World Family Policy Center Newsletter

Marie-Claire Hernandez

Family and Society (Mexico), President

“Red Familia” (Mexico), Board Member

The following is an excerpt from Marie-Claire Hernandez’s speech “The New Drug of the Millennium” presented at the World Congress of Families IV, Warsaw, Poland, May 2007:

The problem that faces us is silent, invasive and destructive. It seriously affects individuals, the family, school, companies, society and nations. Due to its silent nature, adults are often unaware of the problem experienced by children and young people around us, with the consequent lack of professionals adequately trained to help them. It is known as the new drug of the millennium and it is the addiction of children and young people to online pornography, be it on the Internet, mobile phones, and Ipods or Xboxes.

Sooner or later, addiction makes us dependent on the sensation, and enslaves us and becomes the center of our thoughts and of our acts.

The addiction to Internet pornography among children and young people began to emerge some ago following the introduction of the Internet. Children and young people learned quickly how to use the computer, which was not the case for adults. Unfortunately, there is still a great amount of cyber illiteracy among parents. They do not know what their children are looking at. It is also true that in the beginning, children and young people did not know what they were getting into. Of course, once coming across porn on the Internet, there was an initial mistaken decision to go on. However, this mistake quickly converted into a loss of freedom once the addiction took hold.

Why has this addiction overpowered children and teenagers? Especially, in cases of children and teenagers who are emotionally normal and stable for their age, without serious problems at school or without problems of family disintegration or social instability.

The main cause is due to the fact that they are victims of exposure to porn at an age when sexual curiosity is natural. The earlier the exposure, the greater the risk of addiction. Pornography is the commercial exploitation of a natural curiosity. There are millions of porn sites on the Internet. Unlike pornographic films or magazines, the Internet has no limits. It is accessible to everyone at any time of the day or night. The material that can be seen can be easily concealed in hidden files, with passwords, coded CDs, USB, and the history of pages visited can be easily deleted. In many cases there is no control, and filters can still be easily bypassed.

Children and young people can surf the Internet for hours looking at porn without paying a single cent.

What they see is a far cry from the goodness and beauty of sex. The most sublime and the lowest aspects of human nature may be found in the expression of our sexuality.

To read the entire speech, please visit http://www.worldcongress.org/wcf4.spkrs/wcf4.hernandez.htm

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FEATURED NEWS ARTICLES

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1. Leading Pro-Life Catholic Cardinal Alfonso Lopez-Trujillo Passes Away

LifeNews.com

April 20, 2008

Washington, DC -- A Catholic Cardinal who was viewed as second only to Pope Benedict in leading the Catholic Church's pro-life efforts passed away over the weekend. Cardinal Alfonso Lopez-Trujillo, the president of the Pontifical Council for the Family and a respected pro-life leader, died on Saturday.

Father Frank Pavone told LifeNews.com Lopez-Trujillo was one of the Church’s strongest advocates for the worth and dignity of human life.

"He knew and often said that the Church’s pro-life stance was not just a teaching, but a battle, and he willingly undertook the sacrifices of that battle in his own life," Father Pavone said.

Cardinal Lopez-Trujillo, of Colombia, died at the Pius XI private medical care facility and he was 72 at the time. He had been in the hospital for several weeks battling grave health issues.

Lopez Trujillo led efforts in Mexico in 2007 to stop the nation's capital city from legalizing abortion. The Mexico City legislative assembly eventually legalized abortion and at least one woman has already died in addition to more than 6,000 unborn children.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.lifenews.com/int704.html

Italy Sees Abortion Drop Three Percent as More Doctors Refuse to Do Them

LifeNews.com

April 22, 2008

Rome, Italy -- Italy is seeing abortions drop as more physicians decline to do abortions and prefer to see women keep their baby and carry the pregnancy to term. A new report indicates as many as 70 percent of all doctors in Italy won't do abortions, which has helped the abortion figures drop three percent.

The new report from the nation's ministry of health finds about 59 percent of doctors refused to do abortions in 2003 and, as of last year, the figure rose to just over 69 percent.

At the same time, the number of anesthesiologists refusing to take part in abortions rose from 45.7 percent to 50.4 percent.

"In the south, this increase is even more pronounced and in certain areas the rate has almost doubled," the report says, according to an AFP article.

The French Press Agency said the report finds that in Naples and Sicily the number of doctors refusing to do abortions jumps to well over 80 percent.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.lifenews.com/int710.html

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2. Faith-based schools deemed 'critical'

Washington Times

April 24, 2008

President Bush, at a White House summit today, pushed the idea of providing federal funding to help inner-city faith-based schools that are struggling financially or closing, calling them "a critical national asset" that provide children from low-income families with valuable education.

"We have an interest in the health of these institutions," Mr. Bush told government leaders, university researchers and educators from schools of various faiths who are attending the daylong White House Summit on Inner-City Children and Faith-Based Schools.

Mr. Bush and his supporters aimed to bring attention to the financial struggle of inner-city faith-based schools.

From 2000 to 2006, nearly 1,200 inner city faith-based schools closed, displacing about 425,000, many of whom are minority students, according to White House officials.

Mr. Bush called on summit participants to come up with "good ideas" to fund and save such schools, including business partnerships, private philanthropy and removing state laws that prohibit public funds from going to faith-based schools. He also called for a "commitment" from the federal government.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080424/NATION/163331830/1002

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3. 'Millennial' Generation Shows Respect for Traditional Values

CitizenLink

April 22, 2008

The media portray "millennials" as self-absorbed slackers. But according to a new poll, these twentysomethings show a lot of respect for traditional values.

The survey, by the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency, found 94 percent respect parenthood and 84 percent have great esteem for marriage. Just a quarter said they respect Hollywood.

Ann Mack, a spokeswoman for the agency, said she was surprised by the findings.

“It could be because they are more idealistic as a generation," she said, "but it could be because they are so young and not yet jaded.”

Mark Johnson works with B2G (better2gether), a ministry of the Navigators for twentysomethings. He believes the younger generation is reacting to something.

“At least half of them that we see have come out of some kind of dysfunctional or broken home," he said. "They are wanting something more or better than what they have come from.”

To view the entire article, visit http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000007222.cfm

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4. Marriot Officials Agree to Meet with Pro-Family Leaders

CitizenLink

April 24, 2008

Marriot International officials will meet with pro-family leaders in May to discuss the sale of in-room pornography at some of their hotels.

The discussion comes after 47 family groups, including Focus on the Family, sent a letter asking the hotel chain to stop offering porn in its rooms.

“My hope would be that Marriott will decide to drop the pornography completely," said Bob Peters, president of Morality in Media. "My fear is that they will decide to drop the most explicit material and offer a less explicit form of pornography.”

Randy Sharp, director of special projects for the American Family Association, said in-room pornography disqualifies Marriott from touting itself as a family inn.

“This is certainly something that Marriott should not be promoting when they promote themselves as a family hotel chain," he said.

Omni Hotels and Best Western Hotels have policies prohibiting in-room porn.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000007229.cfm

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5. Panel debates effectiveness of abstinence education

Washington Times

April 24, 2008

A House hearing on the effectiveness of abstinence education loosed a flurry of statistics, studies and anecdotes, but concluded yesterday with little movement on the contentious issue.

"Maybe we should just have a block grant" and let states use sex education funding for the kind of programs they want, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman, California Democrat, said near the end of the four-hour hearing.

The "let the states choose" idea followed powerful testimonies from three panels of witnesses, including one composed of leading medical and public health officials.

Republicans complained that the hearing was lopsided, but the three witnesses who supported abstinence — Sen. Sam Brownback, Kansas Republican; researcher Stan Weed; and Charles Keckler of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) — were assisted by friendly comments and questions from numerous Republican committee members who made a point of staying at the hearing.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080424/NATION/815580561/1002

Quote of the Day: "A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."

~ President Dwight D. Eisenhower