Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has received the 2005 Guardian of the Light Award by the Lighted Candle Society, chaired by Bountiful's Dr. John L. Harmer. Shurtleff was honored for his major contribution to educating students and parents about safety in regard to the Internet, for introducing helps for homes (i.e., netSmartz), for his prosecution of pedophiles and for his other efforts to combat pornography in Utah. "There is no debate that this is addictive," Shurtleff said of pornography. He warned that its rapid growth also has brought with it a dramatic increase in crime and other societal ills.
When asked whether people could stem pornography's growing onslaught, Shurtleff said, "Good people have to stand up and try." The Utah Attorney General made the remarks May 6 at a gathering of the Lighted Candle Society held at the University of Utah Marriott Hotel.
Bountiful's John Harmer, who heads the society, told his audience, "It is later than you think. We have work to do."
Harmer, an attorney and former Lieutenant Governor of California, said his first conviction while he lived in California years ago was for obscenity, and he won his case. He noted that people have become so desensitized today that they can see the same things he battled then almost anywhere in local stores.
The society has produced a DVD that illustrates the impact of pornography addiction, called "Pornography -- The Deceitful Enemy." Copies may be obtained from The Lighted Candle Society, 40 N. State Street, Suite 7C, Salt Lake City, Utah 84103 or by e-mailing lightedcandlesociety@msn.com.
Harmer and the society are raising funds and seeking public donations to finish the accumulation of MRI brain scans so they can eventually take pornographers to court. Harmer intends to prove that measurable changes occur in the brain when people are exposed to pornography. Acting out occurs, jobs are lost, family relationships are destroyed and children are influenced due to exposure to pornography. Donations for the project may be sent to the address indicated above.
Harmer quoted U.S. President John Adams who said, "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion....Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
Harmer told his audience of the rapid change in official attitudes, noting that 30 years ago judges in America generally supported public morality. But he expressed concern that now in Texas there is official sentiment that "government can no longer rely on the advancement of a moral code."
Others also spoke at the meeting, including Jennifer Gulbrandsen, who will represent Utah at the Miss America Pageant. She expressed her concern for pornography's impact on younger Americans, noting, "children 5-12 are the most likely to be damaged by pornography."
U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah), meanwhile, called for a greater effort to battle the pornography wave through tougher laws.
"Obscenity is not free speech," he said, contending that pornography is not protected by the First Amendment.
He also pointed out that those insisting on more freedom of speech to promote vulgarity, obscenity and the like don't want others to be free to speak against it. "If we can protect forests, we can protect kids," Cannon said.
He also said that people are dehumanized as a result of pornography and compared its desensitization with the dehumanization that occurred during the Holocaust.
Addicts lose their capability to choose between right and wrong, he said, noting that pornography physically changes the brain and "drives a chemical reaction."
He said that "child pornography in any form is an exploitation of our vulnerable people. If we do not change the current law, we will see child porn rise to unprecedented levels with the use of the Internet as a tool for pedophiles. With an estimated 24 million children online, Congress must take further steps to protect our children from becoming victims."
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