John Grisham and Child Porn

I want to say this first before anyone starts to think I'm some whacko or idiot or liberal or whatever they think is appropriate to call someone.  I love John Grisham's books.  I've been an avid reader of his books and I don't think I have missed buying any that he has written.  I love the movies made from  his book.  He is one of my favorite authors.

However, when I saw that snippet of the interview he did where he was asked a question and he responded with an answer using child porn as an example, I have to say I was disappointed.  It didn't take long for his fans to start responding and then he retracted his statement with some form of an apology.  Of course the apology was done in a typical PR fashion with legalese.


I don't think he really means that child porn is okay, but his initial statement made it sound that way.  We will never really know what he truly meant and I'm sure he is concerned for his friends.  I have no way to know what type of sentence should be imposed for this type of crime.

I have no way of knowing the facts surrounding the case John Grisham brought up..  I would hope that if someone mistakenly clicks on a link, they would not be thrown in jail for 10 years.  Unfortunately, I'm afraid there are many details about these cases we just don't know.  John Grisham is an attorney who tries to get his clients off for whatever they are accused of and in many instances, attorneys blur the lines of reality.   I'm not saying that is what he did, but we often see that in attorneys.  It is their mindset and how law is practiced these days.

More important than what we may or may not know is the issue of child porn.  I have zero tolerance for it as do most people.  I've heard the stories of those that were forced to do porn as children.  Believe me, listening to these stories is gut-wrenching.  The abuse that adults inflict upon children is mind boggling and horrifying and should not stand in any form in this world.  Any tolerance of it contributes to the problem.

We are becoming too complacent in society and trying to explain things in a way that doesn't sound as bad.  We are becoming too complacent allowing child abuse and child pornography to thrive in our society.  If you don't think it happens, I'm sorry but I would have to say you have your head in the sand.

Child abuse and child pornography are sickening.  They happen all around us and in homes, churches, and neighborhoods and families where we might not expect.  As humans in this world, we tend to see what we only want to see.  We tend to not see that which we don't want to see.

I think John Grisham could have picked a different subject to defend jail time for crimes than what he did.  I hope that John does not think child abuse or child pornography in any form is a subject that should not deserve the scrutiny that he gets.  If you're going to open up this fight and cause, you need to be able to have people call you out on it.  This goes for his fans as well.

Even if his friends were supposedly in a drunken state, when they went and searched for child porn or stumbled on to the links by accident, it doesn't make what they did right.  Yes, there are many more outrageous actions that we could go after in a day.  Any way you look at it, it is still a choice one makes to go click on these things.  Child pornography hurts innocent children and those who view it, just further the abuse.  We all have to take responsibility for our actions.  Let's just be more mindful of the little children that we are throwing under the bus in a situation like what unfolded with John.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blog Post And Images (c) 10/22/14 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------