So apparently the pornography thing is a big topic at the moment… at least among a few sites that I read….. so here’s another one here. First, I’m going to post another one of the pamphlets from Porn Free Youth, and then, I am going to write a little bit.
Here’s the pamphlet:
Shedding Light On the Lies
This is a day and age soaked in sex and sexuality. It is used both subtly and openly in all forms of advertising, as well as showing up as the primary subject matter and focus in all forms of the media. It is what is focused on in today’s relationships, being both the primary reason for and the goal of many of them. It is a primary influence on today’s fashions and ideas, reaching into and touching upon almost every aspect of our lives. Sexual lifestyles are as varied and available as toppings at a salad bar, and heterosexuality (unless it is a very active form of it) is viewed as somewhat prudish and boring. Pornography and its ideals have workedthemselves into the entire spectrum of society, influencing how we approach, interact with, and think about other people, animals, and even inanimateobjects. Sex is viewed, whether consciously or unconsciously, as the underlying purpose, goal, and meaning of life as a whole, and if we are not involved with it and experimenting with it, we are taught that something just simply must be wrong with us. Sexually-oriented fiction is being taught as fact throughout our society, cementing lies as truth in many of our minds.
Some words from Matt DeBenedictis of PFY….
My first exposure to pornography came when I was 15 years old. Like many others’ first experiences, I was exposed to porn when one of my peers introduced it to me. Pornography didn’t seem to me to be anything of great interest at first, but then puberty hit (and all of the begging questions concerning sexuality that come with it). Pornography seemed to provide an answer to those questions, in a way that was easily accessible. So it was that I began to view pornography every once in a while in order to fulfill my sexual curiosities.
By the time I was 17 the fantasy world of pornography had become the place in which I could hide from all my struggles in life. Not only was I learning how to act in a sexual way from the pornography I engaged in, but I was also seeing my whole worldview (including the context in which I viewed other people) being changed by pornography. The types of pornography I had first involved myself with became mediocre and boring to me in time, and so I moved on to pornography of a more hardcore nature, and so on and so forth. In accordance with my engaging in more and more hardcore pornography, my worldview again was being warped and changed. My whole life was being shaped and changed in subtle, deep-reaching ways by something that I had looked to at first for simple education.
I soon began to question the whole sexual ideology that I had embraced. I went to the writings of scholars and current sexologists, only to find again and again the reoccurring theme and phrase of “If you enjoy it, then it’s healthy for you”. That idea just didn’t add up to me, so I did some research. Eventually I found facts and truths concerning pornography that were not based on biases. I soon began to realize that all I had been taught to embrace sexually was not only hurting myself, but was also causing a downward slope of degradation within our society as a whole.
I eventually started to see through the lies we have been taught by the media and the sexual education system regarding pornography. We are being taught that pornography is harmless and, in the end, is actually beneficial to society. That mindset cannot be further from the truth. Pornography takes the most powerful form of communication (that of a sexual nature) and treats sex like a commodity to be bought and sold, pre-packaged and in whatever form you want it. Pornography tries to say that it does not have negative affects on anyone, and teaches that everyone and anyone can simply be viewed as an object with which to pursue one’s own sexual satisfaction. This is not a healthy or beneficial lesson for any society.
PFY seeks to shed light on these lies, and others concerning pornography and sexuality, because we do not want others to have to go through what we have been through. Everyone on the PFY staff has had their lives scarred in some way by pornography, and its resulting sexual ideology and expectations. In that, we know what it is for someone to struggle with sexual addiction, and the pain and destruction it can cause in one’s life. For that reason, Porn Free Youth does not involve itself in the picketing of porn shops, strip clubs, or other businesses of a sexually-oriented nature. We do not see the people who own, work at, or frequent these stores as the enemy, nor do we view the people (actors, actresses, directors, etc.) within the porn industry itself as enemies to be attacked. We see these people as simply men and women that we want to help; people who have been misled and lied to by the very business that they are involved in.
PFY is not a militant organization, nor are we a political one. We believe that genuine change occurs not through the passing of laws or the siding with political parties, but through expressing the truth to people in love, and helping them in any way we can.
–PFY
The thought that I would like to add to this, is something that constantly sticks out to me, and that C.S. Lewis touched on in the book “Mere Christianity”. And that is this… one of the facts that you can read about in the PFY brochures… is that there are nearly THREE TIMES as many porn outlets in the United States as there are McDonalds in the united States. Think about that. You see a McDonalds every couple of blocks in most cities. So here’s the point. The obsession with sex that American society (and others) has is NOT a healthy thing. Food is something that you need to survive. Sex is something that is needed to survive, in that, it is how humans reproduce. Now, think about this. Sex is certainly needed… because, well, humanity certainly needs to go on… but it is needed in the proper context… just as food is needed in the proper context. If you eat ALL the time, it is unhealthy, if you eat the wrong things, it is unhealthy. There is nothing wrong with eating, it’s a good thing… the problem comes in the ABUSE of eating. It is the same way with sex. To borrow C.S. Lewis’ example… picture a society in which people sit and look through magazines filled with food and drool over them and are basically obsessed with them. Something is wrong there. It’s not healthy, it’s perverse, just as pornography is a perversion of sex.
Comments and thoughts are welcome.
And thanks to Age for the shoutout from her site 😉
Godspeed.
(note: tomorrow I will post the list of facts they give concerning pornography.)
Monthly Archives: July 2002
So I’ve found a new very fun game. Burnout. It is probably one of the most fun racing games I have ever played. It’s stinking freaky though. Nothing like driving 150 mph into oncoming traffic 😉 It was just a really good idea that was carried out very well. Can’t wait to see Burnout 2 😉 It’s a shame it’s a PS2 port…. the graphics could be so much better if it was made specifically for xbox.
I’m also pretty disappointed because I heard yesterday that the game I’ve been waiting for, which was supposed to come out this fall, Project Ego, has apparently been pushed back. The big fan site that was made for it, Egomaniacs, says that it won’t be out until probly the 2nd or 3rd quarter of 2003. I’m sure Microsoft is probly dissappointed about that…. It’s one of those games that is so good that it will make people want to buy the system… so.. yeah. Watch out Final Fantasy (at least that’s what they claim ;)….)
Anyway… I think I’m gonna go get back to playing Burnout…. or possibly Gauntlet…. have to beat both of them by Friday, so as to return them to Hollywood Video 😉
And I shall leave you with a song, by dieradiodie (check them out, they’re cool… do a search on mp3.com). Here it is:
“Gazing across the room
I’ll never forget when I laid my eyes on you
And although I have to admit
I wasn’t hoping for this much
My eyes are crazy now that I’ve seen you
And time holds me in distance of you
And next to you is the only place
That I, I’m truly me
I know I don’t deserve you
I hope you don’t take that date
Scratching the surface only creates scars
I hope you don’t take that far.
And I don’t want, want another girl
Even if I have to wait forever
And please don’t forget
Never say never.
One life to live.
It’s too short to waste it.
I spend all my time thinking of you.
How foolish of me to do.”
-“As Soon As Beauty Dies,” by :dieradiodie:
What would Jesus do?
Lesson 1:
Ok, it’s about time for another Cornerstone-related post. I was up until 6 a.m. last night watching a good 7 hours of Cornerstone videos with people. One of the things I was anticipating the whole time?….. The guitar-throwing.
You see, while unfortunately, I was passed out in a chair when this happened, our group had a little incident one night. However, it is all on tape. Somewhere around 3 a.m., everyone was sitting around… talking… dave was playing guitar…. suddenly this guy and… I guess either his wife or girlfriend or something, come up… and the guy picks up the guitar, right out of dave’s hands I might add, and throws it.
They then proceed to say that they “don’t care who the hell” they are, and lecture them on being quiet. They did not believe that there are, in fact, quiet zones that you can camp at. They told us that Jesus would be considerate of other people. Throwing peoples’ guitars sure is considerate. Upon being asked if Jesus would do that, we were told that yes, Jesus would. Everybody watch out for your guitars when that Jesus character comes around… you never know when he’s gonna throw it. The girl also made a rather nasty hand motion towards jason b. I won’t describe it here… but umm.. yeah. So that is what we learned from them. What would Jesus do? He would get pissed off for pretty stupid reasons, go and throw someone’s guitar without even ASKING them to be quiet first, curse at the people who he took it from after doing so, and make nasty hand gestures at them. Now I don’t know about you, but that’s the Jesus I know.
Mysteries of the universe: #184637:
why is it that the word “ass” is considered a curse word, but “asinine” is considered to be a perfectly valid and acceptable, even intelligent, word? After all, all it is is a modification of the word “ass” to mean, esentially, “ass-like”. Hmmmm….
Just a little something I read and thought was interesting. Comment, tell me what you think.
Pornography is about much more than sex; it’s about the fantasy world of porn becoming one with the real world. In the last decade alone, pornography has grown to a point that this purpose is being fulfilled and
pornography is setting the standard for sex in our society.
THE NEW GUIDELINES FOR SEX
Pornography is not just entertainment; it’s a celebration of a “fantasy world”. This “fantasy world” sets up false guidelines for sex based on scientific inaccuracies about human nature and response. Some of these new guidelines for sexual fulfillment (according to porn) are: sex anywhere, anytime, with anybody, is a good thing; sex has no consequences; people only have value from the neck down; group sex is the best sex; fidelity is boring; and everyone wants sex, even when they say they don’t. Pornography bombards its viewer with these thoughts, changing their perceptions of sex and replacing them with the value system of porn.
CHANGING THE VALUE SYSTEM
It does not take long for pornography’s value system to saturate the viewer. Dolf Zillman and Jennings Bryant of the University of Indiana conducted studies on exposure to pornography. In one study, they discovered it takes only six hours of exposure to pornography for a viewer to: 1.) question their perception of sex, 2.) have a decrease in the value of faithfulness, and 3.) perceive and dissatisfaction with their sexual
partner. 1
MYTH: “IT’S NATURAL”
After pornography has caused the viewer to have feelings of dissatisfaction and confusion, they soon embrace the pornographic images as guidelines for sexual fulfillment, reasoning that “this must be the best way to have sex”. All of this causes the viewer to start accepting uncommon, unhealthy, and perverse forms of sex. 2 For example, pornography glorifies anal sex as a form of sex that everyone should perform when, in fact, the body is not designed for that type of sexual practice.
MYTH: “PORNOGRAPHY DOESN’T AFFECT YOU”
These unhealthy sexual practices are only the beginning of pornography changing the viewer’s sexual value systems. Once the viewer accepts these practices as “normal and natural”, the next step is the acceptance of the rape mindset.
THE MINDSET OF RAPE EMBRACED
The mindset of rape begins with a single thought – That forced sex is good and that everyone wants sex regardless of what they say. The viewer of porn is first deluged with images of the “girl-next-door” enjoyed being
forced into having sex and subsequently realizing that their “purpose” is to merely fulfill others sexually. Repeated viewing of these images forces the viewer to conclude that “Since these girls-next-door in pornography enjoy being forced into sex, why shouldn’t this real woman sitting next to me be the same way?” This is the lie that pornography sells in order to makes this “fantasy world” as real as possible.
MYTH: “EXPLORATION IS HEALTHY”
In a study done by James Check, both hard and soft-core pornography were shown to 436 males who were then studied to see how it changed their sexual perceptions. The results showed an increase in sympathy for rapists and an extreme increase in the likelihood of committing rape. 3 Subsequent studies have confirmed those findings. Studies conducted by the University of Manitoba and Winnipeg concluded that subjects were more likely to rape if they thought they would not be caught. 4 This study also showed that although pornography does not turn all its readers into rapists, it does give the mindset of a rapist. Pornography cannot be viewed as something
healthy and natural if it does nothing but promote sexual practices and thinking that is neither healthy or natural.
OUR RAPE CULTURE
Our society is being flooded with the values of pornography. We live in a culture of rape, a culture in which every two minutes a woman is raped. 5 Pornography is a form of educating people on how to think like a rapist and embrace the fantasies of one. Pornography takes something as beautiful as sex and wraps it up in lies. The lies are then embraced as the standards for a normal and fulfilling sex life. Pornography must be fought, and the only way to fight its lies is to educate others about the truth behind
pornography. If you have any questions about this brochure or desire to speak with someone concerning the subject matter discussed within these pages, please contact PFY.
-Porn Free Youth (www.pfy-online.org)
Have you ever listened to a song… and listened to it time and time again… and been unable to figure out what in the heck it was about… like no matter how many times you listened to it, or read over the lyrics…… and then… one day… you’re like… driving in your car… the cd playing… and all of the sudden.. it clicks.
Just happened to me…
I think that it’s basically what happens when you’re in a place where you can identify with how the other person was feeling when they wrote the song. Suddenly the veil is lifted, and you can see exactly what the point is.
Anyway, this is the song…. (don’t worry, I plan on writing more after I paste the song ;)):
“And If I could teach the world to be..
I’d teach them all to be something just like me.
Frustrated, bitter, depressing.
Perfect – As if my wings were like yours
But I’m falling down.
And if you could hold your tongue long enough..
You’d see that all I am is love, but I don’t like me.
I despise me.
Perfect – As if my wings were like yours
But I’m falling down.
Perfect – As if my wings were like yours
But I’m falling down.
It’s a disease they’ll never have a cure for.
You’re the only way to dry my eyes.
It’s a disease, they’ll never have a cure.
But I’m the one whose wrong. I’m the one who cries.
It’s a disease, they’ll never have a cure for.
It’s a disease, they’ll never have a cure.
But I’m the one whose wrong. I’m the one who cries.
I cry – I despise me.”
-“August Winterman,” by Dead Poetic
A lot of the time I get frustrated with like… the world, and life, in general. I a lot of cases bitter, and in a lot of cases depressed… that line like suddenly made perfect sense to me when I was thinking that earlier. I want the rest of the world to be the same way… because… as it is, it’s out of my control. I can’t make things go the way I want them to no matter how hard I try.
I guess I can’t really say that’s what the song is about. But it never really seemed to be about anything to me before, so that’s kind of the meaning I’m attaching to it. I could be dead wrong, but, oh well.
I saw the movie K-19 The Widowmaker last night. It was pretty good, better then I actually expected… kind of sad. From it I determined that radiation poisoning is definately one of the worst ways a person can die. I think it at least equates, and maybe surpasses, burning to death. Burning is over a lot faster.. so.. while there may be more pain at once, it is not spread out over such a great period of time. So.. yeah. Chalk that up as another way I do not want to die. Anyway, the coolest thing, I thought, about the movie… was the perspective it gave you. It’s about a soviet sub, it’s all from the soviet perspective. There’s a scene when they’re showing a video about “American propaganda” to the crew. To see things from their perspective, you really start to like them. I think that a lot of bitterness and hatred could be avoided if people could just be real, share their feelings with each other, and understand.
More coming. I have another topic in mind but I need to think it over a bit before posting.
yeah, i’ve been a bum and haven’t been updating. i’m sorry, i don’t know why… i just haven’t been feeling inspired 🙂 sorry to anyone who’s been disappointed 😉 anyway, i still don’t feel like writing, so i’m not going to at the moment… but i might later today. no promises tho… for now, i leave you with this:
“Set out to find a love, to live a life
To stay awake and clean and pure
And never allow the burdens
And excess of this place to harm you
Like all the rest of those sent here before you
But somehow, somewhere along the way
A scar was sown inside of you
And you thought it was an isolated thing until
Life pushed on and you noticed that the scars were too many.
To count and let go because hate is a part of you
So what happened to the innocent face you once knew?
Now it’s just a reflection of this place.
And you pray and beg that someday you’d escape.
What if I told you that you didn’t have to stay?
What if I told you that peace is real?
What if you heard that there was a better way?
Would you come home if you knew the way?”
-“Twenty-Three,” by Project 86
Well… go to Cornerstone for a week and you completely fall out of the habit of updating your website. Really, this is kind of pathetic… it’s been a long time since I’ve let 4 days pass without updating this… oh well ;).
I had an interesting experience at Burger King last night. Burger King was closed, so the parking lot lights were out, setting the darkness of this little scenario. Cue the creepy horror movie music. A small group of us standing there, talking… getting ready to leave… when we hear this really creepy sounding girl voice coming from the warehouse behind burger king…. and it’s saying…. “pretty boy!!…. come here pretty boy!!!”….. and so it continues… so Jason B and I give each other a look like “what the heck?” and proceed to slowly walk towards the warehouse (at this point I must note, yes, it felt like a horror movie… but despite what you say every time you see a horror movie about how the people are dumb to go and check it out and they should just go away, you would not go away… you would go check it out… ;)). As we got closer we started saying “hey! anybody there?”… and it sort of stopped. So we continued slowly and looking around carefully… and then eventually we get up to where there’s this little alley between the warehouse and another building…. and we look down it, and don’t see anyone at first… then we hear the voice again, and then a second later we see this big black guy.. which kind of startled me at first… big guy, in an alley… 😉 anyway, we then saw this deck thing… and there was some girl up there…. as we found out, apparently she had lost her parrot, which, I am assuming, responds to the name “pretty boy”. So if any of you found a parrot within the last 24 hours that responds to the name “pretty boy”, please deliver it to the lady with the creepy voice that lives behind burger king.
I am returned from Cornerstone.
It was a really cool time. Not quite as much amusing stuff happened this year as last I don’t think, but it was still really cool… let’s see…. xanga people that went with me…. Heather (billythestick), Elliot (zeronitro), Ben (ekulf97), and Jason B (farmerbrown). I guess it’s possible I might be forgetting someone… but ummm… oh well. they’ll live.
Anyway, to share a small bit about it now, I might write more later…. probably my favorite thing out of the whole week was when Reese Roper played his solo acoustic set doing Brave Saint Saturn songs. It was just amazingly cool. It was last minute, and I was so stinking lucky to even be there… hardly anyone was, cuz no one knew about it. Anyway, because of the small numbers, it was a really personal set-up. He was talking to people in the crowd, people would talk back, etc. Anyway, he didn’t get through a single song without messing it up somehow… one or 2 songs he messed up quite badly… once he completely stopped playing in the middle of it :). Another one he totally forgot the words so the crowd started singing it really loud…. It was great. Anyway, at the begginning of the show, he said he had 2 disclaimers to make… the first was that he hadn’t picked up a guitar in 2 months, and the second was that he sucked. Because of that show, and that statement, he has really become my inspiration for playing music, etc. I really want to be able to play guitar and stuff, and I suck at it… and I constantly like go through times when I don’t pick up a guitar for a couple months because I’m so frustrated with it. And he’s doing the same thing and yet is able to do what he wants to do with it. And that is very cool to me. It gives me hope, I guess. Haha.. and his other statement that made me laugh (the whole show made me really really happy) was at the end of a song he messed up really bad on… everyone cheered really really loud…. and he said something to the effect of “Wow, you guys really like this stuff…. have you guys looked around?…. do you realize that there are bands here that can actually play?”
And that is why Reese Roper is cool ;).
Anyway, I am later going to write about Still Breathing, and Ghoti Hook’s last show ever.