Sears Finally Admits Wrong, Removes Porn DVDs Online
An American department store pulled hordes of hardcore pornography off of their virtual shelves recently in response to the outcry of a pro-family organization.
Sears, already under much scrutiny after their sale of nude posters last August, experienced another blow from the American Family Association when the organization found out the “family-friendly” company was selling pornographic DVDs online.
X-rated videos were added to the “Movies and TV Shows” section and made available to adults and, to the dismay of many, children as well.
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Outraged by the new direction the recently appointed chairman, Edward Lampert, seemed to be taking the company, most likely due to the company’s economic decline, AFA said they tried to settle the matter “quietly and professionally.”
The conservative group first ordered one of the DVDs to make sure the movies were actually from Sears. Confirming their suspicions, they received “Hot Mamas Like Young Chicks 3” in a Sears envelope with a subsequent shipping label from a Sears distribution center.
Notably, during the checkout process, AFA reported that they were never asked to verify their age.
Sharing that “technology allows Sears to remove and stop selling [those] products within minutes, if they [wanted] to,” the Christian organization made a half-dozen attempts to reach out to them thereafter, only to get one response: “We’re going to keep on selling them!”
In response, through an email blast sent to over two million supporters and post online, they appealed to others to “take action” by making “a personal phone call to Sears” and leaving a direct message with Lampert.
“Unless Sears hears from you, they will continue to sell hardcore pornography.”
Additionally, people could also send an email to Sears, make a call to the public relations department, or call the local store manager and ask that their concerns be passed to the district manager.
When their lines were overwhelmed with angry phone calls and emails, the company called AFA last Friday, “vigorously denying” they were selling pornography, which was rebutted by the material existing on their website.
Now, whether or not it was due to the flood of complaints that poured in, Sears finally succumbed to the pressure and admitted they were wrong, after a nine-month struggle.
“We sincerely apologize to any customers who were offended,” Sears wrote in a statement to the AFA. “Our agreements with our vendors prohibit content that is pornographic or sexually explicit in nature.”
“We are removing these items that do not meet our guidelines. We regularly review our processes to ensure compliance by our vendors, and we encourage our customers and community to help us flag any items that they believe might violate our guidelines.”
And within the span of half an hour, Sears removed hundreds of pornographic DVDs from its website – one battle successfully fought, although the giant posters of nudity, or “smut” as AFA refers to it, are still for sale online. A Sears employee stated that the products were reviewed and not found to fall outside their marketplace guidelines.
Tim Wildmon, president of AFA, thanked all of the supporters, and expressed in a statement, “Because you and thousands of others chose to get involved, Sears could no longer defend selling pornography, nor could they continue to deny it! Thank you for taking action and convincing Sears to get out of the pornography business.”
“Together, and with God’s help, we are making a difference.”
Though many critics dismissed the fight as trivial or limiting of personal freedoms, social scientist Dr. Judith Reisman rebuked the company and stressed the dangerous impact porn had on both physical and mental health, shown clearly by scientific research.
Highlighting the “damaging effects of the sexual revolution,” Reisman expressed on LifeSiteNews, “Sears’ management clearly agreed that pornography would conscript children and vulnerable adults as consumers. The Sears pornography adverts had to survive multiple administrative debates, redrafts and societal cost-benefit analyses before they got the green light.”
“Children cannot buy alcohol because their bodies and brains are corrupted by its toxins,” she added. “Similarly, Sears’ reckless distribution of pornography, of ‘erototoxins’ in the public space should be charged with deliberate brain damage – bringing the role of dopamine as a ‘natural drug’ to an American jury.”
Illustrating the physical, mental and spiritual effects of pornography, in whatever form, both the AFA and several scientists are echoing the grave concern of many pastors and Christian leaders.
John Piper wrote on his blog last month that pornography is “one of Satan’s most powerful baits that he puts on the hook of hell.”
Acting to combat this, AFA, which was founded in 1977 by Donald E. Wildmon, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Mississippi, works to “restrain evil by exposing the works of darkness” and “promote virtue by upholding in culture that which is right, true and good according to Scripture.”
The non-profit organization, which has been “on the frontlines of America’s culture war,” seeks to “convince individuals of sin and challenge them to seek Christ’s grace and forgiveness.”
