Christian Leaders Take Steps to Combat the Porn Epidemic

The 7-Eleven convenience store chain has been hit by another boycott. And later this month the retail chain will be picketed by citizens who are tired of seeing pornographic magazines on the stores’ shelves.

Meeting last month in Cincinnati, more than 350 Christian leaders voted to boycott all 7-Eleven stores that continue to sell pornographic magazines. The leaders called for a nationwide picket of 7-Eleven and other stores on October 27. The National Federation for Decency (NFD) has called 7-Eleven the nation’s largest retailer of pornographic magazines (CT, Sept. 7, 1984, p. 72).

The Consultation on Pornography, Obscenity and Indecency was organized by Citizens Concerned for Community Values (CCCV), a group founded by Jerry Kirk, pastor of Cincinnati’s College Hill Presbyterian Church.

In addition to the 7-Eleven picket and boycott, participants voted to urge President Reagan to instruct the U.S. Justice Department to enforce federal obscenity laws. They also voted to work toward establishing federal and state laws to regulate cable television programming.

Some of the meeting’s speakers documented pornography’s growing depravity. Movies such as Ravaged Music Teacher and books such as How to Molest a Child can be found at many of the 480 pornographic movie houses and 18,000 “adult” bookstores that contribute to the $6 billion to $8 billion pornogaphy industry. NFD executive director Donald Wildmon showed portions of porn movies and displayed obscene magazines and books. Wildmon says Christians “don’t even know what we’re talking about when we say ‘porno.’ … We’re not just fighting dirty pictures and dirty words.”

Other speakers described the success of antipornography efforts in several cities around the country. The city of Cincinnati enacted a “display law” that ensures that retail stores selling pornographic magazines keep them covered and out of the hands of minors.

In Fort Wayne, Indiana, a chapter of Citizens for Decency through Law organized pickets to protest massage parlors and adult bookstores. In one demonstration, pickets walked four abreast in a parade that stretched seven blocks long. The group’s ongoing protests paid off. Massage parlors and adult bookstores were closed, and offenders were prosecuted.

“It’s the citizens who define what pornography is and the quality of life they will have,” said Fort Wayne Mayor Win Moses. “Public officials are often shackled by public acceptance.”

An Indianapolis study showed that crime increased and property values dropped in areas surrounding adult entertainment businesses. As a result, Mayor William Hudnut, a former Presbyterian clergyman, sought zoning ordinances to control the spread of such businesses.

In addition, the Indianapolis city council in April adopted an ordinance that enables women to file civil suits against businesses that sell or display violent and dehumanizing pornography. The law gives women the right to claim that such material is a violation of their civil rights. The measure was challenged in court within hours of being signed into law, but Hudnut vows he will fight “all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.”

The church, as well, is taking a more active role in the fight against pornography. The general assembly of the Church of God, Anderson, Indiana, in June adopted a three-page proposal for churchwide involvement. Paul Tanner, executive secretary of the church’s executive council, said the denomination’s autonomous form of government allows its congregations to “implement it creatively in ways that are appropriate.… I can’t tell you 2,300 [Church of God] churches will picket 7-Elevens. They won’t. But some of them will.”

Morton A. Hill, a Catholic priest who founded Morality in Media, said the Roman Catholic church is becoming more aware of the pornography problem. A pastoral letter on obscenity was read last month to the 2.25 million Catholics in Los Angeles, urging them to seek the enforcement of obscenity laws.

The antipornography movement is gaining momentum. Kirk is leading the search for a full-time executive director for CCCV. The organization also plans to set up offices outside the walls of College Hill Presbyterian Church.

STEVE RABEYin Cincinnati

North American Scene

Four Protestant denominations and the National Association of Evangelicals have joined a lawsuit challenging U.S. diplomatic recognition of the Vatican. The suit is being spearheaded by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Churches joining the suit include the Presbyterian Church (USA), the American Baptist Churches, Church of the Brethren, and the Progressive National Baptist Convention. The Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs, representing nine Baptist denominations, plans to support the suit by filing a friend-of-the-court brief.

Former President Jimmy Carter says he doesn’t feel “compatible” with the dominance of conservative leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). He told Baptist Press that conservatives have hurt the denomination’s missions emphasis, and that they are tied to a philosophy exemplified by Moral Majority. Carter said it would be inappropriate for him “to try to organize or lead a movement of moderates to recapture the Southern Baptist Convention.” The former President is a deacon at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia.

The Reformed Ecumenical Synod has declared that any theological defense of apartheid should be regarded as heresy. Apartheid is South Africa’s policy of racial segregation. The synod also asked its largest affiliate, the South African Dutch Reformed Church, and the smaller Reformed Church in South Africa to report within two years “what each has done to reevaluate its position” on apartheid. The synod claims 5.5 million members in more than 30 affiliated denominations around the world.

A judge has ruled that New York Mayor Ed Koch cannot forbid discrimination against homosexuals by private groups that do business with the city.

Judge Alvin Klein ruled that Koch does not have the right to “create new social policy absent a proper legislative basis.” The mayor’s Executive Order 50 was challenged in the state supreme court by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, the Salvation Army, and Agudath Israel of America, whose service contracts with the city are worth millions of dollars. The city plans to appeal the decision.

World Scene

Romania has released an Orthodox priest from prison after five years of his 10-year sentence. Gheorghe Calciu was arrested in 1979 on unsubstantiated charges of being a Fascist. Before his arrest, he inspired the formation of a believers’ rights group and a trade union. Calciu previously had spent 16 years in prison because of his religious activities. The government gave no reason for the priest’s release.

The government of Taiwan has limited the number of missionaries who can work in the country. The government told mission agencies they must restrict their personnel to April 1984 levels. Calling the limit a temporary measure, officials gave no explanation for the move. Some observers speculate that the government is alarmed by the number of young people brought into Taiwan by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon).

The Episcopal Church of Brazil has voted to ordain women as priests. The move makes the Brazilian church the latest province of the worldwide Anglican communion to vote in favor of women’s ordination. In Mexico and Puerto Rico, women recently were ordained as Episcopal priests in jurisdictions linked to the Episcopal church in the United States. The U.S. branch of the Anglican communion voted to ordain women in 1976.

The government of Zimbabwe has released United Methodist Bishop Abel Muzorewa after detaining him for nearly a year. The government had accused the bishop of conspiring with the South African government against Zimbabwe. Muzorewa said the Zimbabwe government detained him in an attempt to intimidate the opposition political party he heads.

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