Suggestion to porn operators. Don’t open a store in this town
Posted by Dan in Sex OffendersThis is an amazing story of how perseverance can pay off.
This is a little dated, but I did not have time to write a story. Update at the end of the article.
From the American Family Association of Indiana
Profiles In Courage!
Jackson County, IN Protesters Make an Unprecedented Stand
In this day of moral relativism, when making a judgment about someone’s behavior is taboo, this is a story that is hard to believe.
Perhaps the good people of Jackson County, in the small town of Uniontown, simply didn’t know any better. When a porn chain store opened along Interstate 65 in Southeast Indiana four years ago, no one must have told a group of concerned citizens that they would embark upon a journey no other group in the Midwest has traveled.
These patriots cared about preserving their Hoosier values and they were not about to allow smut peddlers to harm marriages and families with the distribution of pornography in this rural community. So they decided to have a protest.
When a strip club, porn store, abortion clinic or a casino opens, there are often protests from local residents. Those citizens may also take the step of writing letters to the editor, complain at a local government hearing or contact a legislator. The media will often cover the controversy with a story or two. Once in while, their concern will be acted upon by a state legislator, a city councilor or other elected official. But then the issue seems to fade away.
If this were the typical controversy, the story of the Uniontown Protestors verses the Lion’s Den would have already come and gone. In fact, nearly four years after it opened, the Lion’s Den is still open. But this is a story of courage and duty like no other. It’s also a story of victory.
As you may have guessed, the Uniontown protestors did protest outside the porn store. In fact, they have protested for nearly four years. That alone is notable these days. To have a group of about fifty people protesting a store every weekend for four years in sun, rain or snow is impressive. But these thirty-to-fifty residents didn’t protest every weekend. They have protested outside the Lion’s Den every hour of every day, 24-hours a day for 1,403 days in a row, as of June 15th!
The Uniontown Watchdogs, as they are known, have a method to their madness. They have been strategic with a purpose. When a truck driver exits the interstate and pulls into the Lion’s Den he sees a sign warning him that his truck’s picture will be taken and his license plate number sent to his truck company management letting them know he visited a porn store. In fact, when anyone parks at the Lion’s Den they are warned by similar signs and photographed. Their license number and car description is recorded, and if there is any illegal behavior in the parking lot, that is also photographed.
What has this “in your face” protesting accomplished? Well, on the surface, nothing. The Lion’s Den operates today, 24-hours a day with customers in the parking lot at all hours. The Uniontown Watchdogs are the scorn of many. Customers routinely shout obscenities, flip off or expose themselves to the protesters. Few of the churches in this rural area support the protesters. Recently, the County Council tried to limit the protester’s ability to demonstrate. But this dim view misses “the rest of the story.”
Looking only at the reaction of the Lion’s Den patrons, the fact that the porn store is still in business or that many of the local leaders may not stand with the Watchdogs misses all that their courage and faithfulness has accomplished.
When the Lion’s Den was built, court records show that up to 200 trucks a day were expected to fill a parking lot that is now covered in weeds. Instead of 1,400 semi-trucks a week, the Lion’s Den attracts fewer than 20. Some protesters believe that up to 90% of potential customers either drive past the Lion’s Den when they see the warning signs, or they turn around in the parking lot and leave at the sight of the protesters’ cameras.
And what of the angry customers shouting profanities or bearing it for all to see? Perhaps a better question is what about the safety of the community? A parole officer from another county ran the plate numbers recorded by the Watchdogs. He found numerous sex offenders violating their parole by visiting the porn store and took action against them.
Obviously, not all of the Lion’s Den customers are sex offenders, or even angry people misbehaving in the parking lot. But many of their customers are better people today. One of the protester’s signs offers a free Bible to any customer who wants one. To date they have given away over 1,000 Bibles. Each of the protestors seems to have a story of praying with a customer who wanted help for an addiction or a relationship problem.
Last month an out-of-state truck driver returned to the store, but not to buy porn. This time, he came to spend the weekend with the protestors who had led him to the Lord. He had crossed the line from customer to protestor wanting to tell other Lion’s Den customers of a real life-changing love. In fact, the Watchdogs estimate that over 100 customers over the last 3 years and 10 months have prayed to accept Christ. Sadly, fewer than five churches in the county support the Watchdogs. This is perhaps because they see only a group of “controversial” protestors outside a business, rather than the outreach to misguided porn users.
The Uniontown Watchdogs still hope to see the Lion’s Den close, either through legal battles wherein the store is in violation of ordinances, or through an economic drain caused by the protest. Some estimates place the loss of revenue for the Lions Den to be half-a-million dollars.
Regardless of the open wound of still having a porn store operating in their community, these faithful courageous few have already succeeded. Through their bold action, they have confronted evil and changed lives. What more could any community ever want from a handful of its citizens? The Uniontown Watchdogs are role models we can all learn from, thank, and admire for their selfless act of good citizenship
Editor’s note:
The Lion’s Den property is now up for sale, it appears the years of hard work may be paying off.
For a complete update, visit their web at http://www.war-line.org/ and make sure you visit the “Gotcha” page.
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Tags: Indiana, Lion's Den, Uniontown
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What exactly is "evil" about porn? Seriously.
I'm not saying that I'm like some massive porn-hound or anything like that, but if they want to go buy some DVDs or magazines of boobies, why the hell does anyone else care about that?
Dan:
I SWEAR to God that the guy in that last picture (Mr. no shirt saggy shorts) lives at the other end of my street…like to know whetre you shot the picture.
At least from the back they look alike…don't wanna know about the "front"…
Nice to know some towns are not afraid to keep the faith (and the fight going).
derek
whats wrong with people protesting something they deem immoral or detremental to their community? i give these people major kudos for putting their bodies where their mouths are.
Derek, how about you ask that question of a recovering porn addict? I'm sure there's someone out there who can give you several good answers.
Derek
One of the largest studies of porn ever conducted found that viewing it changed men's attitudes toward women regarding rape and the so called "rape myth"- that "no" does not mean "no" and all women are like porn stars. To learn more about the harm porn can do go to http://www.victimsofpornography.org
Here's an article on the topic too that's a quick read:
http://www.obscenitycrimes.org/SocialCosts.php
In the case of a store like this research has shown that such places reduce property values, cause business flight, and see an increase in crime, particularly sex crimes in the vicinity of the adult business.
I guess these folks will have to get their adult literature at Barnes and Noble like decent, hardworking folks.
I'm sure those customers appreciate their new Bibles. The Old Testament features incest, polygamy, rape, and other wholesome material.
Zeakster: I've got no problem with their protesting. I just don't understand why they care at all. How are they "harmed" by the old guy with no social skills who gets to see his naked-boobies on DVD?
MAC: Research has shown that 95% of all statistics are made up. You want to cite sources for your assertions about sex crime increases, etc., etc? Property values declining I could understand (but have no pity for… the shopowner has the right to use his own property as he sees fit).
But, seriously, Enders is right, if you want old-school adult-materials, one doesn't have to go much further than any book on classical mythology, whether that mythology is one the greeks or romans believed, or the mythology currently espoused by modern religions. They're chock-full of all the taboos.
So does this mean I can protest a Bible store 24/7 because of my beliefs?
Walk a day in other people's shoes.
Obviously I was being sarcastic. I have the decency to not cause a disruptive conga-line of protesters at a legal business that isn't even catering to ME. I respect Christians, porn viewers, agnostics, conservatives and liberals (whatever they identify as) enough to not impede on their private and personal lives. It's common decency.
America is about freedom, I'm all for peaceful protesting, but scaring away customers and taking away their anonymity for their own agenda is ridiculous. There will always be people who abuse their liberties on both sides, as this article proves.
Perhaps the community should concern themselves more with how adult entertainment is represented, increase the content in sex-ed high school classes to be very thorough and honest with references to law, and to provide better proper warnings on adult content with a reminder of laws (as some pornography already does). I see some adult media already attempting to eroticize safety and the word "no" on camera. I'm sure more can be done, that really should be being done already anyways.
It is fantasy as should be reminded that fantasy is all it is, unless their aim is to represent real loving relationships, but then they still need to provide appropriate warning. Pornography itself is not an affront to the community, but the misuse is and that needs to be addressed. Adult entertainment can be healthy in the right atmosphere. It actually "cured" me of my Genophobia (fear of sex). I thank pornography for this unshackling of a serious fear with all my heart! Something a psychologist or religioun could not accomplish in me.
Before I am judged, I am in a relationship and still virgin by choice but free of intense fear. I am not a porn addict, but I watch it moderately. I am female. And I enjoy my anonymity because my sex-life is private – not the Church's problem to fix so disruptively.
Get schooled, read both sides, and know there is STILL more to consider on both sides, whether you oppose or support it. Consider all the facts not just one side because both have good arguments with scientific facts and opinions that can lead to a healthy middle-ground for the individuals privacy and the community:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pornography-cen...
OK, you porn lovers, try this, go do a couple of lines and get back with me in a few days. Porn is like a drug, its addicting, unrealistic and "can be" destructive. The more you vision porn the more you want, It messes with your true perspective of sex, and it contributes to destruction of your mind and society. Sounds like a drug ? I admit, not everyone can get "addicted" but give most people a small amount of these destructive materials and they are hooked ! I have living proof that exposer over time "will" destroy you.
Porn is the sh1t of our time. Absolutely no redeeming value, degrades the dignity of women and makes them just objects. Cocaine is a personal choice too. Hell, putting a gun to your head is a personal choice as well. Society has a right to put boundaries around behavior, even personal choices. (take that all you libertarians). People actually saved out of that hell-hole by the people standing outside the store. The Old Testament with its rape, polygamy and every other kind of sin is about the depravity of man… the completion of the Old Testament in the New Testament is about man’s redemption. Yeah, I know, “redemption,” a dirty word. What do you need to be redeemed from if you are already God’s perfect gift to the world? A lot of people think they are.