Morality in Media kicked off its 24^th annual White Ribbon Against Pornography week on Sunday.

According to Dawn Hawkins, MIM’s executive director, this year’s WRAP week campaign events will feature testimony from people such as ex-porn stars, doctors, scholars, therapists, Internet safety experts and feminist leaders.

To show their solidarity against pornography, this week thousands of people will wear white ribbons and attend WRAP events across the country.

The major focus of this year’s WRAP week is how pornography harms society.

The campaign runs until Sunday and will feature more than 20 events across the country designed to help people understand the problems that pornography can cause.

“Pornography is bringing harm to all areas of society,” said Patrick Trueman, president of MIM. “It is destroying families and is the main contributor to the exploitation of women and children. Pornography is the gateway to the sex industry and the harm must end.”

Author and radio host Teresa Tomeo said, “The evidence regarding the impact of pornography on children, women, families, and the institution of marriage continues to mount.”

“That’s why the WRAP campaign is so important. Awareness is key in our efforts to make a difference in our media-saturated culture.”

A major feature of this year’s WRAP campaign is the Be Aware: Porn Harms website. The site features online content such as videos and resources related to the WRAP campaign at www.PornHarms.com/beaware.

“We will be streaming documentaries about the links between porn and human trafficking, hosting discussions with past porn performers, providing education on understanding pornography addiction and offering steps to keep children safe,” said Hawkins.

Morality in Media is an organization that focuses on opposing pornography and indecency by educating the public about pornography. It has been the national sponsor of WRAP since 1987.

New Jersey lawmakers are bent on passing new, strong anti-bullying legislation amid the rash of teen suicides, but others say the bill’s wording is inadequate and can be used to harass teachers who express religious beliefs.

The Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights encompasses both emotional harm and physical harm, with added criminal charges. It also establishes a “Week of Respect” annually, The Christian Post reported.

The process in formulating the bill included hearing the stories of bullied people. Matthew Zimmer, 16, was bullied for being gay, even by his teachers, one of whom called him gay in class. The principal never did anything about it, so Zimmer withdrew from school, The Washington Post reported.

Corey Bernstein, 15, was harassed and bullied in middle school, and his plight was ignored by school administrators and the principal, who would not admit that any problem existed, according to the Daily Record.

Some 160,000 students try to avoid school because of bullying, whether on campus or on the internet, The Washington Post reported. Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle told the Daily Record, “This is not a gay bill. This is for every kid.”

Implementation of bill

Under the new bill teachers, school staff and administrators must undergo bullying training, and administrators must record all bullying incidents and response actions taken. Every quarter, a school will receive a bully grade, The Christian Post said.

Administrators will also have to hire anti –bully specialists, and districts will have to institute anti-bullying courses, The Christian Post reported.

Bullying off school grounds, including online, are also covered in the bill. Ed Barocas of the American Civil Liberties Union noted this may pose legal challenges, The Washington Post said.

The bill will require an accompanying budget, which is slated for review by the state Senate’s budget committee on the following day, according to The Christian Post.

Needs revision

While there is overall agreement of a need for anti-bullying legislation, concern has been raised on the bill’s wording. Greg Quinlan of the New Jersey Family Policy Council told The Christian Post, “We need to put a culture of dignity and respect in schools,” but added that the bill contains flaws that can limit its effectiveness.

John Tomicki, executive director of the League of American Families opposed the bill saying that it is unwieldy and flawed. The Daily Record quotes Tomicki saying, “It requires significant redraft.”

Quinlan said the bill is not fully inclusive. It cites color, race, ancestry, national origin, religion, gender identity and expression relating to homosexuality and physical, mental and sensory disability which can trigger bullying, The Christian Post reported.

But Quinlan told the Christian Post, “Obesity is not on the list. Ex-gays like myself are not on the list. Bullying is bullying,” Quinlan said, stressing the need for all-inclusiveness in the bill language.

According to the staff of those who sponsor the bill, the list of groups is merely examples, and it also uses the phrase, “any other distinguishing characteristics,” The Christian Post reported.

Still, Quinlan said teachers and students will be denied their first amendment rights to express what they believe, fearing disciplinary action. For example, if a teacher would say, “There is no gay gene,” it could be construed as bullying. Or, expressing one’s faith could be seen as excluding or putting down other faiths, The Christian Post said.

Tomicki cited free speech and said the bill may violate the U.S. Constitution which protects this fundamental right. Others noted the added cost to implement the bill shouldered by districts that don’t have the budget, The Washington Post said.

In 2009 over one third of all U.S. students were bullied—half of them on a weekly or daily basis. Because of this, the state legislature has more than the required support for the bill with 28 Senate members and 46 assembly members, The Christian Post reported.

Nonetheless, Quinlan has set forth his own version of anti-bullying legislation which has no list and simply includes bullied characteristics. The model is easier to implement and does not have the burden of additional cost, The Christian Post reported.

People gathered at an intersection in Bloomington, Minn. to protest against the actions of the BP, the company formerly known as British Petroleum. The oil spill from a BP oil drilling operation in the Gulf of Mexico has surpassed the Exxon Valdez spill, and it continues to gush oil as of the day of this protest.

The  “BP oil spill” in the Gulf of Mexico  is revealing the unsteady ground the country walks on, and people are feeling this more keenly now than ever before–more so because unlike the Haiti earthquake or the Indian Ocean tsunami, the oil spill is a man-made disaster.

Reverend Chuck Freeman in the Huffington Post feels an inner divide.  The pastor within mourns the loss to environment, lives and livelihood.  His prophetic side is frustrated that the country lives out of harmony with God.

Referring to Jeremiah in the Bible, Freeman notes that the oil spill is viewed as the largest in U.S. history.

He is appalled with himself as he wrestles with a callous urge, wondering if the harm is large enough for people to wake up to human limitations.

Will they, in the end, feel “rescued” by the human technology that caused the spill?  Will they become complacent afterwards, believing human genius can save mankind from any calculated failure?

Still photo from US government live feed of Deepwater Horizon oil spill in cooperation with BP. Taken May 11 2010.

Freeman wonders, too, if he can afford to think this way because he lives safely in Texas.

On the other hand Russell D. Moore, dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary feels the crisis keenly because it lies right at his doorstep in Biloxi, La.

In his blog, Moore to the Point, he says the oil spill exceeds Hurricane Katrina in that it makes him wonder if his children’s children will ever know what Biloxi was like.

The spill, he says, has endangered everything “from seafood to tourism, crabs and seagulls.”

It has also threatened national security because of the great dependence of the country on the ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico, which some have called Katrina meets Chernobyl.

Religion Link rues how the country depends so much on fuel and values consumption over conservation.  It raises the theological necessity to teach about creation care and of the apocalypse.

The spill occurred due to an explosion one mile below the ocean surface on April 20, and has been pouring up to 19,000 barrels (800,000 gallons) a day into the waters, killing 11 men and leaving idle thousands of fishermen, shrimpers and other seafood workers, as well as causing harm to the tourism industry, according to Reuters.

BP has sheared away the gushing well pile and lowered a cylindrical containment cap over the hole—a temporary and partial fix.  According to Reuters it will take some time before they can confirm if this works.

They are hoping that when the cap is firmly in place, they can funnel some of the escaping oil and gas into a large hose that would carry it from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico to the surface, where ships will collect and remove it, Reuters said.

Louisiana is hardest hit, but beaches in Mississippi and Alabama have been fouled by the oil, and there is the possibility that the oil sheen may hit Florida in days.

Plus, the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research projects the oil slick may by early summer reach the east coast up to North Carolina, Reuters said.

Moody’s and Fitch ratings say clean up costs alone may at worst exceed $5 billion in any one year.

Moore, turning in, says “For too long, we evangelical Christians have maintained an uneasy ecological conscience. I include myself in this indictment.  We’ve had an inadequate view of human sin.”

He rues the excess belief in the free markets, to the point that they expect corporations to protect the environment.

“But a laissez-faire view of government regulation of corporations is akin to the youth minister who lets the teenage girl and boy sleep in the same sleeping bag at church camp because he ‘believes in young people,’ ”  he writes in his blog.

Freeman, looking out, notes “…the addict has to ‘hit rock bottom’ before he can muster the humility and fortitude to move toward the light.  And even George W. Bush confessed that America is addicted to oil.  Do we need to suffer full-blown ruination to be awakened to our right mind?”