By Rusty Pugh and Chad Groening
May 4, 2001

(AgapePress) - A pro-family group in Mississippi plans to show a local video dealer that pornography will not draw customers for companies that portray themselves as family-oriented.

Christians United - American Family Association will lead a rally for decency tomorrow in Brookhaven, Mississippi, in front of Movie Gallery to show opposition to that company's policy of renting and selling hard-core pornography. Dr. David Smith, president of Christians United - AFA, says Movie Gallery is a major distributor of pornography in Brookhaven. As a family practitioner, Smith says he sees the effects of porn every day.

"I see [a lot of] people that come into the office ... who have had their families disrupted, in some cases [by] divorce or ... child molestation [or] cases of rape. In almost all instances it starts with someone's addiction to pornography," Smith says. "It's such a detriment to the communities around here, I don't know why anybody would want to have that type of material available."

Christians United - AFA scheduled the rally in conjunction with a 12-state alliance of pro-family leaders calling for citizens to stop doing business with Movie Gallery.

Filters for Soldiers
Unlike Movie Gallery, it appears the U.S. Army understands the detrimental effects of pornography -- and is doing something about it. The Army has announced it is installing Internet filtering software at more than 100 military posts worldwide to prevent the viewing of pornography and other inappropriate material by service members.

The Army says it wants to prohibit some 200,000 Army personnel from accessing porn, gambling, and other websites prohibited on government computers. The plan calls for each post to decide what sites to block, according to Army policies.

Army spokeswoman Karen Baker says the problem of soldiers viewing Internet porn is probably no more than society at large. Nevertheless, the Army hopes the filters will improve productivity by removing distractions, and reduce the liabilities associated with Internet use. The move comes as the Army struggles with the problem of sexual harassment in the ranks.

According to the Associated Press, the filtering software will cost taxpayers $1.8 million.

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