Christian Involvement in Porn Benefits Organized Crime
by James L. Lambert
January 23, 2004
(AgapePress) - Christians who are involved in hard-core porn might be surprised to hear this. Organized crime for many years has been recognized by law enforcement for its share of involvement in elements of the hard-core porn business. In 1996, I spoke to two key officers (now retired) who were with the Sexual Crimes Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department. Both confirmed my suspicion of organized crime's involvement in the hard-core porn trade -- especially the video porn industry. The skin trade is incredibly lucrative. Hard-core video porn can be found everywhere. Variety can be found today ranging from fairly elaborate movies to home-made-style VCR tapes that are comparatively very inexpensive to make. Yet, the retail markup is incredible, with profits exceeding 200% or more in some cases.
The officers I spoke to more than seven years ago knew of suspected individuals that entered the Los Angeles porn market in the early 1970s who had clear syndicate connections to members of organized crime in the Northeast. While their continuing long-term connections were hard to track, both officers were absolutely convinced that they still existed today. The Economist, a well-respected British publication, has long acknowledged that Los Angeles is the video porn capital of the world. With its close proximity to Hollywood, it has long attracted people from around the country who benefit from its multibillion-dollar revenue stream which has grown logarithmically since the mid-1990s.
Christians and Internet Porn - 37% of pastors say cyberporn is a current struggle. (Christianity Today, Leadership Survey, December 2001)
- 4 in 10 pastors have visited a porn site. (Christianity Today, Leadership Survey, December 2001)
- 17.8% of all "born again" Christian adults in America have visited sexually-oriented websites. (Zogby survey conducted for Focus on the Family, 2000)
- 63% of men attending a marriage seminar in 2000 admitted to struggling with porn in the past year. Two-thirds are in church leadership and 10% are pastors. (Pastor's Family Bulletin, Focus on the Family, 3/2000)
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On its radio program three years ago, Focus on the Family broadcast a two-day episode on pornography and the Church, in the attempt to minister to those who were struggling with porn. After the program aired on the second day, I contacted Dr. Dobson's ministry and was told that they were overwhelmed with the response -- they had more than 6,000 calls from Christian men and family members of men in ministry who are struggling with porn. A similar one-part episode was later done by the 700 Club with a further overwhelming response.Most of these churchgoers would be astonished that their porn use may economically benefit organized crime. With the FBI telling us that the third-highest source of revenue for organized crime comes from the hard-core porn trade, Christians need to understand that organized crime benefits -- however indirectly -- from the use of their money.
While the report from the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography (published in 1986) is now more than 17 years old, it does reveal some troubling information about the smut business. The final report included over 32 pages on its findings, and included 166 pages of references chronicling organized crimes link to the skin trade.
Recent reported evidence of the organized crimes activity in the porn trade is lacking due to law enforcement's withdrawal in this arena during the last 10 years. This has been caused by lack of public support to prosecute obscenity crimes and non-reporting (or "skimming") of income which clearly invokes limits on the porn trade. Politicians in the 1990s apparently believed it was more important to protect the rights of the pornographers than the families, women, and many thousands of victims who were negatively effected by this trade.
In the mid-1980s, California Attorney General John Van De Kamp issued a strong statement warning the California legislature of organized crime's influence in the porn trade in the state. Similarly, FBI intelligence analysts concluded then that "information received from sources of this Bureau indicates that pornography is a major income maker for La Costra Nostra in the United States behind gambling and narcotics. Although La Costra Nostra does not physically oversee the day-to-day workings of the majority of pornography business in the United States, it is apparent that they have 'agreements' with those involved in the pornography business in allowing these people to operate independently by paying off members of organized crime for the privilege of being allowed to operate in certain geographical areas."
Any believer who is struggling with pornography would do well to read the excerpts of the Pornography Commission's report which strongly illustrate the link between organized crime and the skin trade. Perhaps it would convince more pastors to condemn this cancerous epidemic on society and reach out to the millions of Christians who are dabbling in porn.
James L. Lambert, who resides in San Diego, California, is a frequent contributor to AgapePress. He is the author of Porn in America (Huntington House) and a licensed loan sales agent.
