I would guess that most of us enjoy living in a democracy. In fact very few of us could imagine life outside of a stable democracy. America, despite its critics, has proven democracy to be sound as our liberties, when tempered by morality, do promote freedom. This freedom comes at a cost. We must, as stewards of liberty, act prudently and follow certain principles (morals) lest we forfeit our autonomy.

Now, you might disagree with this point but keep reading. We all have a sense of right and wrong although some have attempted to redefine it. We consider murder, pedophilia, cheating and rape wrong, but wait: we shouldn’t judge-is that to be our response?

As parents, if we knew of a pedophile living nearby, then wouldn’t we keep our wits about us as we monitor where our children go in the neighborhood? I do hope you would make that judgment call and prevent your children from interacting with such a threat. This is judging by making a wise judgment to protect those whom we love.

Likewise, it is our responsibility to admonish certain behavior, such as the choice to audition for a pornographic magazine, which some of our friends and fellow students chose to do on Monday. Now, I am not crying over spilled milk, but I am saying that there are consequences to such actions. Friends, you may consider them to be minute, but I encourage you to see the big picture.

The estimates are that porn, worldwide, is a $57 billion business as compared to Hollywood’s world box office movie revenue of $23 billion in 2005. Likewise, porn revenues are estimated to be larger than all of the major sports’ revenues combined.

Now, one girl may take a small sum for showcasing her body, perhaps a few thousand dollars. That seems miniscule, but the decision of one girl adds to the proliferation of porn including child pornography.

Now how does Playboy contribute to child pornography? Well, a pedophile does not begin lusting after children. A pedophile begins his fantasy in the pages of “Playboy” or with legalized “of age” content on the internet. He then seeks fresher content, which translates into younger content. It is hard to write those words, but this is a clear, observable fact.

People are affected by what we see on the movie screen, and our perceptions are warped to a greater extent by what we see in pornography. If you disagree, then you should contemplate the “Bambi Effect.” In 1942, the year Walt Disney released “Bambi,” deer-tag sales were $9.7 million. The next year, 1943, only $4.1 million of deer-tag sales occurred. Case in point-images do affect us.

So, we have freedom to choose pornography just as we have freedom to ingest poison-the only difference between the two is poison kills immediately while pornography kills slowly and ruthlessly by tearing apart one’s life. If you disagree, then I encourage you ask any pedophile or rapist about his exposure to pornography. This is a universal problem for these men.

It could be that this is not your destiny, but, it could be the destiny of your best friend or your brother. If it were someone close to you, would you stand by and allow him to destroy his life? The truth is porn has power, and it is a destructive power. Given enough time, it will control a man. Sad but true.

Nakedness and sex are to be enjoyed, but only under certain boundaries-that is between man and wife.

Freedom is not only America’s wonderful institution, but God’s divine gift as well. Our choices, moral or immoral, do affect our lives and our society. If we do not make correct moral judgments, then we are foolish: lacking the maturity to even possess freedom. In the words of James Madison, the Father of the American Constitution:

“We have staked the whole future of American civilization not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments.”

Russell Allsup is a senior finance, history and German major. He can be reached at [email protected].