WRAP Week: White Ribbons Against Pornography

Join the Fight to Stop Pornography in Your Community

Are you tired of steering your children away from the "Adults Only" section of your local video store? Are you fed up with inappropriate content in television programs and advertising? Have you had to answer the question, "Mommy, what is that!?" as you drove past an explicit billboard in your town? Are you constantly worried that your children will accidently view pornographic images while surfing the Internet?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you're not alone. In fact, you are part of the majority of Americans fed up and frustrated with the fire hose assault of pornographic images we are all subjected to day in and day out. You may feel helpless, but there is something you can do to fight pornography in your community.

Join Concerned Women for America (CWA) as we support and participate in the White Ribbons Against Pornography (WRAP) week. This year, WRAP week will be held October 25 through November 1. Morality in Media (MIM) sponsors the event and states that, "WRAP week is intended to educate the public about the extent of the pornography problem and what can constitutionally be done about it."

The campaign began in 1987 when one woman, Norma Norris, decided to organize her community to fight pornography. She asked her friends and neighbors to wear and display white ribbons as symbols of decency and purity and to speak out against the flood of pornography in their neighborhood. Now MIM and CWA ask you to wear a white ribbon to show that you will join the fight to protect our families against the ravages of pornography.

Pornography advocates often claim that pornography is a "victimless crime," but that is far from the truth. The reality is that pornography destroys families, marriages, and childhoods. It is one of the root causes of sexual dysfunction, sexual deviancy, and serious crimes. CWA President, Wendy Wright, states, "Seventy-five percent of convicted rapists admit they were acting out what they had seen in pornography, and 80 percent of child molesters admit their spiral downward began with pornography."

There are many ways that you can get involved in the WRAP Campaign. First, you can begin by proudly wearing a white ribbon or displaying a white ribbon on your door or on the antenna of your car - and perhaps consider wearing it all year long. When people ask you what the white ribbon stands for, you can give them a CWA Fact Card that explains WRAP week and offers information about the dangers of pornography.

Please click here to download and print out the CWA WRAP Fact Card. Remember to attach a white ribbon to the cards before passing them out so that those who are interested can participate as well.

Other ways to get involved are writing a letter to the editor of your local paper, making complaints to local businesses that distribute or advertise pornography, and asking local religious leaders to address pornography as a spiritual (sin) problem. Morality in Media provides sample sermons for pastors to use.

Regardless of what today's culture would lead you to believe, obscene material is not protected by the First Amendment. Tragically, local obscenity laws are not being enforced because the public has remained silent as filth pervades their homes and neighborhoods. In a Morality in Media press release, former MIM Executive Vice President Betty Wein states, "The obscenity law is unique in that it is based, in part, on contemporary community standards. If law enforcement officials do not receive complaints from the community, they are prone to translate that silence into acceptance of the hardcore pornography being sold in your neighborhood."

Speak out against obscenity and protect your family by making complaints to your United States Attorney and State prosecutor. If your state does not have an obscenity law, contact Morality in Media to learn what you can do to draft one.

For more action items for WRAP week, please visit www.moralityinmedia.org. To download and print the CWA WRAP Week Fact Card, please click here .