Recently Nopornnorthampton officially notified me that they will no longer publish my comments at their website. Had my comments been pornographic or indecent? defamatory? No.
It all started in a short email from Adam advising they wanted me to “withdraw [my] participation from Mopornnorthampton starting now. If you are unable to make this pledge, I regret we will no longer publish your comments on NoPornNorthampton.”
Adam and Jendi have been naturally very upset with the “savage” personal attacks made about them by Mopornnorthampton. They also didn’t like the fact that I played the Toss Adam’s Head game at the Moporn site. You can play it, too, at http://www.mopornnorthampton.com/node/67. I actually got a respectable 6969!
I admit, on the one hand, at times I’ve regretted that I played the head tossing game, but, on the other hand, noticed that this sort of thing comes with the territory of speaking out in public on controversial issues. Welcome to public life, Adam and Jendi. But if the kitchen is getting too hot for you, then get out of the kitchen!
Adam and Jendi just aren’t into head tossing games, and any other fun and games, it seems, based upon his reply and my experience with them. Heaven forbid they ever “lighten up.”
In a follow up email he continued “…I have begun feeling rather foolish providing a forum for you and making efforts to be fair and on-topic while you participate with Mopornnorthampton and let their tactics take place without criticism. I am also tiring of your consistent misrepresentation of our views, as in this comment which I will not publish:
‘I think I asked this before when you brought up Gloria [Steinem]: where does she actually argue for the legal banishment of pornography, as you do, in addition to vigorous criticism of it?…’”
As I replied to Adam, “[t]here doesn’t seem to be a porn regulation that NPN doesn’t want or believes violates the first amendment. So, for that reason, and the reasons I’ve cited before and with which I trust you are familiar, my view of your view is that you advocate the banishment of porn, as a legal and practical matter. … … I’m really not aware of where NPN would stop with respect to the mere ‘regulation’ of porn.”
Of course, after reflecting upon the request I didn’t pledge to withdraw my participation from Moporn. But I am not the first person who has been ostracized from NPN. I follow the mysterious and insightful Doug Shubert, who announced at Moporn earlier this year that Noporn had officially stopped accepting his comments. But no reason was given. Doug Shubert’s comments were better than mine, more often than not, in my opinion.
I don’t think NPN was primarily motivated by the fact that I left comments at Moporn as I do at Noporn – my published comments were pretty mild relative to comments left by others -- and the head tossing game was old news. No, they just can no longer deal with criticism for which they really have no good reason not to agree with, and they long to live with their own intellectual hypocrisy undisturbed.
Heaven forbid they admit they would have us repeal the first amendment – even though few countries actually elevate the right to free speech to constitutional status. If NPN finally did admit that this is the consequence of their position, they would be actually in agreement with most of the international community, like China.
In addition, I suspect the request was an attempt to pull back from the process they had begun at my request of spelling out in specific and concrete detail what Cap Video would have to do to resolve NPN’s objection to its opening a store at 135 King Street. They faced, perhaps for the first time, the end of the very purpose for which they exist.
In my opinion, as many others in the anti-NPN community will continue to share my view that NPN argues for the banishment of pornography, they have accomplished little more than further straining the credibly their website may have, and it certainly makes their claim to be “educational” duplicitous. It is too bad NPN does this sort of thing to me, Doug and God only knows who else. For as critical I have been of the materials they post and the positions they take, we do need credible voices informing us and reminding us that not all is harmless fantasy in porn land.
Yours/AC
P.S. Adam also mentioned that NPN views are “nuanced and balanced.”
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8 comments:
Look at this:
http://nopornnorthampton.org/2007/03/09/sex-therapist-marty-klein-wants-you-to-believe-porn-is-harmless.aspx#Comment
Now look at this:
http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/HOUS3200/default.htm
This is the only comment these guys have posted in a long time. Notice how it agrees with them? Notice how it’s from a Bible-thumper who’s trying to SELL HIS BOOK?
So this is how “fair and balanced”…I’m sorry, “nuanced and balanced” (it’s easy to get NPN & Fox News confused) these guys are.
I look forward to seeing you continue the discussion here, A/C.
-Lacy Vanarsdale
i too have been banned from posting on NPN's site from not only my home computer,but others as well.seems they like blocking IP addresses now.isn't that a form of censorship?and how can they go on to say that they are open for discussions and rebuttals if they ban the people that had opposing views?just thought i'd let you know that i am also banned.keep up the good work AC,and i'll keep checking in on this site and adding my two cents. **PACO**
Hi A/C,
Welcome to the blacklist. I'm in support of everything you say here. And I appreciate the nice things you say about my comments. Thanks, Peter.
I look forward to seeing more stuff here at TalkBack. Don't let Adam stop you. And you might be interested in the following article I found at the Free Speech Coalition: Addiction to Porn, by Daniel Linz, Ph.D.
Thanks, everyone. -AC
After spending some time perusing the NoPornNorthhampton.com website, I have come to the conclusion that NPN’s goal is a bit more insidious than “increasing awareness about the impact of porn on people and communities.” NPN announces that they are “against mindless sex, abusive sex, sex without regard for issues like love, fidelity, commitment, pregnancy, disease and children.” If that is the case, NPN should also expand its mission to curbing the transmission of cable television and satellite broadcasts, eradicating movie rental establishments, and shutting down singles-bars. But, if you are attempting to impose your restrictive morality on society, you have to start with the weakest link in the cultural-filth food-chain.
NPN portrays the typical sexual-merchandise consumer as the poor misguided automaton with little control over his animal-impulses. By referring to the addictive qualities of pornography, NPN asserts that “consumers lose the ability to make wise choices.” Thus, NPN invokes the desperate need for paternalistic intervention. Based on their belief that “many people consume porn because they are misguided as to what will make them happy”, NPN promotes itself as an enlightened advocate for the morally superior social-construct. Luckily the citizens of Northampton have a diligent advocate fighting to ameliorate their imprudent attempts in finding personal fulfillment.
NPN assails those who “fail to appreciate the amount of suffering involved in the making and selling of porn.” The underlying assumption is that adults who contract their labor for the production of adult-content lack the ability to give meaningful consent. In their view, the desperate souls forced into the depraved world of pornography do not have the capacity to make informed decisions involving their employment or the use of their bodies. NPN largely ignores the legal avenues available to victims of duress, rape, battery, and unconscionable contracts through criminal prosecutions and civil suits. Based on NPN’s position, demagoguery is a more convenient tactic than acknowledging the critical role of individual responsibility necessary for a democratic society.
NPN disapproves of the free-market function of allocating property to the one willing to pay the most for it. NPN appealed to the property-owner not to lease or sell his property to the adult business. The property owner’s economic return on investment is secondary to NPN’s vaguely defined collective societal-interest. According to NPN, “elevating money to be the only important value doesn't seem very "Northampton", does it?” perhaps NPN would prefer the central-planning theory prevalent in socialistic countries where property usage is determined by a faceless bureaucracy, subject to the government’s arbitrary whims, instead of the law of supply and demand.
Unsatisfied with the lack of response from the letter mailed to the property owner in negotiations with the adult business, NPN then sent a copy of the letter to 29,000 registered voters in Northampton and Longmeadow, MA. The letters were sent in an attempt to “let businesspeople know they should balance profit with compassion.” The recipients of the letters were also requested to “please ask the Goldberg’s to find a more suitable tenant for their King Street property.” This tactic demonstrates that NPN’s true intent is not to “increase awareness about the impact of porn”, but rather to intimidate, coerce, and shame property owners into bowing to their dictatorial views.
NPN announces that is “interested to hear sincere arguments for opposing views”, but they reserve the right to “reject a comment if we feel it doesn't meaningfully contribute to the debate”. The extensive volume of selectively-quoted articles from psychologists, ex-porn stars, and feminist authors denouncing the evils of pornography is seemingly unchallenged by opposing points of view. Their bias is further evidenced through posts authored by journalism professors, t-shirt marketers, and therapists peddling porn-addiction cures for $80 a pop. See http://www.mopornnorthampton.com/node/84.
This militates against NPN’s supposed purpose of promoting “informed choice” on the issue. On the contrary, NPN operates more like a recruiting website for like-minded zealots than as a forum for promoting education and dialogue.
Well said, Mr. Gorrie.
Have you considered posting these thoughts at Moporn? Mass.Live? or a lette r to the editor of the local newspaper, the Hampshire Gazette?
If you like, I will make it a featured post at my blog.
Yours/AC
In my opinion, the NPN website is educational. Educational in the sense that the site is responsive to different views on porn and creating a forum through which more information can be obtained with regard to the different views on porn, censorship, etc. However, the name of the site alone indicates a desire to advocate censorship. In keeping in mind both objectives of the NPN website I viewed the “Category Archives” for one specific topic “First Amendment.” Sure enough the topic was listed with quite a number of responses to it. Short and simple – if the site is educational, advocating censorship or both would all be invalid if the site did not address the issues underlying the First Amendment. What I was disappointed about was that I did not initially see any obvious First Amendment arguments listed on the website at first glance, rather I had to browse through the “Category Archives.” Second, the site seemingly tends to promote an ethical or moral value driven trend, which I think is their motivation. Though my opinion is entirely subjective.
Additionally, the website MoPornNorthHampton makes it obvious at first glance of the site that they are promoting free speech. Ironically though it does not seem as though this website is educating their viewers as much on their subject. Informative it is, but with regard to being educational it’s not quite where it should be on an issue that would really educate viewers of this site with regard to the position taken on the subject matter of porn.
Furthermore, though both sites pose different views, I respect both sides. Yet it would have been great to have been able to read more information on both perspectives, especially with regard to the First Amendment.
This post was also posted on TalkBackNorthHampton.com.
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