The Consequences of Pornography Are Too Extensive to Ignore : Law: The consumer of obscenity contributes to the the degradation of individuals, human love and society.

Recently, an indictment in Alexandria, Va., was brought to our attention. The charges involved a group of men who had plotted to kidnap or purchase a young boy for the purpose of sexually molesting, torturing and then murdering him. The twist was that these men planned to film the whole ordeal for the sexual pleasure of other like-minded citizens--and for profit. They were producers of what is often referred to as a “snuff” film. The tape-recorded words of one of these men note, “I wanna do it one time before I die.” The man was said to be willing to find a boy as young as 12, but one who was 13 or 14 was “more along my lines.”

One is tempted to gasp, then shake off the feeling of shock and horror by reassuring ourselves that the view expressed is that of an infinitesimal minority, and try to forget it. Sadly, however, the consequences of hard-core and child pornography are too extensive to ignore. Their cost to individuals and to society is measured daily in our sexual-abuse rates. In America at least one of four women is sexually assaulted in her lifetime. Conservative estimates put the number of molested children at more than 1 million per year.

Behind these horrendous statistics of abuse are movies like “Bleed, Little Girl, Bleed,” “Young Girls in Heat” and “Kiddie Killer” that stimulate fantasies of sexual mayhem. Understandably, the sad facts of sexual violence--whether in the production or consumption of these illegal materials--are never mentioned in the sales pitches that hard-core vendors use to sell their products.

As a nation that prides itself on defending the human rights of people everywhere, we need a collective determination to eliminate hard-core and child pornography. And such determination is not a challenge to the First Amendment, which we affirm; opposition to obscenity and child pornography falls within the protection of our Constitution.

Lately, we seem to have reached a national consensus on fighting the spread of addictive drugs. There are, unhappily, many similarities between the realities of illegal drugs and the realities of illegal pornography. With each purchase, the “casual” cocaine user contributes to the murderous assault on Colombian society and to escalating drug-related crime in the United States. Elected leaders, at home and abroad, face death threats from cartels because addicted Americans, through their purchases, provide money for hired assassins. So too, in the world of hard-core and child pornography: With each purchase, the “private” consumer of obscenity contributes to the victimization of other human persons and the degradation of individuals, of human love and of society.b

To speak of obscenity and child pornography as we are doing here raises First Amendment concerns for many people. It is a concern that we welcome, because we are religious leaders who cherish and defend the First Amendment as the basis of our religious freedom, as well as our freedoms of speech, assembly and press.

But we need to point out that the First Amendment does not protect obscenity or child pornography. The Supreme Court has ruled time and again that obscenity and child pornography are categorically excluded from constitutional protection. Why? Because they exist at the cost of another human person’s dignity and well-being, and in the worst cases, life.

Obscenity and child pornography, we might note, are not the only forms of speech standing outside First Amendment protection. We are all aware that libel, slander and the proverbial yelling of “Fire” in a crowded theater are also prohibited.

The Justice Department has been criticized for its growing attention to this issue in prosecuting obscenity and child pornography. In many cases, these criticisms are the cry of an $8-billion to $10 billion-per-year “industry” that is feeling the effects of appropriate government action. As persons committed to human dignity and the common good, we are grateful for the Justice department’s efforts and diligence, and we believe most Americans share our gratitude.

We believe that our nation is inherently opposed to the degradation or abuse of any group of citizens. If we continue to pretend that illegal pornography is just harmless “fun,” we will do so at the expense of our national ideals. If we ignore the abuse, degradation and victimization that occurs daily in the world of hard-core and child pornography, we will do so at the expense of our humanity, our conscience as a society, and most of all, at the expense of our collective desire for a country that affirms the dignity of each person.

We believe that just as all people need to stand together to fight racial discrimination, illegal drugs and other social evils, so now we must also stand together against illegal pornography. It must stop; we must and can make it stop, and the time to act is now.