OUR LEGAL CORNER:
Pornography case:
We rejoice that the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein has rejected ODM (TopTV)’s application for leave to appeal. We are informed that ODM has decided not to challenge on the courts decision in the Constitutional court. The result is that they have ceased broadcasting pornography. We are waiting in anticipation to see whether ODM, which is under judicial management due to trading at a loss in the past year, will re-apply to ICASA for a licence to broadcast “adult material”. If they do, we are prepared this time and know what the court requires to oppose an application for such a licence.
Euthanasia case:
We are saddened that the judge so easily and quickly (within a few days of the application made by Mr Stansham-Ford) granted him the relief sought for; i.e. that he may by assisted in his suicide by a medical doctor, even though the applicant died of a natural death the day before the court gave its decision. This has now created an unfortunate and dangerous precedent in law and DFL as well as the National Prosecuting Authority will be challenging this decision, either in the Supreme Court of Appeal, but more than likely in the Constitutional Court, as constitutional issues (especially the right to human dignity, which the applicant relied on) will be adjudicated upon and its proper context argued and examined.
The pornography dilemma
Research done by Ms Antoinette Basson (BMR Research Consultant and Psychologist) at the Youth Research Flagship Program of the College of Economic and Management Sciences (CEMS), hosted by the Bureau of Market Research (BMR), showed alarming facts about the escalation of child pornography in South Africa.
Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with incarcerated sex offenders who had committed a sexual offence against a child (any person under the age of 18 years) and who had reported exposure to pornographic material prior to the offence. The study was extended to correctional centers located in three major metropolitan areas within South Africa, namely Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
The following key research findings emerging from the analysis are presented below:
- Pornographic material has become easily accessible mainly due to the development of technology, more specifically the Internet and cellular telephones.
- Participants displayed commonalities with regard to certain personality traits, dysfunctional family environments and abuse.
- The participants experienced emotional, physical and sexual abuse of which the latter was the most prominent.
- Participants were initially exposed to pornographic material at a young age through their peers or family members.
- Participants developed a preoccupation with pornography and progression in their viewing behavior.
- The effect of pornographic material on human behavior involves a complex combination of physical, cognitive, emotive and behavioral aspects.
- The participants emphasized that they became addicted to pornographic material and could not control the effects of pornographic material on them as individuals.
- The viewing of pornographic material over time had various consequences related to their personal lives and criminal behavior.
- Almost all participants were adamant that the viewing of pornography motivated them to commit sexual offences involving children due to the effect of exposure to sexually explicit images.
- Participants expressed concern with regard to their release back into society and fear of re-committing, especially due to the easy availability of pornographic material.
Aid to Africa (A2A) Outreaches 2014-2015
There are a few outreaches in the pipeline. We will report on them in the next newsletter.
LifePlace
The LifePlace team is still regularly going on outreaches to speak to prostitutes in an attempt to reach out to them. Sometimes we go out twice a week. We have about 4 ladies who have been with us for a while and going from strength to strength. One of them who was bed ridden is now moving about freely. We and are encouraged by their progress and continue reaching out to these ladies who for the most part, have only known what it means to be used and abused. It has also been on our hearts to start teaching them how to work with a sewing machine as an alternative means of generating an income, as there is so much one can do with a sewing machine. These are exciting times and we would like to thank everyone who has had a part in helping the LifePlace ladies escape a life of slavery.
Devotion
Hab 3:17, 18: “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.”
The Christian worldview is inherently positive. No matter how deep a person may have fallen into sin, in Christ there is hope for forgiveness. Even though man might have given up on someone, and society marked certain people as not being rehabilitatable, through Christ, there is always hope.
In Habakkuk we read about circumstances that had become so bad that some may argue that the prophet’s quality of life had become too unbearable to make his life worth living. Yet, Habakkuk finds reason to rejoice.
There is an element of submission while keeping the hope that God’s Word offers; a trusting in Him for healing if it is His will. On the other hand, there is an element of pride, rebellion and despair in the fatalistic attitude that promotes physician assisted suicide.
Instead, it should remain the duty of the doctor to come alongside the patient, to help them to carry the burden of sickness and to relieve the suffering as much as possible, without transgressing God’s word. Euthanasia is not a “kind death” (“genade dood”, in Afrikaans). Instead it is the ultimate act of unkindness and negativity which creates a society that cannot tolerate disability and disease.]]>