than we know.  One of the reasons my husband’s probation officer is taking baby steps to move him back into our home is because my husband struggles with this addiction and I was not aware of his most recent struggle.  I knew he had gotten into it in the army / military and struggled with it as recent as just before his crime.  I wasn’t aware that he was still struggling…as I should have been, knowing how tight a hold this kind of addiction can have on a person.  People who have never experienced a strong addiction to something can not relate to the inner struggle.  I personally can not relate, as I have not had a strong addiction to anything (except chocolate); but watching someone struggle lets you see just how powerful it can be. 

Finding out about his recent struggle in the meeting with his PO, therapist, and my sponsor group therapist was difficult.  It was hurtful that he had told his PO and not his own wife.  However, after talking with him about it…I understand.  Your spouse is one of the most important people to you and you value their opinion of you.  If you have a secret struggle that you are not proud of and that makes you feel worthless (these are my husband’s words), you don’t want to share that with your spouse and see the disappointment on their face.  I understand that.  However, nothing can make me love him any less.  We are called to love unconditionally.  We may not like what others do; but we still love the person.  My husband is a good person, he just has some tough struggles to work through.  As he learns to communicate with me better, my hope is that our relationship will grow stronger and through that he will feel stronger to overcome this.  When we are aware of each others’ struggles, we can fight them together through prayer and perseverance.  Isn’t this what God calls us to be in community?

That dirty looking guy who got caught jackin' it in the middle of a XXX theater? It was everyone's favorite Saturday morning goofball, Paul Reubens, aka Pee Wee Herman.

OMG, how freaking scandalous was this? The hero of millions of kids gets busted by cops beating off in a porno theater. Sure, Pee Wee's got needs just like anyone, but how traumatic was it to think of the nasally clown who entertained us on Saturday mornings as a bit of a perv? After the arrest, CBS discontinued showing reruns of Pee Wee's Playhouse (the show had already been canceled) and Reubens made a deal with the Sarasota County court: in exchange for a fine and producing a few PSAs, he was given a clean record.

At the time, many people came out to defend Reubens, most notably, fellow comedian BillCosby who said: "Whatever (Reubens has) done, this is being blown all out of proportion." 

Reubens rebounded though, and has most recently appeared in hit shows such as 30 Rock, Reno 911! and Dirt.

Porn is not primarily about breast and bottoms. There most certainly is a physical attraction for men in the opposite sex. God made us to desire women and in a biblical sense we should be attracted to the opposite sex. However because of original sin what was intended as love can easily darken to lust.

I’m not downplaying or ignoring the temptations that come with the immodest woman and physical attraction. And I’m not saying she has no responsibility in the matter. However, what I want you to see is that the lust you are experiencing has a source and that source does not begin with the lady’s breasts or backside. It begins in your heart. If you are lusting after another woman then you need to address what is going on in your heart first.

PANDEMIC PORN

In my years of counseling the overwhelming external sin issue among men has been pornography. It doesn’t matter what the reason for seeking counsel. If they come with marriage issues, financial problems, kid problems, depression, anger, alcohol, bitterness or any other problem it is not unusual and actually expected that there can be the complicating problem of porn. Porn is pandemic in our Christian culture.

Part of the reason it is so prevalent is due to the ubiquitous expansion of the Internet. But the primary reason for porn addiction is because we live in a world of weary, frustrated, insecure, angry men who slip into pornography because it is easy to get into. And it is a private way of bringing temporary pleasure to oneself. Typically, it is despairing men looking for an escape and porn is a practical way to get away for a few minutes.

THEATER OF THE MIND

Though there is gratification in the behavioral experience of porn it does go deeper than the external benefit and instant gratification. Porn not only finds its source in the heart, but there is pleasure to be found there as well. Porn is the private theater of the mind. Porn is motivating! It is where the insecure and frustrated man can be king for a day, in his own mind. The porn addict is in control of his porn world. He can make the ladies meet his desires. It is one place in his life where he can be in control. He controls their speech. He controls their thoughts of him. He controls their actions. He controls their response to him. He twists the script in such a way to be affirmed. The script writer enjoys his show and when he is satisfied he then closes the show with physical gratification.

In a real world where all things don’t turn out positive and where all people don’t like you the ladies of the Internet can like you and they can fawn all over you, in your mind. There is not only instant pleasure, but there is instant victory. You win. You’re good. You can feel good about yourself for a few minutes, just before you re-enter the real world where there can be marital disappointment, disruptive kids, the over-bearing boss, the unforgiving world and a host of other problems you can’t seem to get your hands around. Porn is your quickie escape.

Coming Topics Covered in Part Three:

• THE CONTROLLER IS CONTROLLED
• PORN NEGATES THE GOSPEL
• DON’T FIGHT THE FIGHT ALONE

- - - - - - - - - -

? OBSCENE ?

ob·scene (adj.)

1. Offensive to accepted standards of decency or modesty.
2. Inciting lustful feelings; lewd.
3. Repulsive; disgusting

WARNING: ADULT THEME - DO NOT CLICK PLAY IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED!

- - - - - - - - - -

From Booty Bay to Quel'Danas in 2 minutes

I recorded this film for my DIVA 200 (Digital and Interactive Arts) course at the Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECUAD). The clips were taken from the online video game World of Warcraft and features a hyperspeed flight from Booty Bay to the Isle of Quel'Danas.

The Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party, known as PKS suddenly announced it hoped the bill would pass this month as a "Ramadan gift" to Indonesia's muslims.

The Balinese fear the new laws could be used to target the bikini-wearing tourists on which its economy relies.

The bill was expected to be passed next Tuesday but the negative reactions have stalled its progress for now. Critics also say the proper enforcement of existing laws would be a good idea before any more are created.

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/200809/s2369909.htm

See:
* War erupts over anti-pornography law in Indonesia
* A full (unofficial) translation into English of the somewhat controversial 2008 Indonesian pornography laws

Well here we go again!

This time it does hit home Sanger, Texas (Denton County) 10/08/08

A 13 year old female student at Sanger Middle School sent a nude photo of herself to several male students. One of these poor guys has been singled out by authorities and was arrested and sent to a juvenile detention center for Possession of Child Pornography.

The boy is now, as I understand it, under house arrest. The other boys that received the photo have not been charged as of yet.

WFAA Channel 8 posted on their web site, "He's a 13-year-old child. He's in middle school. He's supposed to be out there having fun, hanging out and playing football, which he loves to do. Instead, he's having to sit at home with mom and dad," said his mother.

Bethany Mitchell, a classmate said "I know some girl was taking pictures of herself and sending it to multiple guys. Obviously, they've still got their picture on their phone because they are now getting in trouble."

OK now that you got the story, or at least what I found, here is my two cents!

If you are going to charge the boy with Possession of Child Porn, you need to charge the girl with making Child Porn. Next if the only charge is Possession of... get the records of the girls cell phone and charge everyone she sent the photo too, it's only fair to the poor kid that was charged.

BUT WAIT! Don't go getting all in a tither at me just yet.

First can they prove that the boy requested the photo? If not then it was unsolicited and how can you charge him for that, you should charge the girl with, not only making it but distributing it.

Next, for God sakes he's 13, is he old enough to even know about the laws regarding Child Porn? For that matter, do you the reader know what Child Porn is? Here is a recap of my research on the matter from Last year!

Federal Statutes:

Title 18 of the United States Code governs child pornography. Chapter 110, Sexual Exploitation and Other Abuse of Children. 18 U.S.C. § 2256 defines “Child pornography” as:

“any visual depiction, including any photograph, film, video, picture, or computer or computer-generated image or picture, whether made or produced by electronic, mechanical, or other means, of sexually explicit conduct, where -

(A) the production of such visual depiction involves the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct;
(B) such visual depiction is, or appears to be, of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct;
(C) such visual depiction has been created, adapted, or modified to appear that an identifiable minor is engaging in sexually explicit conduct; or
(D) such visual depiction is advertised, promoted, presented, described, or distributed in such a manner that conveys the impression that the material is or contains a visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct . . .”

Sexually Explicit Conduct:

18 U.S.C. § 2252 prohibits the production, transportation, or knowing receipt or distribution of any visual depiction “of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.” For the purposes of Title 18, 18 U.S.C. § 2256 defines a “minor” as any person under the age of eighteen years, and “sexually explicit conduct” as actual or simulated:

…….(E) lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic area of any person

Section (E) prohibits images of “lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic area.” Courts that have interpreted this section have done so broadly - “as used in the child pornography statute, the ordinary meaning of the phrase “lascivious exhibition” means a depiction which displays or brings forth to view in order to attract notice to the genitals or pubic area of children, in order to excite lustfulness or sexual stimulation in the viewer.”

Dictionary.Com defines Lascivious as:

las·civ·i·ous

Pronunciation[luh-siv-ee-uhs]

–adjective
1.    inclined to lustfulness; wanton; lewd: a lascivious, girl-chasing old man.
2.    arousing sexual desire: lascivious photographs.
3.    indicating sexual interest or expressive of lust or lewdness: a lascivious gesture.

Texas Penal Code Section 33.021 defines "Minor" as:

(A) an individual who represents himself or herself to be younger than 17 years of age; or
(B) an individual whom the actor believes to be younger than 17 years of age.

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OK all that being said, let me state for the record CHILD PORN IS WRONG! Also there is a difference between Porn and (Nude) Art. This line does get fuzzy I admit. Some Examples:

Venus de Milo (Art or Porn)

PersianKitty.Com (Art or Porn)

Ok Those are easy! Right? What about a little more on the fuzzy side Jock Sturges and David Hamilton. Both are acclaimed photographers (of art) but both have done work with nude minors. Both have been arrested and accused of child porn, both were cleared of charges, citing their work was that of Art ond not intended for sexual arousal.

Now my last thought on this particular story is WTF are 13 year olds doing with cell phones, let alone at school?!?!?

*********************************************************************************

In a related story to this and a close relation to my story from a year ago, lets go back to Ohio. Newark, Ohio thios time. Just this past week Fox News reported a story of a 15 year old girl, from Newark Licking Valley, accused of taking nude cell phone photos of herself and sending them to high school classmates.

The girl entered a denial of juvenile charges of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material and possession of criminal tools.

A spokeswoman for the Ohio attorney general's office says an adult convicted of the child pornography charge would have to register as a sexual offender, but a judge would have flexibility on the matter with a convicted juvenile.

OK, in this case the girl IS facing felony charges. Fox News also mentioned that local prosecutors are concidering charging those who recieved the photos. Again I think that charge is bullshit unless they can prove the receptants asked for the photos.

Maybe we should send nude photos to the authorities phones and then accuse them of invasion of our privacy!

*********************************************************************************

Well that is my two cents what is yours? Leave a comment!

“We are not finding victims in the United States because we’re not looking for them.” – The U.S. State Department’s Advisor on Trafficking.

The movie Trade does an excellent job in opening one's eyes to the horrors and reality of the modern day sex trafficking industry.  In other words, if one were to parallel the movie Blood Diamond to the movie Trade, it would go like this: Trade is to the sex trafficking industry, as Blood Diamond is to the diamond industry. 

If this is such a serious problem, why are so many people unaware of it?

When people hear about sex trafficking, most people are disgusted at the thought of buying another human being for sex.  After all, how can we treat other human beings as objects?  This conjures up thoughts of slavery and dehumanization.

However, when you speak to pimps or people actively trading other human beings for sex, you will never hear them say that this was their dream job growing up.  In the same way, when you speak with rapists or pedophiles, they will always admit that they never thought they would get this far.  I'm sure you can agree with me when I say that there are no children who dream about growing up, raping others, and having sex with children.

Then how do people get to this point in their life?

“...each of you is tempted when you are dragged away by your own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full–grown, gives birth to death.” (James 1:14-15)

In other words, it's a progression.

When you ask pedophiles, rapists, and pimps how they got to that point in their life, they will all say the same thing - it started with viewing others as objects.  In other words, when one views pornography, one isn't looking at a human being anymore, one is looking, lusting, and fantasizing over an object.

You don't believe me?  Well, here's a question to all of you who have looked at pornography before: When you were looking at pornography, did you ever stop to think about that person's life story?  Does that person have parents? Brothers? Sisters? Children? A spouse? Where does that person live? Is that person doing it voluntarily or are they also forced and chained into the sex industry?  What if that person was your daughter? Would you still look at those images?  The fact is, no one ever thinks about those questions when they look at pornography because those who view pornography have begun to see people as objects.

However, there comes a point when pornography isn't enough.  Therefore, those individuals go to strip clubs.  The same thing happens in strip clubs.  Even though one is viewing real human beings, one still doesn't ask those questions or consider that person to be a human being.  As a result, one will not treat the stripper as a human being, but only as an object that can be bought for one's own entertainment.  It's dehumanization.

After that, strip clubs won't be enough either.  Therefore, those individuals will begin to buy prostitutes.  And the same thing will happen again.  After that, prostitutes won't be enough either, etc.  The cycle just keeps on spiraling down and down.  You get the point, right?  It's a progression.

The fact is, sex trafficking exists because there's a demand.  Prostitutes exist because there's a demand.  Strip clubs exist because there's a demand.  Pornography exists because there's a demand.

Are you fueling that demand?

If you are, you are fueling sex trafficking.

While I agree with Mr. Driscoll and his perspective, I would encourage him to list references for his material, since this is a book. For example, in Chapter 3, he says,

Pornography is so enticing for men because there is a biological connection between a man’s eyes and his genitals that causes men to be easily stimulated visually.

While I see this, it would be nice (since he graceously provides scripture references to back up his biblical statements) to have a reference to medical information. I think that public speakers err on stating facts like this without backing them up. I've listened to numerous men say that we are visually stimulated while women are, by omission from the statement, not, but I have heard nothing as to physical studies or evidence of this. With just a small amount of research, a public speaker could provide a few references so his/her audience would not think they are pulling these statistics or scientific phrases out of their back pocket. For example, I found a study conducted by Net Nanny that says this

Vision is the key perceptual sense in males-they "like to look." They respond with far more vigor and speed to visual stimuli than females typically do.

and this,

Knowing that the typical male viewer's primary perception is vision, pornographers have crammed the Internet with every visual stimulus that exists - photographs, videos, live-camera, cartoons, virtual reality, etc. These appear as "banner ads" even before the male viewer ever enters the porn site. Like "billboards," banner ads display graphic porn and words of every kind designed to visually lure in male viewers. Such banner ads are attached to standard search engine home pages for men, women and children of all ages to see.

While, this is a step in the right direction, it's not complete because all I did was find yet another article that says men are stimulated visually. There's got to be someplace, somewhere that has this as a study. Find it and link it. It's helpful to people to trust what you're saying.

I am simply moving towards not having blanket statements at church, really. Homer Simpson once said, "Bah! Statistics can prove anything. 14% of all people know that!" How often are we at church and hear a pastor drop some statistic from his back pocket and not provide notes or links on the slides or even a verbal reference to where he/she got that from? Let's do our due diligence.

On a side note, I found a sermon on line that mentioned male-perception as primarily vision oriented. While not finding a reference to anything backing that up, I did find that the pastor had a reference for his claim that an increasing number of women are looking at pornography. While he didn't give the exact place to find it, an internet-savvy person can easily locate a reference based on what he gave (simply the author, the publication and the year/edition of it). I found a link through Google's Cache. This is merely what I'm asking for, pastors of the world.

(An Enquiry in Cyber Sociology)

        Kerala is unique in several respects. So are malayalis (also called as ‘mallus’, the inhabitants of the state of Kerala, South India whose mother tongue is malayalam. ) This small state in the southern tip of India sends millions to various corners of the world. They render their services as teachers, engineers, nurses, and software professionals and as several other service providers. Kerala is also known to be the biggest consumer of personal and domestic goods and conspicuous consumption is the order than exception. Believes in extreme cleanliness, it is said that Kerala men take bath twice or thrice a day! Despite the progress, exposure and overall educational achievement, this state also claims to manifest itself as a society upholding pseudo- conservative values. It wants it women to walk behind the men. It frowns upon women who work late hours outside. There is strict demarcation of seats between women and men in buses, churches etc. Arranged marriages are a virtue. List is endless. Unfortunately there is also an extremely contrasting flipside for the ‘enlightened’ malayali culture. That is its ugly manifestations of the sexual impulsiveness emanated from a sexually repressed community with superficial value system. One can see several men who spread their wings of unfulfilled desires on hapless women in public transports and private domains. One can see that in the ravaging eyes of men who shamelessly focus on every unaccompanied lady on the road the moment sun sets in. 

     Though prevalent mores strongly discourage any public exhibition of romance even among those legally wed, there is no such effective ban on visual entertainment through whatever available sources. Malayalam movies were known for its pornographic content in the seventies and eighties. Some of the Malayalam movies still make their presence in other states of the country for the above historic reputation and not because of directors like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, who placed Malayalam cinema in the world map. Many such Malayalam movies are dubbed to most of the Indian languages. One senior police officer from another state narrated some facts that speak for themselves. Raids in almost all video shops have resulted in seizures of thousands of compact discs containing Malayalam pornographic content. This language is second only to English in providing such visual stuff for the vicarious   satisfaction of millions of expatriate malayalis. Why there is no such substantial contribution from any of the other Indian languages. Does it tell about the behavioural pattern of malayalis vis-à-vis people of other states?

    Another equally shocking disclosure is about the role of cyber cafes in sourcing and disseminating such materials. Cyber cafés in the main cities of the ‘conservative’ Kerala provide a ‘cubicle avenue’ for hundreds of young couples to express their intimacies in private. Little they know about the sneaky café owner who record such market worthy stuff through a tiny digital camera placed at a well-researched position. These videos are stored in discs and copied for the consumption of millions of needy malayalis and for equally hungry foreigners. The not-so-innocent victims who ‘acted’ in such video clips can pray that such stuff are not seen by their own kith and kin residing in some other parts of the world.

     Malayalis are quick to indulge in infotainments of all sorts much ahead of several linguistic collectivities. They also make their unique impressions on such activities in their own typical way. Internet provides cheaper, faster and diverse information on any subject. It also caters to communication needs across the globe. Net-chats provide unhindered communication between known and unknown persons across the globe. There are hundreds of chat rooms on every aspect of knowledge, life and society. One such category of chat room is regional chat rooms where different ethnic and linguistic groups share their news, views, and ideas. Mumbites, Calcuttans, Tamilians, Gujarathis and many such regions have their own chat groups in the net. There are even locations one can zoom in further in a particular city. For example desperate chatters can even narrow down for their counterparts attached to specific locations such as Brigade Road in Bangalore city or Defence Colony in Delhi. Keralites are also never behind such unique opportunity in the World Wide Web. There are hundreds of malayali chat rooms by leading server providers. One of my Keralite lady friends who entered one such room for some healthy conversation had to log out in no time. One may be curious to find what exactly so unique about many malayali chat rooms so that ladies flee out instantly.

       The moment you log in to these rooms, it is advised to keep your voice chat in the off position. That means your microphones should be off. Otherwise you tend to hear all sorts of highest degree abuses in Malayalam between anonymous chatters. In the comfort of a mysterious obscurity provided by the dubious user name and misleading   disingenuous profile, they converse crossing the boarders to vulgarity and offence. The moment a lady user name (not necessarily a lady, as many fake their gender for reasons known to them) appears, entire desperate crowd frantically pounce over that user with very intimate questions. If the gender of the victim is genuine, she would disappear from the clutches of the empathizing counterparts and their filthy conversations.

    The irony is that similar web culture is not reported about other chat rooms. The friends from other regional and linguistic identities vouch that such licentious banter typical of mallu chat rooms are very rare in other chat locations. Hundreds of Kerala based network groups which store and exchange pornographic content have been blocked by several search engines and web servers. However many of them return to the web space with pseudonyms.

    Though the above behavioural pattern cannot be perceived as a serious criminal offence and is also not a universal phenomena among all Keralites, it tend to expose the moral degradation of a sizable population, partly a consequent of a repressed culture. Obsession to external cleanliness is often marred by pseudo morality. One would not surprise to see the news of hundreds of sex scandals and sex hospitality centers from a state that frowns upon things like beer parlours, ladies wearing fashionable dress etc that are very common in other states. Kerala lives with many such paradoxes. And mallu web culture is only just one such manifestation. It is high time that policy makers and social activists break the shell of hypocritical purity of Kerala and provide licensed centers to fulfill the desires of Kerala men as in several western countries. Let the ‘casualty’ cases get a reprieve from the repressed feelings through licensed entry without covering their heads. And let women walk and live peacefully without any harm from such chronic cases.

Sleazy, because she advocates -- she actually advocates -- what she pretends are the "rights" of underage adolescents to pose for pornographic works.

It's been hours since first reading her email and I'm still feeling sick from it.  I feel like I need a shower.  Among other things, I believe her values are dishonorable, twisted, and dangerous to children and adolescents.

This "M" apparently misread two or three blog posts in which I've defended adolescent nudity in non-pornographic art.  Then, based only on her gross misreadings of my posts, she has jumped to the conclusion I am -- like her -- in favor of underage pornography.

It seems telling to me those posts were heavily commented on, yet only one or two of the commentators were, like her, mentally incapable of distinguishing between non-pornography and pornography.

I reckon I'm gettin angry now.  I'm not sure if that's a good thing because I don't know where that anger will go or what I can do with it that's constructive.  It is an ugly fact of life the world has many predators who exploit children and adolescents -- and in every society I know of, we do far too little to stop it.

Now, I am not at this moment just talking about underage pornography.  The list of how children and adolescents are systematically exploited, abused, and violated is a very long one.  Some of those ways -- many of them, in fact -- are perfectly legal, perfectly acceptable by most social standards, and utterly wrong.  For instance: Only a very few societies, such as Sweden, ban advertising to children.  Which is to say, only a very few societies see anything fundamentally wrong in systematically exploiting young people through manipulative advertising for no greater purpose than mere economic gain.  I think it is shameful how many ways our societies exploit children and adolescents.

Far worse than confusing children's values with advertising, however, is the sexual exploitation of youth.  And youth are sexually exploited in a number of ways, from child prostitution and rape to the sexualization of eight year olds.  The problem is not trivial.  In today's world, it's epidemic.

I am no prude.  I understand children and adolescents have a sexuality.  I do not believe their sexuality should be repressed.  I am not even opposed to affirming it in an age appropriate fashion through art.  But pornography is another matter.  Pornography is not about truthfully depicting the puppy love a nine year old has for her favorite rock star; the first confused stirrings of puberty; the longing of older adolescents for sexual validation; or any of that.  It is instead about demeaning its models, reducing them to nothing more than sexual beings, and quite frequently it's about imposing on its models a sexuality that is pure adult fantasy and in no way true to them.

"M's" email to me was full of sickening bullshit about how children and adolescents have a right to consent to their exploitation, about how internet predators are not genuine predators, about how age of consent laws "infantilize" teens, and even about how middle school children should be encouraged to take nude photos of themselves to send to their friends.  All of which makes me suspicious this "M" is an utterly deluded and self-serving pedophile.  Most likely, not even a woman, but a man masquerading as a woman.

It's taken me over four hours to write this brief post.  I write a sentence in anger, erase it, start again, toning it down.  I guess there are two aspects of this that anger me the most.  First, that kids are exploited in so many ways.  Second, that we do so little that is wise to protect them.  It ought not be like that.

I don't know what else I can do at the moment but rant about it.  I'm frustrated.

Where would you locate the primary problem with pornography? In our culture? Are you tempted to overly react to the sensual realities of our culture? You should react! You should be concerned! But when you address the porn problem are you more inclined to begin the discussion with the prevalent, evasive, cultural, immodesty issues? Granted it should be part of our discussion. Certainly it is right to walk our wives and daughters through how to dress modestly. It is wise to teach them to help guard the hearts of their male friends by dressing in an appropriate manner. However, the way we dress (Read: external) should not be the starting point in the pornography discussion.

“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45) Jesus begins the discussion regarding behavioral sins (porn) not in the behavior, but in the heart. In the quote above Jesus ties the behavior (tongue) to the heart. He places the source of our sin problems in the heart rather than the lip. My struggle with pornography does not begin in my culture, but in my wicked heart. Paul also exhorted us to make sure we “renew the spirit of our minds” (vs. 23) before we put on a new behavior. (Eph. 4:22-24) If we do not first attack our physical sin issues at the level of the heart we set ourselves up for the very real possibility of that sin reappearing. If we do not put the axe to the root of the tree there will be sprigs, then limbs and then full-blown branches reappearing. And along with this reappearance of sin is the very real possibility of compounded frustration, anger, hopelessness and less faith to attack this problem one more time.

INCOMPLETE RESPONSE

Responding to sin primarily at the level of the behavior will not ultimately work and will lead a person toward despair. All sin, including pornography, must be rooted out where it began. Find the source and you have positioned yourself for God’s empowering grace to extract the sin.

Pornography begins in the heart. Awareness of this truth brings hope. If I believed the root of my porn problem was in my culture then I have set myself up as a potential victim of my culture and possibly controlled by my culture. I would be at the mercy of my culture and always reacting to my culture, i.e. how women dressed or undressed. My energy, time and focus would be spent guarding the wrong door. Granted, it should be guarded, but it's not the main door. There is no hope in being a victim. However, if I believed that my wicked heart was the main problem then there is hope because I can apply God’s grace, repent of my sin, and live in the good of the gospel. And at that point I’m positioned for strength in the battle against lust. I can’t repent of my culture. I can’t make the women of our world dress the way I think is right. But I can repent of sin in my heart.

Coming Topics Covered in Part Two and Three:

• THE REAL ISSUE
• PANDEMIC PORN
• THEATER OF THE MIND
• THE CONTROLLER IS CONTROLLED
• PORN NEGATES THE GOSPEL
• DON’T FIGHT THE FIGHT ALONE

Christ suffered in the desert and so his obedience began in the desert and ended on the cross.

The other day, about a week ago I guess, I was at work (where I work part-time) and was moving some prints around.  We had just received a new shipment in and I was looking at them and one of them said, "Christ learned obedience in the desert."  That statement spoke to me deeply.  I can't even begin to tell you how it hit me.

In the next couple of days I heard a man on the radio talking about Christ in the desert.  Then just today I heard Anne Rice (of Lestat fame) talking to Dr. James Dobson about her new Christian books about Jesus and the passage she chose to read?  Yeap, Jesus and Satan in the desert.

The day after I saw that print (AKA: poster), I was on my way to school and just started crying.  I mean...that's how I feel.  I feel as though I've been wandering in a desert for the last 30+ plus years, drinking out of poisoned wells looking for the fresh water only Christ can provide and never finding it.

I also complain a lot.  This has become a part of my personality over the last 30 years.  I'm sick of it.  I've lost friends over it and finally one of them had the courage to tell me about 2 or 3 weeks ago.

Some other issues that are germain to this and why I feel like a "man in a desert:"

1) I battle same-sex attraction everyday (SSA) and engage in infrequent homosexual relations
2) I am addicted to pornography and erotic "literature"
3) I actually believe I'm a sex addict to a degree
4) I have a huge chip on my shoulder because of perceived wrongs done me in the past
5) I complain too much (I've mentioned this and as you can see, I'm doing it now!)
6) My kids have picked up on my complaining and they do it. They are too young to be doing this
7) I harbor bitterness, resentment, and envy till it has crushed my spirit and my family's spirit
8 ) I believe satan is out to destroy me and my family and is doing a good job thus far
9) I curse like a sailor - even around my kids

But the biggest issue for me right now though is my SSA. I've had SSA since I was at least 19 or 20. I've had fantasies of being with guys since I was younger. These fantasies usually began with me being a female though, so it wasn't exactly "homosexual." I use to crossdress, though with kids that rarely happens nowadays. It use to happen a lot.

I currently don't attend church for various reasons and will probably go into that another time.

So...as you can see...I have Issues, with a capital "I."

But it is past time for me to come out of the desert. It is time for me to be obedient to God. To serve Him with a humble and a very grateful heart.

This is my journey to that goal. Join me if you'd like.

YOU THINK YOU BELIEVE YOU HATE SEX, BUT YOU LOVE THE IDEA OF MY COCK GOING IN YOU.

YOU WANT TO RESIST BUT YOU GIVE IN TO MY DICK SLIDING  INTO YOUR CUNT,

YOU WILL GIVE YOURSELF TO ME EVEN THOUGH YOU FEEL QUEASY,

YOU WILL MELT FOR ME LIKE THE MUFF SPONGE YOU ARE

A PORYPHRIAN PUSSY, ADHERED TO THE ROCK OF MY PRICK,

A SWEET LIPPED BIVALVED VAGINA.

WHO CARES ABOUT EVOLUTION OR YOUR FUCKING PERIOD?

YOU WILL COME TO ME AND FUCK ME, PERIOD.

THE CREEP OUT COMES OUT OF YOU,

YOU LITTLE CUPCAKE EATING CREEPISH BITCH...

]]> http://philomtl.wordpress.com/?p=371 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:33:30 +0000 j. http://philomtl.pt-br.wordpress.com/2008/10/08/rae-langton-beyond-belief-pragmatics-in-pornography-and-hate-speech/ McGill Colloquium Series
Rae Langton

Beyond Belief: Pragmatics in Pornography and Hate Speech

Pornography and hate speech arguably count as speech. Philosophers interested in speech have said that our pragmatic framework should connect speech with its purposes, a paradigm purpose being the communication of belief, via 'conversational score' (Lewis) or 'common ground' (Stalnaker). This paradigm ill fits the speech of pornography and racial vilification. Can pragmatics none the less shed some light

on what's going on? Perhaps so. On the assumption that pornography and hate speech change attitudes, I consider five non-exclusive models of how it might do so: (i) a political speech model; (ii) a conditioning model; (iii) an imitation model; (iv) a speech act model; and (v) the pragmatic model. And I explore the prospects for the pragmatic model in making sense of speech whose purpose is not just getting people to know things they didn't know before, but getting people to want things, and feel things, they didn't want or feel before. This is part of an on-going effort to bring philosophy and political theory into a closer conversation, in this case, about what speech does, and why it matters.

3:30-5:30 on Friday, October 10 in Leacock 927.

Co-sponsored by the McGill Centre for Teaching and Research on Women

But I was thinking what was the actual difference between prostitution and pornography?

I mean, I'm not talking about legality... I'm talking about literally.

From what I see in that is the difference is on one hand pornography distributes the acts and prostitution operates in secracy.

And I think legally, if someone were doing prostitution (or paying for prostitution) but then made a website to sell tapes of it, then it would be considered pornography and exempt from punishment, yeah?

Such a strange world we live in... Kinda makes it funny thinking that some 50 year old Joe Blow that that isn't getting any from his wife paying some girl to have sex with him is pretty much along the same line of BangBros.

Kinda silly really, but with the way things are I kinda think they should just go ahead and make the legality mutual. Of course, I wouldn't particularly ever do it on either end of the stick, just to throw that out there... I'm just thinking about legality and morality involved. Then again, it would also have to be regulated and taxed.

I don't know why any of that popped into my head... Just thought I'd share though.

The new web series created by feature director James Gunn (Scooby Doo, Slither) premiered today -- the first installment, Nailing Your Wife, features Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Desperate Housewives, and, oh, a little web series you might have heard of called Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog). On the surface all the pieces fit right: established porn star Aria Giovanni slinks onto a construction site looking for her sexually-inattentive husband, and blue-collar Fillion offers to, um, "fill in" for him.

Except that instead of having sex, they don't. That's the episode's exciting twist! And the reason they don't have sex isn't because of some miscommunication or comedy of errors -- it's because the episode's gimmick hinges on the execution of a truly terrible and obvious pun involving the way in which Fillion "nails" Giovanni. (Yes, a pun even worse than the "fill in" joke above.) It's hardly a clever satire of pornography conventions -- the scene is almost too perfectly ripped from a proper porn film, due in large part to Giovanni's one-dimensional performance. She's just "acting" like she usually would in any other porn project, which means that the joke is completely lost, and the end result isn't particularly funny or sexy. Just kind of grim.

Nathan Fillion is as game as ever, adding "slow-witted stud muffin" to his increasingly large bank of character types, but even his deadpan reactions can't compensate for the series' failings. According to James Gunn's Twitters, the series is having a huge launch day, with over 10,500 hits reported before 10:30 AM PST. But without Fillion's star power to drive future installments -- which include Genital Hospital, about sexy doctors who actually treat their patients, and Peanus, starring Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum -- it's doubtful the series will be able to keep it up. And when it comes to sex, that's the biggest letdown.

So that was the introduction; that was easy.  But now this is my fanboy blog, it's time to talk about music, and this will be my first post.  I will have it be about a song near and dear, one whose brilliance bowls me over and leaves me stammering.  It will be unclear and messy, but let's have at it.  How about The National's "Fake Empire"? [lyrics] As the election nears and our economy is crumbling, this song about hazy-eyed wandering in a dream state (a dream nation-state?) seems more appropriate than ever.  The song's double meanings abound; it could be just as easily interpreted as a starry-eyed date in a blossoming romance. Hell, I can even copy and paste what I've already put up on songmeanings.net (see link). Yes, I'll write about that.

Wait, no, I won't write about that.  The meanings are too entangled with themes from the rest of the album, and frankly, I don't have the time right now for this sort of discursus through the enormity of the text that is Boxer.  (What do I expect?  A 20-page literary deconstruction?)  Let's start off with something simpler, more poignant.

Xiu Xiu, "Yellow Raspberry" [lyrics]  The ZORP of abjection, the beautiful transcendence of ugliness, the shame of Jamie Stewart.  Oh wait, aren't I reading Kristeva later in the semester?  Maybe I should wait on this one; I'm not up to speed on my source material.  But this could be an initial crack into the text, the music... well do I have anything to say beyond the lyrics, beyond my love for Xiu Xiu?  Don't you want to say something interesting?  We'll go back to this at another time, yes, yes, okay.

Evangelista, "Hello, Voyager!" [lyrics] The manifesto of what I've deemed to be the "emotional pornographers" of the last few years queer indie rock, the Xiu Xius and Freddy Rupperts and Dead Sciences.  "Tell the truth and be free... this is what I don't want people to see... But I can see you... You're dirty too."  A call to arms, to splay open the wounds of shame and free oneself.  But this song is over 12 minutes long -- what about the music?  It's uh -- well there are a lot of instruments, most of which I can't readily identify.  The structure is piecemeal, impovisatory, the scattered shards of Carla Bozulich's Roman architecture; sounds rise and fall.  I can't do this justice; there's only one word left on my parched lips to say about this song, and that word is LOVE.  You can't say it with me because I'm not ready to explain why the word is love.

--

Yes, those were the thoughts leading up to this post.  And then, paralysis (analysis paralysis -- oh god).  The process begins not with writing about music, but writing about writing, which I've always found far and beyond easier.  I'm stuck "up high and ugly, up high and weird" on the meta level, afraid to come down and expose myself by talking about music ("beating off to the escort pages").  "Let me be free, let me be free, let me be free" -- I can only aspire to reach Stewart's and Bozulich's level of openness. It's easy enough to talk about myself, my homosexual inclinations, my dirtiness; this is what I'm doing here.  But Stewart and Bozulich go further, they make music, they perform.  The struggle with performance anxiety in talking about the music I love is why I've created this blog, so that I can work through the struggle and live comfortably with my imperfections.  I hope that by clearing the dust here and making bare where I get stuck, I can start to learn to live with the constraints that I'm so painfully aware of here.  "This is my porn collection."  I feel the need to prove that this music is worthy, is I'm supposed to love, despite my inclinations.  I need to expose the imperfection.  Can I say it here?  The word is love...

2. “female” and our concept of “feminine” are not considered worse or inferior to ”male” or our concept of ”masculine”. It is as cool to be female and to be feminine as it is to be a boy or to be masculine.

3. Being sexually attractive is no longer a prime source of a female’s value.

4. The hyper-sexualisation, reproduction and consumption of the female body is stopped.  

These are the four main Feminist issues for me, I see them as the four main areas in society that harm women. I will focus on these four main issues in my blogs. I will focus on what they are, on what causes them, and on what has to change.

According to investigators, Kobayashi allegedly posted five photos of naked girls around 10 years old, which he had copied from other Internet sites, on the child pornography site using his cellphone on Sept 12 last year. Police on Wednesday arrested the operator of the site in question, which was accessed tens of thousands of times a day, on suspicion of violating the same law. An official of the personnel division of the MPD said, ‘‘It’s very regrettable that one of our officers was arrested. We will handle this matter strictly after investigations by the Kanagawa police are completed.’’

Completely, ridiculously disgusting porn actor / director Paul Little, aka Max Hardcore, was sentenced to 46 months in prison last Friday.

This is a good article about this whole debacle.