“I love porn!”

“Get a job!”

“You can’t get any!”

“You’re a homo!”

“Why don’t you protest the War in Iraq?”

These are some of the various reactions and insults that I have received since I began actively fighting the multi-billion dollar porn industry in 2004. To some, these derisions from fellow citizens may easily deter them from standing in protest of a sexually oriented business (SOB) in their community. But I believe that these passive aggressive remarks are just what a Christian man needs to hear when he is fighting evil in the culture. Why? Because these responses are representative of the mal-formed conscience of society and they stand as testaments to the call to fight cultural evils like pornography. I pray that this article, which I humbly submit for your reflection, will inspire and challenge you to “take to the streets” in your own fight against one of the greatest of evils of our day.

Jesus said to his apostles, “If the world hates you, know that it hated me before you. If you were of the world, the world would love what is its own. But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I have spoken to you: No servant is greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also…” (John 15:18-20)

I don’t like to be hated or persecuted. Who does right? But our Lord told us this would happen. When you think of His words to his disciples in Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world…so let your light shine before men, in order that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven,” one would be hard pressed to make the case that Christ’s own words don’t apply to this battle against the peddlers and purveyors of pornography of today.

Although I began this piece telling you the uncomfortable words that people shout from their cars, I would be remiss if I didn’t tell the many more words of encouragement and stories of conversion that have come thru these powerful witnesses on the streets. The majority of women, if not all, positively support and affirm our commitment to protecting women and children and defending marriage and family life. There are also many men who always congratulate and confirm our attempts to strengthen our brothers who are struggling with habitual sins of impurity.

The SOBs have told us directly that our presence directly affects their bottom line. Our “No More Porn Tours,” as we call them, have proven time and time again that our witness is effective. One needs only to look at the empty parking lots to see the immediate fruit of our labor. On occasion, we will meet a man who will tell us of our direct impact on his life. One such man was contemplating visiting an SOB, which The King’s Men were protesting, when he saw our signs and decided to go home to his family and not “act out” in the negative way he was planning (this story was confirmed by a friend of this man who participates in our monthly activism).

The hundreds of dialogues and conversations we have had with SOB workers and patrons over the years are enough to create an anthology on the social effects of pornography. The hurts and wounds of these brothers and sisters in Christ are added to our growing list of prayer intentions for those caught in the snares of the multi-billion dollar porn industry. Their stories stand as a continual reminder of the need to “take it to the streets.”

The amount of good that comes from fighting evil like pornography is immeasurable, but at times we can see exactly how God does indeed, “works all things for the good for those who love Him” (Romans 8:28). Since 2004, The King’s Men apostolate’s monthly protests and community activism has assisted in the closing of 5 SOBs (3 in Pennsylvania, 1 in California, and 1 in Maryland). This activism has inspired men and women in the states of CA, IN, MD, FL, KS and VA to duplicate our monthly efforts.

I would like to share with you some words recently shared by a brother in arms who is fighting the evil of pornography in Tampa Bay, FL. Jeff Joaquin and his band of brothers have decided to take on Joe Redner, the so-called “father of the nude lap dance.” When their prayerful protest dared to enter the periphery of Mr. Redner’s gates of hell, this man who has championed his first amendment rights to the destruction of so many, vomited these words which should stir the heart of every Catholic man reading this:

"The problem with you Catholics is that you are spineless jelly fish and if any significant number of you had backbones...then men like me would not be as successful as we are...(and) if you Catholics could only profess what you believe in and stand up for what you believe then it would make it much harder for me to succeed in the business that I am in."

Pray for this man, but more importantly pray for the courage of all men who are passively allowing men like Mr. Redner to callously objectify and exploit women to the downfall of so many.

May God bless you as you ponder your call to “take it to the streets.”

The opening scene of an exciting new documentary on the scourge of pornography is of a little girl, aged about 4, sitting in the back seat of her daddy’s car. While looking out the car window she asks him the question: What’s that purple building, daddy? It’s a simple question with a not so simple answer for a 4 year-old.

What would you say if and when your son or daughter asks you to explain what a sexually oriented business (SOB) is? Not so easy is it? I have been actively fighting the multi-billion dollar porn industry full-time for the last 4 years and I think I would struggle answering that question for my son when he is 4. Hopefully through the work of the Porn Effect and The King’s Men we can eliminate someday the need for an answer to such a difficult question. Unfortunately those days are not in the immediate foreseeable future as the 100 billion dollar plus industry continues to shape our popular culture and reap irreparable havoc on marriages and relationships.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the odds stacked against you as a man or woman of faith dealing with this monster business of pornography? I know I did when I was caught up with my own addiction to pornography for 16 years. Until one day I decided along with a few other brave men to no longer be on the defensive when it came to my sexual integrity.

The year was 2005 when our personal battle against the purveyors and peddlers of pornography began. We didn’t know what we were doing when we launched the “No More Porn Tour” or that others would be so inspired to model the effort in their own communities one day. All we knew was that we wanted to take some control of an issue that was completely out of control in our lives.

By going on the offensive we learned that we were able to bring healing to ourselves and be God’s instrument for the healing of others. We also quickly learned that our protest presence at a SOB actually had quite an impact on the community and the SOB we targeted for our witness. When a particular store manager told the newspaper that our presence costs them “hundreds to thousands of dollars in revenue,” we soon began to realize our ability to bring about a positive and long-term change for the community at large.

And so when the Coyotes Show Club came to Quakertown, Pennsylvania in 2007, The King’s Men apostolate (only 5 months old at the time) was primed and ready for the battle that awaited them. The next 14 months would bring with it many learning experiences and opportunities to put our individual and collective courage to the test.

This story caught the attention of Anthony Buono, founder of As Written Productions. Anthony approached my colleague Damian Wargo and I about his desire to put together a professional documentary on this story. The story was not even done being written when he asked us, but Damian and I felt it important to chronicle our efforts so that others could learn and God willing duplicate our successful strategy(ies) for fighting pornography.

After cooperating with the film crew for many hours and for almost a full year, I am pleased to tell you that the documentary is completed and available to you for purchase. I invite anyone who is serious about fighting back against the multi-billion dollar pornography to buy this powerful DVD today! Filmed in high definition, What’s That Purple Building, Daddy? will give its viewers fresh insight into how pornography affects everyone and how we can defeat this cancer in our society.

To order this documentary now please go to www.whatsthatpurplebuilding.com or visit www.thekingsmen.org.

God bless you!

Congratulations for having made it this far in your coursework!  This 400 level course is going to be the most challenging in your journey towards self-mastery and chastity.  My goal with this course is to mentor and guide all who are willing to a new level of virtue through the strategies and practices that I offer in this reflection.  These methods were pivotal in my journey towards freedom from my own habitual sins against purity.  I pray that this may be just what you need.   

Welcome to Self-Mastery 301, the third leg of our journey in self-mastery! How have you done thus far with your homework assignments? If you have been faithfully attempting to implement all of the proposed action items from our 101 and 201 classes, you are no doubt ready to enter into some more advanced practices towards your self-mastery in the area of chastity. For those who have successfully tested out of our 101 and 201 courses or flat out skipped, let us take a brief moment to review the previous steps in our journey. By now you should be doing or have done the following:

So how did you do with your homework assignments? In our 101 class we discussed the building of a daily prayer life by starting with a simple prayer: “Lord, grant me the grace to master my selfish desires this day.” God willing through your prayer time and intentions at Holy Mass, you were able to build some of the necessary virtue for the 2nd part of your assignment: to remove all near occasions for sin in your home.

Okay, let’s now transition to the next level in our journey of self-mastery and chastity. In this 200 level course I will be challenging you to take a deeper look at yourself and your relationships.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, I offer this reflection as a four part series on the journey and development of self-mastery in the context of the virtue of chastity. I am writing these reflections in the format of college level coursework. Self-Mastery 101 will naturally be an introductory presentation with themes surrounding the basic building blocks for its acquisition. Self-Mastery 201, 301, and 401 will follow in a progression that will obviously build off of the previous presentation. These reflections will be submitted monthly and I pray that they be of some benefit to you the reader.