JUNE-JULY 2005 NEWSLETTER

A REVIEW OF THE PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES OF THE LIGHTED CANDLE SOCIETY DURING THE 2005 CALENDAR YEAR

We note with great appreciation the success of our annual award dinner held on the evening of Friday, May 6^th. Congressman Chris Cannon was our featured speaker and presented a powerful endorsement of the work that is being done by the Lighted Candle Society and other organizations with a similar commitment. Seventeen year old Jennifer Gulbrandsen, a recent graduate of Timpview High School in Provo, delivered a talk entitled “Mind Over Media” that brought the audience to their feet with a standing ovation. The 2005 “Guardian of the Light” award was presented to Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. There was literally only standing room left for latecomers in the ballroom of the University Marriott Hotel where the event was held.

During the first six months of 2005 we have pursued objectives that we believe will have the greatest potential for success in wining the war against the production and distribution of pornography. These objectives include:

1. The preparation of evidence to be submitted in an appropriate court of law regarding the use of cable networks and satellite transmission to broadcast pornography into homes.

2. The creation of a comprehensive data base to be used by attorneys and other researchers with regard to preventing the establishment of sexually oriented businesses in a community.

3. The recruitment of attorneys and special witness experts to assist the Lighted Candle Society in preparing legal briefs, position papers, “op-ed” newspaper columns etc regarding the addictive nature of pornography.

4. The preparation and distribution of two thousand DVD s containing interviews with former pornography addicts and their testimony of the destructive nature of pornography.

5. The distribution of financial assistance to other organizations engaged in the battle against pornography.

6. The continued pursuit of the financing and technical assistance necessary to utilize functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging technology to demonstrate the destructive nature of pornography upon the human brain.

7. Responding to numerous requests to speak to audiences regarding the dangers and tragedies associated with involvement with pornography.

8. Referring to trained therapists numerous appeals for assistance from individuals and families who have had a member of their family become deeply involved with pornography.

Our web site is: www.lightedcandlesociety.org

HOW WHITE PORNOGRAPHY IS DESTROYING BLACK FAMILIES

A phenomenon within the black community since at least the early 1970’s can be traced back to the effect of white pornography upon black men and boys. To understand how this has happened one must compare the circulation by sales and subscription of the three most prevalent pornography magazines with that of the most popular of the magazines specifically marketed to black males. The analysis reveals that roughly twice as many black men subscribe to or purchase one or more of these three pornographic magazines as subscribe to or purchase the most popular magazine specifically marketed to black men.

Hence, white and black – in fact all users – will imagine themselves ravishing the fair young “centerfolds.” For years pornographic magazines have extolled the use of alcohol and often even drugs when demonstrating how to successfully molest. As pornography fuses lust with fear, hostility and shame, the same confused mix of emotions are aroused in black as well as white male users. White pornography undermines marital satisfaction among white couples. In addition, some black women complain bitterly that many black men, inundated with white pornography, ignore the charm and beauty of black women and instead consider it a badge of honor to obtain a white woman for sex (or marriage). These themes of sex, drugs, and alcohol overwhelmingly dominate the so-called “rap music” that is the daily fare of seventy to eighty percent of black teenagers.

The net effect of the “White pornography in the Black Community” paradigm has been to severely exacerbate the shortage of black men who are willing and able to establish a family unit within their own race. A recent issue of the Howard Center publication, The Family in America, further highlighted the frustration of black women seeking to establish a stable family with a father figure committed to the family by marriage. Not only are homosexuality and AIDS devastating the black population beyond their numbers, summarizing a study originally printed in The American Sociological Review (69:151-169, 2004) the Howard Center notes that “…30 percent of (black men) thirty five years and younger, without a college education, had been in prison; among black male high school dropouts the percentage is 60 percent.”

THE INCREDIBLE WORLD WIDE

TRAFFIC IN CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

No facet of the pornography industry is more vile than the use of children to produce and distribute obscene photographs of these children in sexually explicit situations. With all of the other denials that come from those who produce and distribute pornography, their claim that there is “no evidence” that the use of these photographs leads to destructive behavior by the pornography consumer is the most hypocritical. Each week the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children receives between five and six thousand reports from law enforcement agencies around the United States of crimes against children. The overwhelming majority of these crimes involve sexual abuse of a child.

The following items are taken from a summary issued by the United States Department of Justice of the results of law enforcement efforts to locate those distributing child pornography over the Internet:

“Investigators in California arrested a 40-year-old male who had countless images of underage girls on the wall of his bedroom. A search of his computer revealed thousands of images of child pornography along with photos and images of actual victims of his sexual abuse of local children.”

“In Nebraska authorities arrested a suspect on charges of sexually assaulting a child who was the young daughter of a couple with whom he had been staying. A search of his computer found 10 images of child pornography.”

“Investigators in New York arrested a suspect who molested two girls, ages 6 and 8. An examination of the suspect’s computer revealed hundreds of child pornographic images and movies.”

“A federal grand jury in Texas indicted a 28-year-old man on charges of distributing images of child pornography from his home computer and possession of child pornography. According to court documents, a file containing movies depicting children being sexually assaulted had been made available for sharing from the suspect’s computer. The suspect is currently being held without bond on charges filed in another state involving the sexual assault of a six-year-old child.”

“Undercover operations have identified more than 3,000 computers world wide using peer-to-peer networks to share child pornography. Federal officials have arrested nearly 6,000 people over the past two years on child-pornography charges.”

“A corporate executive who also held an appointed position in state government was indicted on charges of downloading child pornography including a movie entitled “Real Child Rape.” His computer contained more than 12,000 files of child pornography.”

“CHOOSE YE THIS DAY WHOM YE WILL SERVE.”

Joshua

We have previously reported the response given by a noted business leader to whom we appealed for financial support for the Lighted Candle Society when he said,

“ everyone knows that pornography is available, and everyone knows that it is bad. This whole business has nothing to do with me…”

The fact is that in the last decade the pervasiveness and corruption of pornography has begun to impact everyone’s life. It is no longer acceptable to simply shrug one’s shoulders and assert that the presence of this monster has nothing to do with you or your family. The enormous amount of human suffering that is the direct result of the deceitfulness of the conspiring men and women who produce and market pornography is the responsibility of all of us. One day divine justice will hold accountable those who could have and should have used their abilities, their time, and their resources to stop this epidemic before it engulfs our entire civilization.

On the first page of this report we note a number of the activities of the Lighted Candle Society. All of these endeavors are capable of relieving some of the human suffering that is daily taking place because of the world-wide pornography conspiracy. We appeal to all who read this newsletter to ask themselves once again if they have done enough, assuming they have done anything at all, to participate in the work of preserving a society of dignity, decency, and virtue for our posterity.

We appeal to you to visit our web site to learn more of how you can assist in this work. Our web site can be located at www.lightedcandlesociety.org. Our offices are located in Washington, D.C., and in Salt Lake City, Utah. Following are some suggestions as to how you might help:

1. Subscribe to the LCS newsletter for friends or members of your family.
2. Participate in our monthly “light a candle” program by arranging to make an automatic monthly donation. The details on how to participate in this program are found on our web site.
3. Purchase some of the materials that have been prepared by the LCS and distribute those to community leaders, ecclesiastical leaders, teachers and media sources.
4. Request that we arrange for a member of our speakers bureau to come and speak to your service club, religious group, or youth activity group.
5. Inform us of any activity involving the potential establishment of a sexually oriented business in your community.
6. Make certain that your elected officials are aware of the fact that you and your family are expecting them to be unyielding in opposition to the production and distribution of pornography in any form.
7. Be aware of what is happening in your local schools regarding the subtle introduction of sexually oriented materials designed to seduce young people into the grasp of pornography addiction.

OUR WEB SITE IS: www.lightedcandlesociety.org