by Robin Burchfield and Rusty Pugh
(AgapePress) – A leader in the Southern Baptist Convention has detailed the potency of pornography in America today.
Dr. Richard Land is president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. Writing recently for a Christian publication, Land called porn a “ravenous cancer” that is destroying modern society. Land noted that 1999 revenues of porn websites alone are estimated at nearly $1.2 billion. In addition, some 25 million Americans visit cyber-sex sites — and sex is the number-one searched-for topic on the Internet.
Land also outlines the painful trail left by pornography — increased incidents of child molestation, rape and sexual violence, transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, and societal values and attitudes that condone and encourage dissemination of soft-core pornography.
A 1997 article in U.S. News and World Report stated that porn is an $8 billion a year industry in the United States, drawing more money “than Hollywood's domestic box office receipts” and more “than all the revenues generated by rock and country music recordings.”
Meanwhile, a Christian physician who sees the effects of pornography says those who peddle smut use “drug dealer logic” to justify their actions. Dr. David Smith is involved in a fight in Brookhaven, Mississippi. He is leading an effort to persuade residents not to shop at Movie Gallery, the nation's third-largest video retailer — and Brookhaven's top porn-provider.
Smith says the store continues to offer pornography to this small town, despite a growing movement to boycott the store. He also says Movie Gallery officials use a “drug dealer logic” in explaining why they offer pornography — that they are simply supplying a product for which there is a demand.
“That's the same logic you could use with cocaine if you wanted to, but we don't follow that same philosophy in regard to cocaine, do we?” Smith says. “This type of material is just a detrimental [as cocaine]. I can't say it is as addictive as cocaine … but [if] you look at the bad effects [of] pornography, there's no doubt about the things [it] causes.”
In his family practice, Smith says he sees the devastating effects of pornography on a daily basis. Those effects, he says, range from divorce to child molestation.
(This update courtesy of Agape Press.)
Christian Activists Credit Prayer, Hard Work for Victory in Badger State
y Allie Martin
(AgapePress) – Christian activists in Wisconsin say the recent decision by Milwaukee's Common Council to reject a proposal that would extend benefits to sexual partners of homosexual city employees proves that prayer pays off.
The council voted recently 11-6 to reject the same-sex benefits proposal. Weeks before the vote, members of Wisconsin Christians United handed out thousands of flyers urging citizens to pressure council members to vote against the benefits package. Pastor Ralph Ovadal, president of WCU, says Christians can still make headway in the culture war.
“We are beginning to see victories around the country. I know that the homosexual movement is experiencing success in various areas, but I believe they've overplayed their hand,” Ovadal says. “They've gone a bridge too far in many areas.”
According to Ovadal, the vote was surprising in an area known for its liberal view. But as he says, prayer and hard work can go a long way.
“Wisconsin Christians United has been pounding away now for ten years. Every week we're out in the neighborhoods around the state … flooding homes with literature,” he says. “We've done … any number of different things [billboards, pickets, radio ads] to get the word out — and [we're seeing good signs] that people are beginning to wake up. The important thing is to press forward and not compromise.”
The council voted to reconsider the benefits package in three weeks.
