Local parish brings expert to speak about
dangers of pornography
PATRICK TRUEMAN
By
Susan Brinkmann
CS&T
Correspondent
WARRINGTON — With two pornography establishments
located within a mile of its church, St. Joseph Parish was
the perfect place for a talk on the dangers of pornography
by Patrick Trueman, special counsel to the Alliance Defense
Fund and a former head of the Justice Department’s
anti-pornography unit.
In his talk on how to protect
families and communities from pornography, Trueman warned
that the practice has become pervasive in the United
States.
“Priests tell me that every third confession
by a man is [by] one who is involved in pornography,”
Trueman said. “Today, college kids are spending virtually
all of their spare time looking at pornography.”
He
said the regular use of pornography gives men a sense of
entitlement to sex, according to recent findings in the
Journal of Research in Personality.
“This study
found that 60 percent of males said there was some
likelihood that if they thought they would not get caught,
they would be willing to force a woman to do something
sexual that she didn’t want, even rape her,” Trueman said.
In addition, he said, “Marriage counselors are
reporting that one of the top reasons why men leave their
wives is pornography.”
Another danger is that
consumers of pornography can become consumers of child
pornography, Trueman said. They start by viewing
16-year-olds, he said, then move to 14-year-olds, then
12-year-olds, and before long they are viewing pornography
involving 6-year-olds.
Regarding child abuse and sex
trafficking, Trueman recounted the story of a 19-year-old,
American-born Korean girl who was sold into the sex slavery
industry in Las Vegas and spent two years living in a
“warehouse” with other children — who averaged 12-years-of
age — who were forced to have sex several times a day with
men. He said the Korean girl witnessed the murders of
children who contracted AIDS or other sexually transmitted
diseases.
Trueman said the number one thing
individuals can do to protect themselves and their families
from pornography is to avoid viewing it even
once.
Computer software can block the sites from
adults as well as children, Trueman said. He added that
parents also should install computer spy-ware that enables
them to check where their children are going online, and
with whom they are talking.
He said communities
should protect themselves by passing ordinances that tightly
control pornographic businesses, and customers should
complain when they see porn at their local stores. More
often than not, complaining gets results, Trueman said.
His talk was sponsored by the Kings Men, a local
Catholic men’s organization that opposes
pornography.
“We thought, ‘Why not open this up to
the whole community …,’” said Mark Houck, cofounder of the
group. “There’s so many people who want to help but don’t
know how. The goal of having Patrick here today is to
educate us and inspire us and motivate us to get
involved.”
Contact Susan Brinkmann at
fiat723@aol.com or (215) 965-4615.
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