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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Report - January 15, 1986 (81)CITY COUNCIL, Nk:F.TIIvG JANUARY 15, 1986 PRESENTATIONS Pastor Eugene Kreutz addressed the Council regarding comaauzity concerns relating to social changes stating that l� �L with the advent of the AIDS crisis, the wholesale abduction of innocent children, the spiraling upsurge of teenage suicide, the discovery of yet another ,enereal disease, to say nothing of the drug and alcohol dependencies of millions of Americans who are not only endangering their own lives and well-being, but that of countless cthers on our national highways, has given incentive for many w pause for somber reflection. COMMUNITY CONCERNS The Lodi ccmmmity needs to be aware of this change in RE SOCIAL CHANGES the consciousness of all Americans. The continuance of a "permissive" attitude towards pornographic literature and video cassettes in local places of business, as well as the allowance of immature, character -destroying programs on cable T.V. speaks loudly of gross irresponsibility on the part of our ccmminity leaders. Pastor Kreutz then asked the City Council to lead the way to a return to a system of greater moral sanity. ' r Y rya z c i y. In the few minutes alloted me, I will give you a brief rundown on my purpose, explain some of the research that has been done, refer to some studies that are available, and then leave you with a few suggestions for follow-up. LODI CITY COUNCIL First of all, I am here in no official capacity. I am here right ' January 15, 1986 now as a private citizen; as a husband, a father and a grandfather. Dear Members of the City Council, I have lived through enough social change to realize that family €s t-; life, as we have known it, and cherished traditional values, are a* I want to begin by thanking you for this time on the agenda. For �sd to come, to say to me, "Grandpa, why didn't you speak out with a :. the others here present, I would like to explain that on Nov. 25, 1985, I wrote a letter to each of the Council members stating my "Al concerns over conditions that have plumeted us into the AIDS era which some are now refering to as the "Plague of the Eighties". In the few minutes alloted me, I will give you a brief rundown on my purpose, explain some of the research that has been done, refer to some studies that are available, and then leave you with a few suggestions for follow-up. First of all, I am here in no official capacity. I am here right now as a private citizen; as a husband, a father and a grandfather. I have lived through enough social change to realize that family t-; life, as we have known it, and cherished traditional values, are being put to the test. I do not wish my grandchildren,, in years to come, to say to me, "Grandpa, why didn't you speak out with a :. louder voice when you had the chance? Why did you stand by and allow our lives to become endangered by these fatal diseases?" + In brief, I am here to go on record as only one, but one, nevertheless, who is willing to stand against a whole ocean of . filth that is engulfing us. Secondly, I am here to encourage others who have stood up for decency and right. Having been defeated and beaten down so often, many.wonderful citizens have by this time become very discouraged. reason, I have gone to the effort of preparing some resources that will help others besides myself to carry on, and to motivate them to take up the weapons of arms in this warfare in which there can be no truce. In the third place, I have requested to speak before you in order to inform and to forewarn. Though it is not my intention to prejudge or find fault with any member of the Council, I, neverthe- less, would venture to say it is very unlikely that you have complete and thorough knowledge of the subject at hand. For this ,reason I have put together some articles on the dire consequences_ of pornography, prepared a fact sheet, and aim to bring to your attention the findings of present-day scientific research and study. Let me hasten to add that what we are dealing with here is not the tip of the iceberg, but merely the "tip" of the tip of the iceberg. Finally, I would like to leave you with some possible ways of pre- venting the situation from becoming even worse than it is. we who have mobilized ourselves for the cause of a cleaner and more wholesome moral climate would like you to become as interested in removing the toxics, the acid rains and polutants from our social __environmen-t as much as youareinterested-in-clean air, clean - water and toxic -free soil. In fact, unless we do something about our present moral status, and do it quickly, we won't even have to worry about the others. 3 Pornography is more than dirty pictures. We are talking here of a system of social dislocation that touches almost every segment of modern life. At first, the first who dared to oppose the degeneracy of the "porn empire" stood virtually alone. They were exposed to sneers, ridicule, intimidation and all the rest. Today it's a different story. Support is beginning to come in from many, many different directions. There is a more serious and somber mood abroad. As I wrote in my initial letter, an early frost seems to have struck our nation. As the chilling statistics continue to mount up more and more thc,-_ahtful individual and various groups, as well as, political f.7 tions are beginning to t take note. To coin a phrase, the chickens are finally coming �1- home to roost. In order to emphasize what I am saying, permit me to offer two important quotations: a, Mr. Joseph Sobran wrote recently, "No society that lightly discarded its own moi,al heritage could last long, or even be coherently called i�: society." Dr. J. D. Unwin of Cambridge University in England has made �. a study of some eighty civilizations which have existed .. over the past 4,000 years. As a result he writes, "Any human society is free to choose either to display great energy or to enjoy sexual freedom. The evidence is clear that it cannot do both for more than one generation." Let _me summarize by saying that the whole plethora of pornomania =- that has virtually inundated the American landscape, that has infested and infected almost all levels of our experience is both a national shame and a local blight. All of it has a common ` root, however. It can easily be traced back to the headwaters from whence it all derives. Ironically the pornographers and y. 4 sexual deviates themselves have only a passing interest in true sexuality. To them it is but the vehicle for the expression of sick minds and vapid souls. The sexist craze is the "self" run wild, aimless and mindless lust gone mad, and the brutal stoning } to death of decency, civility and human restraint. It is at the extreme opposite end of the pole where are to be found the building blocks of our moral society - discipline, wisdom, forbearance, self-restraint, compassion and all the rest. If you can stand the shock, please consider this carefully. The irony of the whole situation is that it is the porno producers and peddlers who are capitolizing and enriching themselves at the expense of an extremely gullible, unsuspecting public. We and hundreds of thousands of innocent children have become the victims of their rapacious greed. We are the losers. We are literally buried alive in an ocean of slime and Filth. It makes no difference how glamorously it is packaged or how t many attempts are made to make it appear respectable, pornography q has always been and it will always be slime and filth. J Rev. E.W. Kreutz 431 i 1/t "a Itc1t, 2 S Acv. 6IoKmz K"sUVX 2367 RvcMNoriu.�,C1N6L� t20"/ 334-4016 Low. G!' 602A0 November 25, 1985 David M. Hinchman City Of Lodi P.O. Box 320 Lodi, CA 95240 Dear Mr. Hinchman: As you may be aware, a sudden change of mood, like an early frost, has gripped our nation. With the advent of the AIDS crisis, the wholesale abduction of innocent children, the spiraling upsurge of teen-age suicide, the discovery of yet another venereal disease, to say nothing of the drug and alchohol dependencies of millions of Americans who are not only endangering',their own lives and well- being, but that of countless others on our national highways, has given incentive for many to pause for somber reflection. A study in New Hampshire traces the cause of much of this to the "open gate" our past society has given the pernography pervayors. Wisconsin is seeking legislation to make parents.economically responsible for the pregnancies of their un -wed, teen-age children. San Antonio has just passed a city ordinance to ban sexually explicit lyrics in rock music. And the list goes on. The Lodi community needs to_be aware of this change__ in the consciousness of all Americans. The con- tinuance of a "permissive" attitude towards porn- ographic literature and video cassettes in local places of business, as well as the allowance of immature, character -destroying programs on cable T.V. speaks loudly of gross irresponsibility on the part of our community leaders. It is not enough for us just to ;it back and see: the wind1^11ow, or to react to this return to a system of greater :,oral sar.'ty. I believe we need to lead the way. We should be on the fore- front of this immense movement. I would like to come before the City Council with facts and figures and documentation of this sweeping social change, and I feel certain that there are many others with religious and moral convictions who feel the same as I do. The wholesale wreckage that has followed in the wake of two decades of not only immoral, but a -moral behavior is strewn all across this once -great nation. 1, for one, believe our children deserve better from us. Sincerely, Rev. Eugene W. Kreutz Redeemer Lutheran Church EWK/jm POSITIVE ACTION * Some kind of recognition of the whole porno, missing children, sexual abuse and AIDS pro- blem. * Support for those who are bringing a measure of enlightenment to bear and breaking the trail after the fashion of MAW) and others. * Being in close touch with the newly appoint- ed Pornography Commission. * An expression of care and compassion for all victims and families of victims of sex crimes. * Periodic up -dating on the subject. . * On -sight examination of "indecent" literature, pictures -and videos in and about Lodi. * Formation.of a citizen's advisory committee. * Seeing to it the violaters of all government laws and statutes in this area are vigorously prosecuted. * Ect., ect., ect. .THE FULL DIMENSION OF THE PORNOGRAPHY ISSUE + Close on the heals of flu, V.D. is the second highest communicable disease in the U.S. + V.D., in spite of medical research, is growing at the rate of 20% every year. + It is estimated that 1 out of 80 people in the U.S. has V.D. + Myth: Herpes Simplex is different from Genital Herpes. They are one and the same disease. It is incurable. + 20,000,000, or even more Americans are infected with Herpes. The rate of growth is 500,000 new cases annually. + 50% of infants who are infected with Herpes become blind. + Two new V.D.'s have appeared in addition to Herpes. They are PNG, or Gonorhea II and Clamidia. Both are spreading rapidly. + HTLV-III, clinical name for the AIDS virus, was first discovered in 1979. One new case of AIDS is discovered every day in San Francisco, CA alone. + AIDS is 100% fatal. + Cost of treatment and lost wages for the first 10,000 cases of AIDS was six billion dollars. + There are 16,000 known cases of HTLV-III (the actual number is still unknown) and the number of cases doubles each year. 8,000 have died of AIDS. + In addition to AIDS is the ARC (AIDS- related cases) health problem of which there are 500,000-1,000,000 cases in the U.S. + Medical specialits now fear that virus infected people who do not develop AIDS will develop a slowly progressive dementia from the slow death of infected brain cells. + Teenage pregnancies are the highest they have ever been in the U.S. Nationally 1 in 10 high school girls become pregnant before age 19. In many areas it is 1 in 5. + The innocence of youth and social (non -sexual) interaction have disappeared from the scene in America. + Rape has become trivialized. The gang -rape of a college coed by fraternity -house -members of most colleges and Universities on any given week -end during the school year is commonplace. + The porno business is an eight billion dollar a year business in the U.S. + 30,000 children in the Los Angeles area alone are used in porno films. + Two child -molesting cases are reported each week in most small communities. Multiply this number by the 40,000 zip code numbers in the U.S. and you get some idea of the scope of the problem. + Our courts are dealing with a growing number of child -abuse cases resulting from Day-care centers. + 80% of Boy Scout (Girl Scout, Camp Fire. Boy's Club, Big Brother Club, etc., net known) workers are thought to be homo- sexual or lesbian. Even priests and ministers are often the culprits. + 30%-60% of children and youth who run away from home do so to escape incest and acts of sexual molestation. + There are 1.5 million missing children in the U.S. + Much of the overcrowding in our prisons is the result of convictions of sexual crimes. + The #1 cause of death among young men in New York City is AIDS. + 58% of all rapists are below the age of 25. + 50% of all rape victims are under the age of 18, while 25% are under the age of 12. + Dr. O'Brien of Arizona U. estimates that as many as 600,000 children, boys and girls as young as 3 and as old as 18, are kidnapped, seduced, sexually molested and photographed to produce child pornography. + Researchers at Wisconsin U., as well as UCLA, have found that exposure to pornography motivated some 35% of male viewers to violent acts against women. + The states of Alaska and Nevada which lead all other states in readership of pornographic magazines also have higher rape rates than all other states. + Henry Boatwright, Chairman of the U.S. Advisory Board For Social Concerns, says that 70% of the adult pornographic magazines sold end up in the hands of minors. + William Marshall, Queens U. psychologist, found that 86% of rapists studied and 55% of homosexual child molesters used pornography to instigate their crimes. + Every woman in America should be filled with righteous anger considering what crass crimes and wholesale debauchery the pornographers have perpetrated against the female gender.