Pornography in the military – a helpful exchange

By: American Decency Staff

Within recent days, I have been expressing concerns regarding pornography in the military. I have tried to bring some balance as I have shared various points of view. I have also called the military and spoken with two individuals who acknowledged that they have been receiving comments from some of you. As you know, if you follow our emails, we received a powerful commentary from Brian Joseph – retired from the Marine Corps, a former Exchange Director and former Staff Officer for General Pace. He has brought helpful perspective to this concern. https://americandecency.org/main.php?f=updates_new/2007/October/10.04.07

One of the individuals whom I have received passionate commentary from is a young wife of a recent military man. She has written powerfully with Christian conviction. I received another of her articulate emails and asked Brian Joseph to comment upon her expressions of concern. (For your information, I have a lot of regard for this young wife, for her courage and concern for our nation.) https://americandecency.org:80/main.php?f=updates_new/2007/September/9.26.07 I provide it below and also provide you contact information to the Department of Defense below.

WORDS OF WIFE OF RECENT ARMY HUSBAND: The words from that retired Marine Exchange Director were pretty brilliant. God gets any and all of the credit here! His overwhelming wisdom reminds me of my pea brain. When he stated “pornography is therefore a national security risk” I just nodded my head. I believe that porn had something to do with 9/11. I believe it has something to do with why people around the world hate America and Americans. I know that Forward Operating Bases in Iraq and Afghanistan are showing pornographic movies on big screen TV’s and displaying pornographic pictures on the walls. And I know that when local Iraqi and Afghani people are hired to work at these bases as cooks, launderers, garbage collectors, etc, they are exposed to these images and are violently disgusted by them.

WORDS OF BRIAN JOSEPH – RETIRED MARINE, FORMER EXCHANGE DIRECTOR I think she is right on point here, especially in regard to the promotion and impact of our national filth upon other countries. I have been to Iraq but not during this war,. so I don’t know the specifics of current in-country FOBs. The FOBs we established while in Iraq did not have this problem. And I would imagine when there is a problem it is more prevalent in under-supervised situations.

WORDS OF WIFE OF RECENT ARMY HUSBAND: I know you have received some emails disputing the fact that porn is even more of a problem in the military than out in the real world. I would say first, as always, consider the source. Most people who make such claims will inevitably be current or former military. It is natural and predictable that individuals who are or have been a part of the Armed Forces will defend the military – if they proclaim that the military is noble and good, they can feel that they are by association noble and good. Saying that porn is no more of an issue in the military than it is in the rest of society is like saying porn is no more prevalent in a college frat than it is in greater society.

WORDS OF BRIAN JOSEPH – RETIRED MARINE, FORMER EXCHANGE DIRECTOR I disagree with her here. Porn is bad all over. It is no doubt worse in the military than in some places, but to me that is irrelevant. We don’t need to get into degrees here because based on the Bible I don’t believe God does. Sin is sin no matter.

WORDS OF WIFE OF RECENT ARMY HUSBAND: We must as a nation acknowledge and address the facts: Crime is usually around 300% higher around military bases than in other communities. Domestic violence, child abuse, and alcoholism are rampant on base. V.A. statistics report that 9 out of 10 women in the military will be sexually assaulted by a fellow soldier during their term of service. Vulgar, profane, offensive language is practically a prerequisite for promotion. Serious sex crimes are being committed by American troops overseas and many victims are children. Countless strip clubs are kept in business by soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. I could go on…

WORDS OF BRIAN JOSEPH – RETIRED MARINE, FORMER EXCHANGE DIRECTOR Over the top. Of course I am coming from the perspective and experience of an officer in the Marine Corps. Emphasis in values, discipline, and leadership does vary some between services, and can between small units (example: between a fighter squadron and an infantry battalion). So if you are an officer in the Marine Corps you will normally see, enforce, and promote a totally different environment. If you are enlisted in say the Army or Air Force you might see something else. Also being married or single is significant. Yet an officer could also be less moral than a particular enlisted person. The extent of the problems she mentions is often dependent upon where you are and who is in command. It always comes back to the individual and to individual leadership. I can say from experience that the Marine Corps has placed a good bit of emphasis in promoting godliness: not allowing staff at boot camps to swear, and cleaning up cadence songs, shutting down the Marine Corps in the states on Good Friday, or pulling out of sponsoring movies because of heavy swearing in the movie scripts. Professional discipline is important and emphasized in many circles.

WORDS OF WIFE OF RECENT ARMY HUSBAND: | Again, I applaud and respect you for even touching this topic. So many are so “sensitive” about supporting the troops no matter what. Well, do we really support someone when we allow them to self destruct? That is really at the heart of it: Many who join the military are young and sort of lost. Maybe uncertain about what they’d like to do with their life after high school. They may join up for an adventure, for love of country, to stall for time, to murder legally, to escape their home town, to finally belong to a group, to pay for college… And they essentially find themselves in a foreign culture. Part of that culture is that in order to really be accepted, a man must participate in the viewing of pornography, both live and recorded. Most people have this fantasy that the military instills values such as discipline, respect, and courage. Well, I’m sorry but just because you wake up at 5 in the morning doesn’t mean you are disciplined, just because you say sir to a man’s face doesn’t mean you are respectful behind his back, and if you have the courage to die for your country, why can’t you have the guts to stand up against pornography and indecency?

WORDS OF BRIAN JOSEPH – RETIRED MARINE, FORMER EXCHANGE DIRECTOR … has simply and unfortunately seen and experienced something I have not. It is not a fantasy when you see the change in values in men and women before and after going through Marine Corps boot camp. I would guess her husband was enlisted and was in the Army or Air Force. Some of what she speaks of sounds like political correctness is having more of an impact now in many parts of the military. If that is the case we have lost one of the remaining bastions in our country that tends to despise political correctness. Marines are taught to speak up, to have the moral courage to say, “this is wrong or this is right.” But I have to keep coming back to the idea of God’s perspective — in the end all is in vain if we don’t first hear the law and wake up to our overall sinfulness and our eternal peril, and with fear and trembling then humble ourselves and repent and then turn to Christ. Contact: http://www.defenselink.mil:80/faq/questions.aspx ———————–

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