Operation Daniel Takes on Adult Business
by Randy Sharp
January 21, 2004
(AgapePress) - When the "Lion's Den" opened its adult toy and video store in Abilene, Kansas, last September, little did they know the opposition would be so relentless.Within days, the newly formed Citizens For Strengthening Community Virtues (CFSCV) officially began a sustained effort to drive the business out of operation.
Organizer and Abilene citizen Phillip Cosby initially recruited 80 other men to join him in a 100-day campaign of picketing near the Lion's Den entrance just off Interstate 70. Today, the group has swelled to over 140 local men and women committed to one- and two-hour shifts near the store location.
Cosby says the goal is a simple one: Encourage potential customers to reconsider pulling into the parking lot. CFSCV members hold large signs proclaiming to motorists, "Think Again or We Will Report." The sign warns truckers and corporate travelers that their companies and bosses will be contacted about employee activities at the porn store.
Cosby says this strategy has greatly abridged the financial success of the store. "About 30% of the people who would otherwise go into the Lion's Den either drive on by or turn around in the parking lot and then drive away."
He said about 75% of truckers have turned away after seeing the protesters.
Other CFSCV programs include "Operation Voice," a letter-to-the-editor campaign to media outlets, and "Operation Re-write," which concentrates on the adoption of new county and city zoning ordinances to combat these types of businesses.
But Cosby says the most effective program has been "Operation Prayer," calling citizens to constant prayers for God's intervention in the matter.
Randy Sharp is director of special projects for the American Family Association. This article appeared in the February 2004 issue of AFA Journal.
