Kiger's Comments

by Wanda Kiger

Feb 2, 2005

‘CAMPAIGN FOR A DECENT SOCIETY’

I would like to tell you about a non-profit group that was founded in 1962 by an interfaith group of New York Clergy to combat the proliferation of pornography in our society.  They call themselves  “Morality in Media”.  Now national in scope, MIM works to curb obscenity and indecency in the marketplace and in the media.  Evidence, common sense and social science research all point to a link between obscenity/indecency and harmful consequences.  In 1968 one of the clergymen was appointed by President Johnson to serve on the Presidential Commission on Obscenity and Pornography.  In 1970 the Commission issued a report recommending that obscenity be legalized for consenting adults.  President Nixon and Congress rejected the report, and in 1973 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld obscenity laws. 

In 1983, a meeting was held at the White House with President Reagan and a number of national leaders concerned about the proliferation of hardcore pornography.  This meeting was instrumental in the formation of the Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography which initiated hundreds of successful obscenity prosecutions against interstate distributors of hardcore porn from 1987-1992. 

Families of faith --and those who hold traditional values close to their hearts—have gotten behind this organization with their support and prayers.  As a result, MIM has added legal staff and opened the National Obscenity Law Center (NOLC) where they have compiled a clearinghouse of information on obscenity law, with a library that includes all published obscenity cases going back to 1800, federal, state and local anti-pornography laws.  NOLC materials are utilized by prosecutors, law enforcement agencies, legislators, law libraries, civic groups and other interested individuals.  The Center is designed to be accessible to save busy prosecutors hours and even days of research/preparation. 

In 2001 MIM strategised a bold new plan to encourage and engage mainstream Americans in a campaign for a decent society.  This campaign is designed to mobilize public support for enforcement of obscenity and related laws in five areas:

1.       They launched a new website, www.obscenitycrimes.org, to provide citizens with a means

online to report violations of federal internet laws.  Reports are forwarded to the Justice Department                      in Washington and to U.S. Attorneys around the nation.

2.     Working towards the adoption of an international treaty prohibiting trans-border transmissions of    obscenity through the Internet and satellite TV.   In 2004, MIM became an NGO in Special Consultative  Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

3.     Conducting a national Safe States and Cities survey to identify state and local obscenity and related   problems, and their solutions, state to state and city to city.

4.      Developing a public communications plan to address existing constituencies more effectively to inform and motivate a broader  audience than MIM is currently reaching.

5.  Collaborating with existing mainstream anti-pornography groups—both religious and secular—who are concerned about the threat obscenity poses to a decent society. 

MIM sponsors a variety of activities such as their annual pornography public awareness week, (White Ribbon Against Pornography), a public inquiry service, media interviews and debates plus publishing a quarterly newsletter for members and a monthly online publication, Especially for Parents.  If you are interested, I can personally recommend some excellent reading material, The Link Between Pornography and Violent Sex Crimes, by Robert Peters and also Pornography’s Effects on Adults & Children, by Dr. Victor B. Cline.  They can be reached at www.moralityinmedia.org or (212) 870-3222, or e-mail: mim@moralityinmedia.org. 

Always remember that each and every community has the right to set their own community standards.   As a reward for tuning in, here’s a chuckle for you…if a man has enough horse sense to treat his wife like a thoroughbred, she will never turn into a nag.