A personal choice

My friend, my pastor, hands me a magazine, The Economist, open to page 9.

His eyes are deep pools of honesty and wisdom. His voice expresses true interest in my thoughts in response to ideas put forth. As I take my seat in the
9 a.m. Bible study, I glance at the first few lines. Fear rumbles in my upper abdomen like a handful of river rock: The business of sex... the world's oldest profession more
 
The first paragraph is filled with enough divisive labels and broad stroke mis-assumptions that I am tempted to dismiss the article and the editorial staff.

The second paragraph slaps me across the face: This newspaper has never found it plausible that all prostitutes are victims. The words never and all ignite the warrior-advocate within me.

The business of sex – prostitution – is not a profession.

The business of sex is the demand-driven grooming and consumption of human beings, the rape of a child – thousands of American children – girls and boys forced into service typically around age 13.

The business of sex is a dark and brilliant evil concealed in the shadows created by the entitlement of the buyers – typically white middle- and upper-class American males – an evil upheld and facilitated by the inaction of silent bystanders, behind-closed-doors consumers, and not-so-innocent witnesses who dismiss the often silent cries of boys and girls, admonishing them with shame, advising Shhh. Don't tell.

The human lives within the business of sex are diverse and complex.

The manifestations of brutality – rape, prostitution, pornography – complex and diverse.

I seek a language understood by the buyers of sex, especially those protected by middle- and upper-class status: substantial financial penalties, the doctrine of joint and several liability.

Eradication of such heinous crimes may be advanced by not only incarceration, but also the imposition of a financial penalty. – Restitution, All or Nothing, New Jersey Law Journal, March 28, 2014, njlawjournal.com

I implore all who would hear me to question statistics, to contrast and compare The Economist's dissection of data from one big international site that hosts 190,000 profiles to the Urban Institute's study revealing the size and structure of the underground commercial sex economy in American cities. Abstract and Presentation

I kneel in prayer:

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Ps 123:8

Rjw