It would appear that the ACLU has started with their usual attack against legislation that will ban crush video in America. We are appalled by their continued interference in our efforts to label crush as obscenity.
In addition to wanting animal torture video to remain legal and available for all children and adults to download, the ACLU also supports child pornography due to free speech.
ACLU Policy To Legalize Child Porn Distribution
http://www.stoptheaclu.com/2005/07/17/aclu-policy-to-legalize-child-porn-distribution/
The ACLU has said that making crush video illegal would hinder animal rights groups in their fight against animal brutality. Was this the ACLU’s argument when they were against making child pornography illegal? Has it hindered the fight against child porn? We do not think so, if anything, it has curtailed the industry, as well as the demand, protecting children and giving authorities a stronger tool to prosecute child sex offenders.
This ban we are all calling for is tailor made for crush videos only.
Freedom of speech has a limit if it spreads destruction and victimization in a civilization. Child pornography IS ILLEGAL for that very reason and is NOT protected under freedom of speech. Neither should these videos which are equally destructive to our society and cause unmitigated suffering to animals for the sexual gratification of its viewers.
The day after the Supreme Court’s ruling to legalize crush kitten/crush puppy videos, some good people in Congress like Gary Peters and Elton Gallegly introduced legislation designed to overcome the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the the animal protection laws. The new bill amended the Crush Act to give it a much narrower focus, but would still prohibit selling or offering to sell any depictions of animals being crushed, drowned, impaled or burned where such acts are illegal.
Now the Senate has rewritten the bill and given the proposal teeth. The idea appears to be that Senate agrees with the public and the House of Representatives in that crush video is indeed, obscene torture with no redeemable qualities.
The ACLU is attempting to place a restrictive spin on this. First of all, Stopcrush.org has never once used an animal crush video in our campaign. With zero funding and simple hard work we have effectively rallied countless caring people to write into their representatives, demanding that crush video be made illegal. Secondly, this bill does not apply to anything except for crush video and if there is no law against crush, then we can not stop crush producers. Why would anyone buy into the argument that this applies to anything other than for crush video? As animal rights activists we will still have our rights to show depictions of cruelty, other than a crush video to spread awareness and educate the masses. We have and will continue to fight crush worldwide. If any organization should be concerned about this, it would be Stopcrush.org, and we are not. So thanks for the sentiment, ACLU, but no thanks for whatever help you are trying to offer the American public.
Even young children and teenagers can readily access these materials on the internet, which desensitizes them to animal cruelty. Keep in mind that these videos, these screams of agony and mutilations are of real animals. These are not just cartoons or video games. Trivializing animal torture leads to decay of a nation:
“Any society which does not insist upon respect for all life must necessarily decay.” -ALBERT EINSTEIN
“One of the most dangerous things that can happen to a child is to kill or torture an animal and get away with it,” -Margaret Meade, Anthropologist.
Exposure to such animal torture videos will lead to future Jeffrey Dahmers, violent criminals, and fits FBI serial killer profiling.
http://www.jaapl.org/cgi/reprint/30/2/257.pdf
The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
“A history of animal cruelty during childhood was significantly associated with APD [Antisocial Personality Disorder], antisocial personality traits, and poly-substance abuse. Mental retardation, psychotic disorders, and alcohol abuse showed no such association.”
