Scorn for porn: from the Internet to the classroom, purveyors of porn are targeting our children. Americans must defend themselves and their families against this culture-destroying onslaught. (Book Review).

Protecting Your Child In an X-Rated World, by Frank York and Jan LaRue (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers), 307 pages, paperback, $12.99.

Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, As to be hated needs but to be seen; Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace.

Alexander Pope

For proof of how pornography destroys those who embrace it, look no further than the pathetic example of actor Bob Crane. Starring in the 1960s' sitcom Hogan's Heroes, Crane played the role of the witty Colonel Hogan, beloved by millions of American TV viewers who enjoyed watching Hogan and his subordinates comically outsmart their Nazi captors every week.

But as is too often the case with Hollywood's finest, Crane, in real life, was morally bankrupt -- a side of Crane that, based on the reviews, writer/director Paul Schrader accurately portrays in his recent biopic Auto Focus.

According to Salon.com's Stephanie Zacharek, when Crane's murdered body was found on June 29, 1978, "hours and hours' worth of pornographic videotape (were found] documenting his sexual encounters with a seemingly endless number of women...." Using his friend John Carpenter to help him videotape his sexual exploits, Crane became completely obsessed with his salacious proclivity, allowing his career and family life to fall apart. Moreover, Crane's preoccupation with debauchery quite possibly contributed to his untimely death. (Many believe that Crane somehow provoked his partner in perversion, Carpenter, who then dealt the actor several lethal blows to the head. Carpenter, however, was acquitted of the crime.)

Pathway to Perversion

As a celebrated entertainer, Bob Crane fell from great heights. But anybody, regardless of social or economic status, can self-destruct by falling prey to pornography. To help people avoid such tragic consequences in their own lives, or the lives of their loved ones, anti-pornography activists Frank York and Jan LaRue have co-authored Protecting Your Child In an X-Rated World. "Just how does pornography harm those who are exposed to it?" ask York and LaRue. "The most common damage is that it warps the person's perception of people, relationships, and sex. It creates desires and expectations that make healthy intimacy nearly impossible." Bob Crane's case certainly applies here. York and LaRue would likely diagnose him as having suffered from "Centerfold Syndrome," an aberration that "makes men (and now boys) who view pornography incapable of entering into a healthy, long-term relationship with a woman."

Drawing heavily on the experience and research of psychologist Gary R. Brooks, the authors further expound on Centerfold Syndrome by describing its various unhealthy characteristics. "Trophyism," for example, is when "males who are obsessed with pornography view beautiful women as trophies to be displayed as property and conquests." And "validation" is when "men (or boys) who become obsessed with the perfect women shown in pornography only feel masculine when they are with beautiful women. And the desirable companion maintains this man's interest only until she becomes less than perfect -- through aging, childbirth, or other changes. A woman's value is judged by her attractiveness, not by her character."

Unfortunately, most people caught in pornography's sticky web find it extremely difficult to get untangled. Those who cannot (or will not) grapple with this powerful fixation will likely pass through four stages.

First is "addiction," explain the authors. "Repeated exposure to pornography gets the viewer hooked on it."

Second is "escalation." This occurs when the viewer "eventually becomes bored with what he is viewing. He needs something more to keep his interest. This frequently means more explicit, more sexually deviant, and even violent pornographic images, some involving torture and mutilation of women."

Third is "desensitization." What "was once viewed as shocking or repulsive eventually seems normal and commonplace.... [The person] develops the idea that everyone is doing this, so it must be okay."

Finally, the viewer consummates his journey by "acting out" his demented sex fantasies. According to the authors, "at this stage, the person [depending on his particular bent] crosses the line from being simply a porn consumer to becoming an adulterer, a sex offender, a child molester, a rapist or even a murderer."

So it should come as no surprise that "rape has increased by 500 percent in the U.S. since 1960," assert York and LaRue, "a rise that parallels the growth of the pornography industry." Note that a common confession among convicted serial killers is that porn played a key role in fueling their hard-core sexual fantasies and inspiring them to carry out their murderous rampages.

Target: Your Child

What really becomes evident in Protecting Your Child is that porn infestation has done more than reach epidemic proportions among adults and teenagers. The smut peddlers have targeted our children and are succeeding greatly in getting their wares into the hands and minds of our innocent little ones.

For decades, the architects of modem pop culture have used movies, videos, music, magazines, radio, and network and cable television (especially MTV) to flood our homes with various forms of soft-and hardcore porn. But a relatively new medium, the Internet, has facilitated access to filth like nothing before it. "The Internet is probably the most dangerous threat to your children," caution York and LaRue. "Why? Because if your home is online, your child has instant access to the most perverted materials imaginable -- bestiality; transgenders, or 'she/males' (men and women who are undergoing sex-change operations); homosexuality; pedophilia; and other forms of sexual perversion.... With all that just a mouse click or two away, children can become sexually addicted far faster today than they could in the days before the Internet."

Add the corrupting influences of sex education in public schools and unrestricted access to the Internet in many of America's public libraries, and it's easy to see why sexual obsession is becoming increasingly common in younger children. "With the easy access to pornography, children are becoming sexualized and addicted at earlier and earlier ages," state the authors regretfully. "[N]ot very many years ago, a child's first exposure to pornography was typically at age 11. Now it is down to five years of age."

Positive Message

Even though Protecting Your Child treats the dark subject of pornography in some detail, its overall message offers hope and inspiration. The authors confess from the outset that pornography played a painful role in each of their own lives. But, by turning to God, they managed to escape porn's pernicious influence and regain their self-worth.

True to the book's title, York and LaRue offer a variety of Christian-based methods for parents to employ in protecting their children in an X-rated world. For instance, they offer advice on how to detect when a child might be infected with the pornography bug -- and on what to do if that is indeed the case. In some situations, parents simply need to replace their child's bad habits with good ones. In more severe cases, counseling with an experienced clergyman may be in order. For parents unsure about how to proceed, Protecting Your Child is an invaluable tool. From advice on how to filter out Internet smut coming into your home to how to lawfully get pornography outlets removed from your town, the authors have attempted to provide a resource for cleaning up the culture.

Though many traditionalists would take exception to some of the anti-pornography strategies recommended by York and LaRue (demonstrations, litigation, etc.), Protecting Your Child is a well-written book and a worthy addition to the libraries of those interested in regenerating morality in America.