Even among like-minded political peers, it is difficult to get universal agreement on issues. However, that does not appear to be the case of a recently introduced amendment to the Republican platform. The amendment affirms pornography as a “public health crisis.”
Utah first introduced legislation declaring porn a “public health crisis,” encouraging public policy change and education to fight it, early this year. By mid-April, Utah’s governor signed the measure after if passed the state House and Senate unanimously.
In like fashion, Republican delegates unanimously approved an amendment to the GOP platform that calls pornography a “public menace.”
CNN reports the language as saying:
“The Internet must not become a safe haven for predators. Pornography, with its harmful effects, especially on children, has become a public health crisis that is destroying the life of millions. We encourage states to continue to fight this public menace and pledge our commitment to children’s safety and well-being. We applaud the social networking sites that bar sex offenders from participation. We urge energetic prosecution of child pornography which closely linked to human trafficking.”
It’s no accident that a political party took a stance on this issue and found it worthy to place it in its official 2016 platform. Through the process of the Overton Window, GOP delegates believe this issue will help their party to be successful at the ballot box. Time will tell if the other major political party will follow suit.
Although people have rights to view whatever they want on Internet sites, this is becoming very dangerous. Adult entertainment sites or pornography can be linked to illegal child porn websites, thus pushing innocent viewers onto illegal websites. The Internet Watch Foundation says legal adult pornography sites are targeted for illegal images hiding in some legal sites. IF you land on one of these sites, you can be investigated for illegal activity. One organization says 1.5 million pornography viewers of adult legal porn have landed on child porn sites accidentally. Basically, Internet pornography can be dangerous and society should be educated about what the dangers are on these sites. I believe in freedom of religion and freedom of speech, however, society needs MORE EDUCATION in how dangerous some of these pornography sites can be, and what trouble a person can get into by innocent browsing.
Kevin I agree with you. I think sexual addiction – porn is the number one addiction in our churches today. There is an elephant sitting in our pews, folks know its there, but no one is addressing the problem. Most pastors – church leadership are not addressing the issue and if they do, it is a very brief commentary on the subject. My ministry partner and I have started True Grit Ministries in Tyler, Texas that addresses porn addiction. We do workshops for men on how to protect their families from sexual impurities. Also we do individual counseling with men struggling with porn addictions.
John Broome
God Bless You
It is interesting to see that twice in his comment a “Reverend” would use the word innocent to describe the viewing of legal pornography. Wait, is it interesting or just plain scary?