WWW- The following is an editorial from www.commonvoice.com: There is rarely a week that goes by that I don’t have to deal with, at some level, the consequences of today’s access to and availability of pornography. It is literally everywhere. It is entrapping men and particularly teenaged boys at a rate that is nothing short of stunning. I don’t have the research to back it up (yet), but I suspect that in excess of 50% of today’s men in typical churches are or have been struggling with it.
It’s an emerging problem because of the three “A’s” — It’s available, anonymous and affordable. This is because of the internet. To some men, it is every bit as much of a problem of addiction as is alcohol or drugs. In fact, there is some recent medical evidence that it is addictive for some of the same reasons that cause people to get addicted to alcohol or drugs.
I’ve long been a proponent of two strategies for dealing with pornography in our country.
The first is by establishing “pornography” zones. In libraries, it would require a special card and it must be kept behind locked doors and away from children, teens and registered sex offenders. (For the record, I’m against having ANY pornography in the library – or anywhere else for that matter- but the 1st Amendment is the 1st Amendment and the rulings of judges are the rulings of judges — therefore, we have to live in the world in which we live.)
In cities, there are often “adult entertainment” zones — away from schools, churches and neighborhoods, for example. Perhaps we could limit the sale and distribution of pornography to stores not frequented by children or during certain hours or only in certain locations.
On the internet, establish a domain (which could be blocked by an ISP or subscriber) and require all pornographic content to register under that domain. There was a recent “effort” made to bring this about, but in effect it would have permitted pornography purveyors to use BOTH the porno domain and the current domains. Duh….that kind of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?
Now here’s another radical idea…
I can’t believe I’m about to write this. I’m still shaking my head in disbelief and re-examining whether or not I really mean it, but yes, I’m actually going to say it. “I have found a tax I would like to recommend be imposed on citizens.” There, I said it and the sky didn’t fall.
I’ve always been a major-league proponent of letting me keep as many of my tax dollars as possible and for keeping as many dollars as possible out of the hands and pockets of politicians. I still am. To my credit, I have also found a way to recommend a new tax and I am pleased to tell you that this new tax will never take a single buck out of my pocket.
My suggestion? I think we should encourage our lawmakers to put a 100% tax on pornography. That’s right. One hundred percent. If you want to rent a pornographic movie, then it would cost you ten bucks, instead of five (assuming that it does cost five bucks to rent a pornographic movie – I am naïve on the subject.) If you want to buy a Hustler or Penthouse, double the price with half of it going to a tax. If you want to buy a drink in an adult bar, have an adult video channel on cable, buy any sort of pornography at an adult bookstore, be prepared to pay the tax.
We tax tobacco at ever-increasing rates with the justification that it increases health care costs and requires regulation because of its negative impact. Some states are trying to tax it high enough that people will get so tired of paying the taxes they’ll quit smoking – not a bad idea if you ask me. We tax alcohol using some of the same rationalizations – as well we should.
What I’m recommending is that we tax the life right out of this nasty, destructive, addictive and scurrilous industry. We should take the tax dollars and apply them to programs that help women who are victims of those inspired by pornography. We could assist children who now live in poverty because mom and dad’s marriage broke up over pornography. We should fund studies on the detrimental effects of pornography. We should help men addicted to pornography to break free from their enslavement. We should work to protect runaway teens who often get sucked into the pornography industry. There are lots of places we could put the tax dollars reaped to good use.
And there would be a lot of tax dollars reaped, for sure. The pornography business ( and I refuse to call it “adult-oriented business” that’s like calling the murder-for-hire business the “life-transition-assistance business”) — the PORNOGRAPHY business is a big business that reaps billions of dollars annually from weak and irresponsible men and in doing so they exploit thousands of women who are involved in the smut and countless others who are betrayed or abused by men who get involved with the stuff.
If we can tax tobacco, alcohol, gasoline, groceries, airline tickets, phone calls and athletic tickets, we can certainly tax pornography as a special class worthy of additional taxation. In doing so, we single it out for being the destructive force it is in society. There is a direct correlation between the power to tax and the power to rule. Some call it (with tongue-in-cheek) the “golden rule” – “He who has the gold makes the rules.” Government can use its power for our good or for our detriment.
Recently, the state of Missouri has been exploring this as an option. I hope that other states will consider doing the same. Already, the lawyers and the ACLU are rattling their sabers as to how this might be a violation of the First Amendment. Hogwash. Let’s see what happens. At the very least, it would put the pornographers on the defensive.
End of rant.