Real estate agent and self-appointed arbiter of American morality James Lambert has identified a “new” scourge being disseminated via the Internet – reality porn.In a guest commentary written for the Christian news site Agape Press, Lambert asserts that “every day these Internet sites entrap and enslave men” and “untold thousands of men and boys are being swept into viewing porn by these new reality sites.”
Uh… these “new” reality sites, you say?
This just in Mr. Lambert – President Kennedy has been shot!!
I suppose we can excuse Lambert for thinking reality porn is new; presumably he doesn’t spend much time surfing porn and isn’t one of the “untold thousands” who has been “swept into viewing porn.”
(Side note: Perhaps Lambert could write an advice column on how men can resist porn’s siren call? How has he managed to abstain, unlike these otherwise morally upstanding men who have become “entrapped” by porn sites?)
“Reality porn sites, as other forms of pornography, strip away the moral fabric of our society,” writes Lambert. “Their message is that group sex is okay, that infidelity is normal, that a physical sex act means nothing between ‘consenting adults,’ and that multiple partnering is acceptable.”
(Another side note: I’ll bet you will find that a fair percentage of Americans who think much of what Lambert lamented above is both “okay” and “acceptable”… just a thought.)
Lambert lays some of the blame at the feet of “liberal jurists” who he says “continue to protect porn millionaires and obscenity pushers” and a Department of Justice that has demonstrated “apathy in enforcing obscenity laws.”
While Lambert does appear to understand, to some degree, that the scenarios presented on reality sites are “set up,” he contends that some of the female participants do not realize that “once their images are caught on tape, they will be shown countless times over the worldwide web.”
It is open to question whether the above statement implies Lambert has actual reason to believe the producers in question are operating without proper model releases or that the statement indicates Lambert simply isn’t aware that affirmative consent is required in order to film/produce/distribute sexually explicit images of such models’ legally.
Lambert also asserts, without citing any specific websites, videos, video lines or production companies by name, that it’s “obvious that these 21st-century smut peddlers are taking advantage of college-age kids by getting them intoxicated and involving them in a situations (sic) that are way over their head.”
Perhaps Lambert avoids mentioning anyone by name because Lambert knows the claim voiced above, if directed at a specific individual or company, and if false, could constitute libel and/or defamation of character? Heaven forbid! I’m sure he just didn’t want to give another “obscenity pusher” any free publicity….
Lambert’s commentary does contain one reasonable piece of advice – namely that parents should take measures of their own to keep their children from being exposed to pornography. Lambert’s commentary is more than just a cautionary tale for Christian parents, however; it is a call to political arms, as well.
“We need to protect our families from liberal judges who continue to insult us with their wacky decisions that support these obscenity peddlers,” Lambert pontificates. “We need to vote out of office politicians who will not enforce laws that are designed to protect society from this immoral filth.”
Liberal judges making “wacky” decisions, eh?
This particular critique, coming from a guy who asserts that porn websites are “enslaving” men, strikes me as the rhetorical equivalent of a massive stone which Lambert has just hurled across the living room of his glass house…
The full text of Lambert’s column can be found here: http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/4/132006gst.asp
