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Christian groups and members of Congress are urging the Obama administration to "vigorously" enforce federal obscenity laws against illegal pornography.
Groups such as The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and CitizenLink - Focus on the Family's family advocacy arm - sent out an urgent memo Wednesday asking supporters to put pressure on the Department of Justice.
"Regrettably, our government is not enforcing existing federal laws against pornography. We ask for your help right now to reverse this course," said ERLC president Dr. Richard Land.
Federal laws, he added, prohibit most forms of pornography distribution, including through the Internet and cable/satellite TV.
The ERLC and CitizenLink are among nearly 60 national and state groups that have formed a coalition called the War on Illegal Pornography. It exists to press the Justice Department to prosecute illegal obscene content as it is widely available to the public.
Leading the effort, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and U.S. House Representatives Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.) and Randy Forbes (R-Va.) sent letters, dated Wednesday, to Attorney General Eric Holder, calling him to combat the "growing scourge of obscenity" in America.
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They lamented that though evidence of the harms - such as violence, addiction and sex trafficking - of hardcore adult pornography is greater today than ever, current laws are not being enforced.
"Congress has put laws on the books, but those laws will not be effective until they are enforced," Hatch said simply.
McIntyre and Forbes echoed the sentiment. "Congress has for decades passed laws seeking to curb the production and distribution of obscene pornography, including on the Internet. A consistent and strong commitment to enforcing these laws can have a significant impact."
They also noted in their letter that adult obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment.
"We believe it is imperative that the Department, with cooperation by the FBI, investigate and prosecute all major producers and distributors of adult obscenity. We need your leadership."
Every second, $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography, according to Internet Filter Review. An estimated 28,258 people, mostly men, view pornography every second. And every 39 minutes, a new pornographic video is being created in the United States. Pornographic websites number 4.2 million, making up 12 percent of all websites.
Coming out strongly against pornography, the ERLC, which is part of the Southern Baptist Convention, calls it "the satanic counterfeit of God's perfect design for us sexual beings."
"Relaxed attitudes toward human sexuality have turned the biblical notion of wholesome and monogamous sexual relations between husbands and wives on its head," the group says. "Scriptural standards of sexual morality have been abandoned; God’s design for sex has been perverted beyond recognition. Pornography perverts and distorts all of the God-given purposes for sexual intimacy."
The conservative group goes as far as calling pornography the most vicious of all moral and ethical issues facing families today.
The War on Illegal Pornography coalition is asking the public to contact their senators and representative to endorse a letter addressed to Holder "for the sake of our families and community."
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