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Jim Smith at 364 3189

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MAJOR ANTI-PORNOGRAPHY PROGRAM SCHEDULED

FOR 12 MAY IN SALT LAKE CITY

John L. Harmer, the Chairman of the Lighted Candle Society, announced today the details of a major anti-pornography meeting scheduled for the evening of 12 May, 2004, at the Hilton Hotel in Salt Lake City. At the event presentations will be made by two internationally recognized experts regarding the addictive nature of pornography, Dr. Victor Cline, Ph.D, of Salt Lake City, and Dr. Judith Reisman, Ph.D, of Granite Bay, California. “We anticipate that the presentations by these two world class experts regarding the addictive nature of pornography will create an entirely new paradigm for the individuals and organizations opposing the production and distribution of pornography,” said Harmer. “Dr. Cline and Dr. Reisman represent a combined total of more than sixty years of clinical experience and neurological research into the addictive nature of pornography.”

The Lighted Candle Society is a charitable educational entity with offices in Washington, D.C. and Salt Lake City, Utah. “The mission of the Lighted Candle Society is to finance scientific research regarding the impact of pornography upon the mind of the individual who becomes addicted to pornography,” continued Harmer. “The work that Dr. Cline and Dr. Reisman have accomplished up to this time confirms that it is now possible to scientifically document the literal destruction of critical brain functions because of the impact of pornographic images upon the brain. The presentations that will be made by Dr. Cline and Dr. Reisman on the evening of May 12th will provide those who are engaged in seeking to eliminate the production and distribution of pornography with entirely new clinically verifiable data confirming the damaging impact of pornography upon the entire neurological system.”

Harmer noted that clinical psychologists have known for years that the consumption of pornography leads to critical mind altering changes destructive of mental and emotional health. “It has only been in the last decade that we could utilize functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) devices to actually look at the brain while it is working and to measure the physical impact upon the brain cells of various types of imagery. “We now have confirmation that sexually explicit images, particularly those that are accompanied by physical violence, are processed by the brain in such as manner as to seriously impair the ability of the pornography addict to control his behavior,” said Harmer.

“The Lighted Candle Society has a variety of action programs,” said Harmer, “of which the fMRI research is the most exciting and the most expensive. However, we are also engaged in working with law enforcement officials in various parts of the country in their responsibility to enforce the criminal laws that prohibit the production and distribution of pornography. We produce and distribute a monthly newsletter that informs our members regarding the various ways in which the pornography industry is desensitizing the people of America regarding the vile materials that they produce and distribute.”

Harmer was intensely critical of the outrageous way in which the pornography industry is now using a variety of means to entrap young people into an addiction to pornography. “They have entered into contracts with the music groups that are particularly popular among young teenagers,” said Harmer. “These performers are now producing videocassette recordings of their music along with extremely graphic sexual materials, much of which is obscene under existing law. The problem is that parents who should be demanding that their elected officials deal with the production and distribution of this material know nothing about it. The tragedy is that their children know all about it.”

Harmer urged concerned citizens to visit the web site of the Lighted Candle Society at www.lightedcandlesociety.org so that they could learn more of the organization’s work and of the various way in which individual citizens can participate in the battle against pornography. “The Lighted Candle Society maintains a continual surveillance of the various ways and means by which the pornographers are marketing their products. We report these findings in our newsletters and post them on our web site so that our members will know and understand how to protect themselves and their loved ones from entrapment into pornography addiction. The war in which we are engaged is one that will ultimately determine the survival of the republic,” said Harmer, “it is a war that we must win if our society is to survive.”

END