My city hates porn and I hate my city.

[poppameth1]

I live in a small town dominated by overly aggressive Christians. Recently someone decided to open up a full fledged porn store here. Before this we've had some darkened nooks in the back of a couple of video stores. The results are as follows.

Summary:
http://augustafreepress.com/2008/01...e-prosecution-of-x-rated-films-affects-books/

Some Background:
http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/11839336.html

http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/10962631.html

http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/10981706.html

First Verdict:
http://newsleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll...6/NEWS01/808160318&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

http://newsleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080816/NEWS01/808160317

http://www.newsleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880815006

http://www.newsleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880815007

http://www.newsleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880815008


Basically, he is being tried on obscenity charges. No really! Porn is obscene? And of course he'll end up paying fines and what not while the self righteous pat themselves on the back. The next major town close to us, Harrisonburg, VA has two or three major porn stores, one of which is only a couple of blocks from a church, and has never had any issues with this. The residence of that city are commenting on how Staunton has nothing better to do with it's time that prosecute innocent business owners. I concur!

 

[Bashiku]

Move to Serbia... here you can find anything anywhere for the right price... 🙂

 

[morgandee]

haha, virginia, go figure

i was going to think it was utah at first

 

[Journia]

You know, this all brings me back to something T.E. Lawrence once said. Hold on While I lok it up.

EDIT:
I can't find the book...messy messy Journia. I'll have it later.

 

[melanie2]

You know, this all brings me back to something T.E. Lawrence once said. Hold on While I lok it up.

neato..you read him also?? cool..

and i know certain states where sex toys are illegal..i mean gesh..what one does in their own home etc...

hmm my husband thinks all these tickle sites are porn..one man's porn etc..

 

[Mercury1]

It's situations like that, and others along the same lines, that I decided Christianity was not for me. If it doesn't hurt other people, and all parties concerned are consentual, who the hell cares?

 

[morgandee]

oh wow, so much disenfranchisement from christianity, even jesus is getting away from it all

 

[Journia]

oh wow, so much disenfranchisement from christianity, even jesus is getting away from it all

oriya...you are my online brother!!!!

 

[MistressValerie1]

I loathe the moral busybodies who insist on telling everyone else how to live

 

[leenotler]

Many years ago, an Ohio town (20,000 people) where I used to live, did something similar. The adult book store survived the prosecutor's attacks, the billboard across the street showing a crying little girl with the words "Pornography hurts women and children", the cops recording the license numbers of customers for possible prosecution, and the picketers. It's still there, and none of the predicted horrors occurred, but we never learn.
The self righteous still try to force their beliefs on others and call it freedom.

 

[tickle_monster]

well I am a christain, and even though I have a foot fetish/tickle fetish.. I do not like porn. it brings in all kinds of other things as well , Like prostitution and drugs, and I belive it is a comunities right to clean up a neighborhood, Everybody deserves to be in a safe envirorment, NOW in saying that , if that is what you wish to look at, you have the right, BUT I also have the right not to have it where I live.....and by the way you cannot judge christianity by a a few knuckleheads who twists Gods words...find out for yourself not by some rich evangilist , mmmm it is easier for camel to go thru an eye of the needle than a rich man to go thru the gates of Heaven.

 

[Dr. Bill Kobb]

:question: But...what if pron IS your religion?

 

[Violetta]

well I am a christain, and even though I have a foot fetish/tickle fetish.. I do not like porn. it brings in all kinds of other things as well , Like prostitution and drugs, and I belive it is a comunities right to clean up a neighborhood, Everybody deserves to be in a safe envirorment, NOW in saying that , if that is what you wish to look at, you have the right, BUT I also have the right not to have it where I live.....and by the way you cannot judge christianity by a a few knuckleheads who twists Gods words...find out for yourself not by some rich evangilist , mmmm it is easier for camel to go thru an eye of the needle than a rich man to go thru the gates of Heaven.

Proof before dogma. I'd like to actually see some evidence that links pornography to prostitution and substance abuse.

And as much as you may claim a right to not have a porn store where you live, what about those who you said have the right to look at it? Are they supposed to enjoy the right but not the ability? After all, no one's forcing you to go into the store, but you're saying it's alright to deny others the chance to get their jollies the way they want.

 

[jts963]

well I am a christain, and even though I have a foot fetish/tickle fetish.. I do not like porn. it brings in all kinds of other things as well , Like prostitution and drugs, and I belive it is a comunities right to clean up a neighborhood, Everybody deserves to be in a safe envirorment, NOW in saying that , if that is what you wish to look at, you have the right, BUT I also have the right not to have it where I live.....and by the way you cannot judge christianity by a a few knuckleheads who twists Gods words...find out for yourself not by some rich evangilist , mmmm it is easier for camel to go thru an eye of the needle than a rich man to go thru the gates of Heaven.

Wrong, a legal sex shop has nothing more to do with crime (street prostitution, drugs) than any other legal business (e.g., hotels, motels and liquor stores). It's the job of local law enforcement to focus on the actual criminals and leave the legitimate businesses and their legitimate clients alone. If a business is facilitating crime, it can be put out of business on that basis, but pornography itself is not a crime because whether you like or not, we do not live in a theocracy.

BTW almost all the hardcopy porn magazines have gone out of business thanks to the internet, so people aren't just hanging out in the stores thumbing through magazines anymore, they're just buying dvds and sex toys and taking them home.

 

[melanie2]

what does being a Christian have to do with anything? i'm a Christian, and i visit so called porn sites online..i'm doomed...doomed...doomed....

 

[poppameth1]

what does being a Christian have to do with anything? i'm a Christian, and i visit so called porn sites online..i'm doomed...doomed...doomed....

Being Christian doesn't necessarily have anything to do with it. It just happens that the people who are making a huge deal about this always want to throw their bibles at you as justification.

This store is a plain gray building with papered windows so you can't see inside. They don't overtly advertise in any way. As soon as you walk through the door you get carded each and every time. I hardly ever see anyone there, especially not anyone loitering around selling drugs or sex.

Hell we've had two regular video stores in town for several years with their back room selection of pornographic material and nothing has come of it. But when a store caters to porn alone, then we have a problem. Hell even the trial was a joke. The jury didn't have a problem with Sugar Britches but they draw the line at the Gangbang video. Top that off with the fact that Prosecutor Raymond C. Robertson thinks that the only pornographic material in the city was a selection of videos at a mom and pop shop several years ago that he had taken out and it becomes apparent that he's a moron. News of the other shops selling smut in town was all over the place while the charges were being made to After Hours Video and he still acts like he doesn't know a thing about any other porn stores.

 

[melanie2]

o holy roller type of Christians then...they give it a bad name if you ask me..

and i love your siggy quote...the hills have butterflies lol...

 

[Journia]

well I am a christain, and even though I have a foot fetish/tickle fetish.. I do not like porn. it brings in all kinds of other things as well , Like prostitution and drugs, and I belive it is a comunities right to clean up a neighborhood, Everybody deserves to be in a safe envirorment, NOW in saying that , if that is what you wish to look at, you have the right, BUT I also have the right not to have it where I live.....and by the way you cannot judge christianity by a a few knuckleheads who twists Gods words...find out for yourself not by some rich evangilist , mmmm it is easier for camel to go thru an eye of the needle than a rich man to go thru the gates of Heaven.

I hear that all the way.

 

[poppameth1]

o holy roller type of Christians then...they give it a bad name if you ask me..

and i love your siggy quote...the hills have butterflies lol...

The Hills Have Butterfleyes is actual a parody type of comic I was working on at one point. I never finished it but I think what I had was pretty funny. You can see it at http://gideond.deviantart.com/gallery/ along with the beginning pieces of a new series I started work on called: Spooged! Life's a Sticky Mess!

 

[Mercury1]

Where I live, we have a Stag shop right next to a Sin City, near downtown. both of those are literally next door to a pizza shop... So you get dinner and sex. Good combo. 😛 And the Stag shop isn't even papered, so you can see right in... But they've both been there for at least the 14+ years I've lived here...

 

[Cbarton]

The Supreme Court ruled many years ago that (1) Obscenity is NOT protected under freedom of speech and that (2) a community standard can be set to what is and is not acceptable.

I have seen up front what porn addictions can do to men, women and children. Why is it wrong for a group to rise up and say we want a higher standard? Sure, paint all us Christians as Bible-thumping, torch carrying fanatics. After all, that's what the drive-by media wants you to believe. All we are in reality are people concerned about our families, our kids and the overabundant sexual victimization out there.

If a store was selling something switchblades over the counter, and hundreds of people were stabbing each other and slitting throats, the community would cry out against it and try to stop it. Many of us look at hard-core porn the same way. It degrades people. leads to serious addictions. And yes, Sammi, there ARE studies that show a link between porn use and violent crimes with and without sexual actions in the crimes. I've read them.

My wife was raped by a porn fiend. I've dealt with the damage done FIRST HAND! If a community wants to set a standard, let them. If you don't like it, work to change it. After all, we all have standards, just some people set them lower than others.

For the last 40+ plus years, I've watched the lowering of standards crammed down the throats of people with views like us. Frankly, just because we don't lower ourselves to guttural standards doesn't make us "prudes" or "good-two shoes" or "sexually repressed mind numbed robots (all of which I have been called to my face). We stand up for what is right and what the law says.

If you don't like it, try to get the law changed. And for heaven's sake, don't act like a poor victim of oppresion when you get resistance. Believe it or not, there are more of us out here than you think...

 

[Journia]

Just for the record,
I was thinking about the bible thumping county prosecutor with the unusual lighting effects.

 

[TyrantRaveAB]

as the saying goes "your rights end where mine begin"

 

[morgandee]

if raping is outlawed only outlaws will rape !!! think about it men

 

[the_jimmy_james]

First, I'm not pulling punches. If you're touchy, don't read what I'm about to say. You're warned.

Second, I will define two things. Faith. Faith is a personal belief. I have faith in Jesus and God. Religion is an organization based on dogma. I have no faith in religion.

Everybody needs faith. Faith empowers. Faith gives us hope. Faith liberates.

Religion controls. Religion tears down. Religion subjugates.

Who needs Liberty? Let's just replace the Bill of Rights with the Ten Commandments, replace the courts with a Holy Council, and make the President an ordained position...

Religion, after all, is what a government needs! Everybody needs RELIGION to tell them how to think, what to do, what's right and wrong, and even how to worship!

Religion's never been responsible for atrocities. Noooo. People haven't burned, tortured, disemboweled, hanged or imprisoned others in the name of religion. People haven't strapped bombs to themselves or flown aircraft into buildings because of religion.

Oh wait. Yeah they have. Inquisitions, witch hunts, jihads, crusades. That's what happens in the name of religion.

Denying another their Liberty is the first step down a slippery slope. If TV preachers can justify denying people Liberty through religion, then they can justify incarceration, torture and murder.

No, sir. I don't like it. I'm against religion-based lawmaking. I want people to have morals and faith, not be controlled by religion.

Thank you.