The Enemy Among Us

The Enemy Among Us
by Kieth Merrill

The shock of September 11 is subsiding. Each day adds distance. Distance diminishes fear. Cautiously our lives are returning to normal. But “normal” will never be the same again. We have seen the enemy and the enemy is among us.

The terrorists who destroyed the World Trade Center had names. Their infamous faces are now familiar. Our senses have been heightened. Our assumptions challenged.

There is another enemy among us. They also have names and faces. Some you’ll recognize. It is an enemy even more dangerous than fanatics who kill with bombs. Their presence is pervasive. They assault our markets, pollute our airways and infiltrate our homes. They target men, women and children without conscience or discretion.

They perpetrate moral terrorism, disguised in the camouflage of distinguished citizens. They are protected by the freedoms they pervert. Who is this other enemy within?

The publishers, producers, peddlers and purveyors of pornography.

I believe the tragic events of September were inspired by an unholy alliance with evil itself. The ancient War in Heaven continues. Pornography is Satan’s ultimate weapon of mass destruction. It is an anthrax that can kill the soul being dusted into every corner of our lives.

Satan’s diabolic pledge to reign with blood and horror on the earth and possess the hearts and minds of God’s children is not idle folklore. Pornography is a tolerated evil in American society. It is an evil that is increasingly pervasive and invasive. In fact, it is totally out of control.

There are several factors responsible for the explosive growth of pornography in recent years.

The “H-bomb of porn” has been the unstoppable – and irreversible — explosion of the Internet and computer technology allowing simple, inexpensive delivery to multiple millions of consumers world wide.

No Surprise
It comes as no surprise that during the Clinton Administration there was a near-collapse of obscenity enforcement. One of the smut industry’s top peddlers, Dennis Hof, associate of Larry Flynt [Publisher of Hustler Magazine] characterized the pornographers dream years under the Clintons.

“We’ve had eight years of lack of prosecution of a sex industry. Who’s Bill Clinton going to prosecute with all his stuff going on? So the film industry has gone from 1,000 films eight years ago to 10,000 last year. Ten thousand pornographic movie! You’ve got Larry Flynt and Bob Guccione [Penthouse publisher] doing things that 10 years ago you’d go to prison for. Then you’ve got all the internet stuff. ( Hof goes on to describe the almost unbelievable depravity on the internet . His shocking descriptions are not appropriate for this space.) ” [Jenkins, Holman W. Jr, Pornography, Main Street to Wall Street. Policy Review, February & March 2001, pg 7]

A More Disturbing Reality
There is a more disturbing reality. Ten years ago Wall Street and main stream American business would have nothing to do with the business of pornography. Today some of our major corporations are making huge profits from pornography.

“While Wall Street may not brag about it, reputable brokerages have been glad to help porn-related companies win public listings on US stock exchanges. Visa and Mastercard play a large role in the industry by processing its payments [American Express recently stopped processing charges for “adult sites”] They don’t advertise the connection, but respectable companies like AT&T, Time-Warner, and the Hilton hotel chain have quietly become major players in porn distribution.. AOL in a sense, is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Internet porn wave, even though it doesn’t consider itself “in” the porn business.” [Jenkins, Holman W. Jr, Pornography, Main Street to Wall Street. Policy Review, February & March 2001, pg 8]

As a film maker I have been particularly aware of the spreading influence of pornography. As a father and grandfather I have worried about the dangers facing the rising generations of my family. But it was not until this evil enticed, captured and consumed a friend of mine that I recognized it is an enemy among us-moral terrorists in our midst.

In a line up of a hundred men my friend, Daniel, [not his real name] would be the last person you would ever suspect of living a double dark life in the world of pornography. Our association had been personal. Our conversations about spiritual things. More than once we talked about the great need to shield the innocent from images of evil. Daniel is a member of the LDS Church.

More details may invade Daniel’s privacy, but the discovery of his addiction to pornography has been devastating to me, to his family and to our friends. Even more discouraging is his retreat into a world of denial and rationalization rather than remorse and repentance. The enemy has captured one of ours and I fear he may not escape alive.

Prophets plead with us from every pulpit to avoid pornography like the loathsome plague that it is. They admonish us without equivocation to purge our hearts, our minds and eyes of all things pornographic.

President Hinckley has repeatedly condemned pornography . In his First Presidency’s Message, [Ensign, January 2002] he speaks about “Overpowering the Goliaths in our Lives.”

He tells the story of David and Goliath and in his inimitable way turns that historic mismatch into a meaningful metaphor for us in our own faithful battle with evil. Following his statement, “There are Goliaths all around us, hulking giants with evil intent to destroy,” he puts the greatest emphasis on pornography with an urgent admonition, “Avoid pornography as you would a plague.”

President Hinckley goes on to tell the story of a man who lost every precious thing because he indulged himself that first “curious” look and then could not escape. Ultimately the prophet’s story had a happy ending – but only after years of loss and struggle. I whispered a silent prayer for my friend Daniel.

A Cancerous Growth
Like a cancerous growth protected in a petri dish, pornography has mutated and multiplied under the protective glass of the First Amendment. It’s poisonous tentacles have infiltrated every delicate fiber of the world wide web. It is not new information that pornography is a mouse click away on every computer linked to the Internet.

“Nobody knows how big the industry is. The most quoted estimate is $ 5-6 billion in annual sales. The Internet is believed to account for over $1 billion in sales. Adult Video News claims sex videos generate more in sales and rental revenue than legitimate Hollywood manages to earn at the domestic box office.” [Ibid.]

The rising level and graphic depictions of sex and violence in movies and television has been a popular political football since the Hayes office was established in the fifties.

Some wag fingers in righteous indignation at the correlation between violence in movies and otherwise inexplicable acts of violence in the schools and on the streets. Others argue there is not even a casual connection between the “fantasy violence” of movies and television and real life.

Ironically most of the emphasis among media crusaders is on violence rather than sex. I believe that the pervasive social change of the sixties, “make love not war” imbedded itself in our national consciousness.

We can argue about R-rated movies. We can reveal PG-13 as the haven for teenage promiscuity . We can talk about the relative influence of language, sex or violence. We can worry about the increasing exploitation of women and men in sexually oriented advertising – if you’ve not seen an Abercrombie and Fitch catalogue recently, make sure you don’t.

We need to stay aware, on guard, defensive. As media becomes more salacious and popular culture more tolerant to inappropriate themes and offensive images we need to bolster ourselves. The world of media continues to warp its way to ever lower levels of good taste and decency.

A Better Guideline than MPAA
Because of all I have written and spoken on the subject, it is of particular interest to me that the LDS church has elected to abandon the MPAA rating system as a reliable guideline for youth.

In Q & A For the Strength of Youth Pamphlet-Updated, Elder Cecil O. Samuelson Jr, Executive Director of the Priesthood Department states, “It is a doctrinal document but it is also very practical.” As an example, under “Entertainment and the Media” there is no specific mention of any rating system. This is not to be interpreted that the Church approves of R-rated or any other inappropriate movies. It is simply a recognition that there is increasingly great risk in tying ourselves to any rating system.”

The pamphlet for youth says clearly, “Do not attend, view, or participate in entertainment that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way.”

There are many Goliaths in our lives, but as President Hinckley points out, not all of them are 9 feet tall. Carefully selecting the movies that we see, the television we watch, the music that fills our lives, is critically important.

But the dangers of main stream movies, music, TV and books pale in comparison to the devastating destructive power of pornography!

“While Republicans and Democrats are competing to see who can issue the most comprehensive denunciation of Hollywood depravity, they ignore an authentic and unprecedented phenomenon, the revolution in the availability of pornography.” [Ibid.]

President Hinckley warned that “It is almost impossible to entirely avoid exposure to their products. ” [Hinckley, Gordon, Overpowering the Goliaths in our Lives. Ensign, January 2002] Few escape some brief exposure to enticing titles that appear in e-mail or the slippery traps of a curious click.

For most of us the first brush — and blush — is more than enough to understand that even a tiny dose of pornographic poison is ultimately deadly. It must be avoided at all costs, all together, completely.

“One can only speculate here, but pornographic sexual images are different from entertainment sex and violence. They are real. They are processed differently. The ‘suspension of disbelief’ has always been baloney. The fictional media don’t play on the powerful chemical signals that real sexual stimuli activate, producing states of motivation so powerful they can temporarily overwhelm even the strong sensations. [and will] Now this stuff is coming into the homes of people who would otherwise never have encountered it.” [Jenkins] pg 10]

What can we do?
It is easy to feel helpless. From the writings and ranks of anti-porn activists comes a call for courage. “a false sense of helplessness is one of the pornographer’s best allies” they tell us . [Nordlinger, Jay, Getting Aroused, National Review / November 19, 2001. pg 44] .

We must be willing to stand up and stand against the invasion of pornography into our homes, our community and our lives. We can be outspoken. We can make sure our local libraries and schools prohibit access to pornographic sites on the Internet. We can support politicians who do battle with this enemy within. We can voice our opinions to those “respectable businesses” who peddle porn. We can deprive those who profit from porn of our support and business.

Most of all we can make sure that our stance is without the slightest shadow of hypocrisy. We must be vigilant in shielding ourselves and those around us.

No one likes to face the reality that not only is this enemy in our midst, it has captured, conquered and destroyed many. Pornography has poisoned them and “turned them to the dark side of the force”, to borrow George Lucas idiom of speech.

Perhaps you are one of the willing victims of the enemy’s insidious tactic. The typical customer — according to what little information is available about such things — is male, late 30’s or 40’s, reasonably affluent and well educated. But we can be certain that the targets and victims of pornography are far beyond the borders of that narrow sector.

I am bold enough to presume that someone reading this is being tainted by – or wholly immersed in – pornography. Ya, I know, but none of us could have imagined that Daniel was living a double life either.

My brother-in-law was bishop in a ward adjacent to a major university. He told me the single biggest problem among young married couples was pornography-the husband’s addiction or his effort to involve his wife.

Pornography has been identified as the first misstep in numerous broken lives; divorce, disaffections, domestic violence and even serious criminal acts.

The statistic that is most interesting –and very disturbing — is that based on the usage rate of the Adult Pay-Per-View product (i.e., pornographic movies) amongst the cable subscriber base, the data indicates that the percentage of customers that purchase these adult movies on a monthly basis is approximately 33% higher in the Utah cable systems than the national average. This was shared with me in casual conversation with a cable TV industry executive.

Little wonder President Hinckley puts such pointed emphasis on defeating this Goliath threatening our lives.

The Lord has warned us that he does not tolerate a little sin. Likewise, the Savior’s archenemy, Satan, will not be satisfied with a little curiosity. Do not be deceived! Whatever your rationale, if you willingly expose yourself to pornographic images and ideas in the slightest degree you risk more than you can ever imagine.

I urge you to discuss the dangers and devastation of pornography openly with everyone you love. Talk to your spouse. Quiz your teenage kids. Ask your college students point blank if there is a problem with pornography in their life or the environment in which they live. Do they have room mates who indulge? Friends who entice? Parties that display?

If you indulge in pornography at any level, STOP IT NOW.

Bolster your courage and strengthen your resolves. The smallest dose of porn poison is deadly.

The enemy is real and lives among us. An act of terrorism can kill your body in a moment suddenly . An addiction to pornography will kill your soul one image at a time.