John Kevin's Journal: Sunday School Story

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Sunday School Story

In this Sunday School Story, I present Shelly Lubben, a former prostitute and porn star who is now a crusader who spreads the word of Jesus Christ among the men and women of the porn industry, and helps them to leave the porn industry. Since there's nothing I can add about Shelly that's not already out there on the web, and since I'm a terrible writer anyway, here is a biography of her from Wikipedia:

Shelley Lubben (born May 18, 1968) is an American former pornographic actress who performed under the stage name of Roxy. After she left the sex industry, Lubben became a born-again Christian and anti-pornography activist. She is the Executive Director of the Pink Cross Foundation, which reaches out to women and men in pornography and speaks in public forums, sharing about the hazardous working conditions in the porn industry, which include her personal experiences contracting genital herpes and HPV, which led to early cervical cancer.

Personal background

Lubben was born on May 18, 1968 in Pasadena, California. In an interview with Howard Stern and Deseret News, Lubben stated that she was sexually abused at the age of nine, worked as a prostitute from age 18 to 26 to support herself and her child.
[edit]Professional background

Sex industry

She entered the adult film industry when she was 24 years old, where she said she contracted herpes and HPV, which led to cervical cancer. During her life in the sex industry, she battled alcohol and drug addictions.
An overview of Lubben's life has been featured in the documentaries Traffic Control and Out of the Darkness, the latter of which has been selected to be the opening film for the John Paul II Film Festival 2011.
During her pornographic career which lasted from 1993-1994 Lubben says she appeared in "about 30" hardcore movies. Lubben has stated that the sex acts that girls perform on film sets are physically harmful (including anal and uterus hemorrhaging), and psychologically traumatizing.

In February 2011, Lubben became the subject of a documentary entitled, The Devil and Shelley Lubben, created by Lubben critic and porn industry advocate Michael Whiteacre. According to Mark Kernes of adult industry trade journal, AVN, the film disputes Lubben's experiences in pornography and the trauma she says can be traced to those experiences.

Pink Cross Foundation

In 2005, Lubben initiated an aggressive online marketing campaign, utilizing social networking Web sites in order to reach out to the sex industry. In 2008, Lubben established a is a faith-based organization called the Pink Cross Foundation. The group concentrates on outreach to and evangelism of those in the porn industry, especially performers, and offers support to those wishing to leave the industry. The organization solicits donations online and offers an online support forum for individuals that are addicted to drugs, sex, and pornography. When Lubben identifies interested individuals, she sends care packages filled with religious literature, Bibles, Christian music, local grocery and department store gift cards, and other spiritual and practical supports. A secondary focus of Pink Cross is outreach to individuals seeking recovery from pornography addiction. Pink Cross attends pornography conventions to educate fans about how porn is not glamorous and also reaching out to porn stars and letting them know they have options.

Legislative activities

The organization also lobbies against pornography and the adult entertainment industry. Lubben supported California legislator Charles Calderon on his efforts to tax the pornographic industry by speaking to lawmakers about her experiences. Lubben indicated that the scenes on the set of a hardcore porn film often involve a woman and several men who are doing "degrading acts" to the woman. Lubben describes the scene of a hardcore porn film as devoid of intimacy, and describes it as "all mechanical and beastly." She further writes that "women are vomiting off the set, and most of the actors are doing drugs and alcohol."In June 2010, she spoke to U.S. House and Senate members and their staffs in Washington DC about the damage she claims was done to her body from her time in the porn industry. She continues to be outspoken regarding what she calls illegal and hazardous working conditions in the industry, with sexually transmitted diseases being a workplace safety issue and public health concern.

Media appearances

Shelley Lubben has been a guest on numerous TV and radio shows where she often shares her story and talks about the negative effects of pornography. Some of the programs and documentaries she has appeared or been featured in include:

Howard Stern Show – Shelley was a guest on November 8, 2010 to talk about her book and how God has healed her life and marriage
ABC News Nightline – Is There Life After Porn for the Stars?
Briefing at U.S. Capitol Sponsored by the Coalition for the War on Illegal Pornography – June 15, 2010
Out of the Darkness – Documentary by Anteroom Pictures which features Shelley's journey from a life in the pornography industry to a life in Christ.
The 700 Club – Shelley Lubben: A Porn Star's Deliverance
The Joni Lamb Show (various appearances)
Laura Ingraham Radio Show
Fox 11 News LA – Porn Industry Health Clinic Shut Down
AP News – Performer's HIV Test Prompts Porn Shutdown
Traffic Control: The People's War On Internet Porn

Recording background

In January 2011, Lubben released a Rap/Hip Hop album with the proceeds going to the Pink Cross Foundation to help women and men recover from porn. The first single, called Killer Fantasy, features the message of a porn star speaking to the porn fan about the truth behind the adult industry.

Published works

Lubben, Shelley. Truth Behind the Fantasy of Porn: The Greatest Illusion on Earth, CreateSpace, 2010. ISBN 978-1453860076

Here's some video clips from You Tube about her life in the Sex Industry:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

If anyone wants to know more about Shelly Lubben and her work, you can click HERE to go to her official web site, or you can click HERE to go to the Pink Cross Foundation. Both links I will put in the side bar.

Now while Shelly Has her supporters, she also has her detractors. In the above Wikipedia bio about Shelly, there's a film mentioned called THE DEVIL AND SHELLY LUBBEN. I'll put a link to that website in the sidebar also.

And, here's some clips of her interview with Michael Whiteacre, the creator of "The Devil and Shelly Lubben", and one of her fiercest critics:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

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What is a Warrior?

I see through different eyes.

I see a bigger picture when others see only grey skies.

Though many can’t conceive it,

I stand... facing the wind.

My bravery not from fighting,

but from my strength within,

I am a Warrior.

I will walk the extra mile,

Not because I have to,

Because it’s worth my while.

I know that I am different,

When I’m standing on a crowded street.

I know the fullness of winning;

I’ve tasted the cup of defeat.

I am a Warrior.

They say I walk with ease.

Though trained for bodily harm,

My intentions are for peace.

The world may come and go,

But a different path I’ll choose.

A path I will not stray from,

No matter... Win or Lose.

If you've been in the Martial Arts for a while, you'll find many people who would like to believe in the idea that just because they practice the Martial Arts, they are some kind of Warriors.(I like to call them Wannabee Warriors).

But what exactly is a Warrior? I mean, throughout history, there have been many different types of warriors, all having different Codes of Honor that they live by (And in case you're wondering, yes, there is a Warrior Creed that I follow and try to live up to also...) . But if you really try to define what a warrior is, there seems to be no one answer to that question. In fact, there seems to be many answers, almost as many answers as people you ask.

So, what I did was provide some links to some different websites about different warriors and types of warriors throughout history. Hell, I even posted links to web sites about Dan Millman and Carlos Castaneda for you "Spiritually Aware" types. Perhaps if you look through them, you'll find a good definition of a warrior for yourself...

And for you Wannabee Warriors out there... Some of the links I put up are to Law Enforcement & Military websites. If you really want to be warriors, Check out those links and become a police officer, or go join the armed forces. They need you!!!

FROM WIKIPEDIA, THE FREE ENCYCLOPEDIA: Silat is a collective word for indigenous martial arts of the Malay Archipelago and Malay Peninsula of Southeast Asia. Originally developed in what are now Indonesia, peninsular Malaysia, southern Thailand and Singapore, it was also traditionally practiced in Brunei, the Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam. As a result, it is closely related to other Southeast Asian martial arts including krabi krabong and eskrima. Practitioners are called pesilat. The Chinese fusion of silat is known as kuntao.

There are hundreds of different styles but they tend to focus either on strikes, joint manipulation, bladed weapons, throws, animal-based techniques, or some combination thereof. Silat is one of the sports included in the Southeast Asian Games and other region-wide competitions. Training halls are overseen by separate national organizations in each of the main countries the art is practiced. These are Ikatan Pesilat Indonesia (IPSI) from Indonesia, Persekutuan Silat Kebangsaan Malaysia (PESAKA) from Malaysia, Persekutuan Silat Brunei Darussalam (PERSIB) from Brunei and Persekutuan Silat Singapura (PERSISI) from Singapore.

Below, I added some links to various websites and video clips so you can get a better understanding of what Silat is about.

One of the gravest disservices we have done to the people of our world is to have provided them with a poor education. We do not teach students to think.

If you do not learn to effectively process information (and it is a learned skill) then you will always be at the mercy of people promoting their favorite dogmas.

The problem is, that all kinds of people would like you to uncritically believe what they are telling you about the way the world is. Many of them pretend that such uncritical belief is "faith", which it is not.

If you do not have the tools to discover what a given person or group is really trying to sell you, then you are libel to be making some really wacky presuppositions about the world, which will in turn become the heuristics by which you operate.

About half of what we perceive as "intelligence" is the ability to process information effectively, so if you want to be "smarter" then all you have to do is improve in that area.

While this is pretty simple, it is not necessarily easy. In my experience, most people are conditioned to a way of thinking already comfortable to the individual. When a person tries to change the way they process information they run a good chance of evoking a "threat response" from within themselves.

The wonderful thing about the internet is that you have access to so much useful information. If you're reading this, then you are able to self-educate on any number of subjects to a remarkable degree, and do it almost for free.

And that's what this section is about. I added some links here so anybody with a brain can study and learn to use it.

Remember 2 things people:

"I NOT ONLY HAVE THE RIGHT TO THINK AT ALL TIMES, BUT THE RESPONSIBILITY TO DO SO."

"IF I DON'T THINK FOR MYSELF, THEN SOMEBODY ELSE WILL DO IT FOR ME".

There are over 10,000 different religions in the world, 150 of which have at least 1 millions followers. Which one is the truth? "Christianity!" someone says, but even Christianity alone has over 38,000 different denominations. So which interpretation is the TRUE one?

Religion is not the anchor-point of truth. The truth always existed. Religion is man-made, meaning that the truth existed prior to both man and religion. Religion may be an effective catalyst for some individuals who desire to invest their minds into ideological association for whatever reason, but it is not a necessary nor a sufficient condition for a relationship with God, and understanding of the Creator, or the inner workings of the self.

Spirituality is not a belief. It is a state of consciousness, a mental framework with which you approach the world. Spirituality is in fact what birthed religion through the attempted organization of experience and wisdom, which ended up being the hierarchical stratification of various belief systems that we call religion.

Don't let the commitments you have to a religious belief system in your mind take you away from your natural state of Being with all things. You were a human before you learned religion. God's light existed in you before you learned this through some spiritual guru. Does this mean don't read or believe what Jesus of Buddha had to say? Of course not. Just make sure you take the time and effort to experience the rose instead of just believing in the accounts of others. This is not an attack on any religion by any means, and religion has brought many people happiness and the experience of being close to one's creator, but don't let it cause segregation away from our inherent unity.

As for my religious beliefs, well...

I'm a CHRISTIAN, in the sense that I believe that personal redemption is feasible for everyone and that universal love makes that salvation possible.

I'm a MUSLIM, in the sense that I believe that there's only 1 GOD, ans that all are equal under this one GOD. And, althought I'm not jewish, I do have a respect for JUDAISM.

I'm a BUDDHIST, in the sense that the seeds of enlightenment are within all of us as an integral part of our DNA, and that we are capable of reaching the Absolute through our own efforts.

I'm a HINDU, in the sense that I believe that GOD takes many shapes and forms to reach out to mankind.

I'm a TAOIST, in the sense that I have a total belief in the reality of Yin & Yang Energies.

And I also have a total belief in the world of spirits, and what we can learn from them, so I guess that makes me an ANIMIST.

I never want to tell someone what to think, for ones spirituality is a private matter between that person and their creator.

My goal here is only to show all of you the history and traditions of the many, many ways the people of the world have reached out to god.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Sunday School Story

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