Exodus Cry: Difference between revisions
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In November 2020, actress Melissa McCarthy and HBO pulled their planned charitable support of the organization, after learning that founder and CEO Nolot had once compared abortion to the Holocaust, and condemned gay marriage.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rosen |first1=Christopher |title=Melissa McCarthy Apologizes for Supporting Charity with Anti-LGBTQ Past |url=https://vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/11/melissa-mccarthy-exodus-cry-apology |access-date=17 December 2020 |work=Vanity Fair |date=13 November 2020}}</ref> Exodus Cry denied it was anti-LGBTQ and that Nolot's personal views were not relevant to the overall mission of the organization.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Foley |first1=Ryan |title=Exodus Cry responds after Melissa McCarthy withdraws support over 'homophobic,' 'anti-choice' views |url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/exodus-cry-responds-after-melissa-mccarthy-pulls-support.html |access-date=17 December 2020 |work=The Christian Post |date=17 November 2020}}</ref> |
In November 2020, actress Melissa McCarthy and HBO pulled their planned charitable support of the organization, after learning that founder and CEO Nolot had once compared abortion to the Holocaust, and condemned gay marriage.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rosen |first1=Christopher |title=Melissa McCarthy Apologizes for Supporting Charity with Anti-LGBTQ Past |url=https://vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/11/melissa-mccarthy-exodus-cry-apology |access-date=17 December 2020 |work=Vanity Fair |date=13 November 2020}}</ref> Exodus Cry denied it was anti-LGBTQ and that Nolot's personal views were not relevant to the overall mission of the organization.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Foley |first1=Ryan |title=Exodus Cry responds after Melissa McCarthy withdraws support over 'homophobic,' 'anti-choice' views |url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/exodus-cry-responds-after-melissa-mccarthy-pulls-support.html |access-date=17 December 2020 |work=The Christian Post |date=17 November 2020}}</ref> |
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The documentary [[God Loves Uganda]] criticized the International House of Prayer for helping advance the [[Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014|Anti-Homosexuality Act]] in Uganda, which punishes homosexual behavior with death.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hitt |first1=Tarpley |title=Inside Exodus Cry: The Shady Evangelical Group With Trump Ties Waging War on Pornhub|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-exodus-cry-the-shady-evangelical-group-with-trump-ties-waging-war-on-pornhub |access-date=2 November 2020 |work=Daily Beast|date=2 November 2020}}</ref> |
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Exodus Cry's |
While Exodus Cry's website and #Traffickinghub campaign claim a non-religious non-political concern with sex trafficking, the organization "opposes decriminalizing or legalizing sex work and wants to abolish porn altogether," according reporting by [[VICE]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cole |first1=Samantha |title=How a Petition to Shut Down Pornhub Got Two Million Signatures|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxqy4z/petition-shut-down-pornhub-trafficking-hub-earn-it?utm_content=1598967872&utm_medium=social&utm_source=VICE_twitter |access-date=1 September 2020 |work=Vice|date=1 September 2020}}</ref> In 2017, the organization altered its mission statement to remove all references to Jesus Christ and prayer to avoid discovery of their religious motivations.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hitt |first1=Tarpley |title=Inside Exodus Cry: The Shady Evangelical Group With Trump Ties Waging War on Pornhub|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-exodus-cry-the-shady-evangelical-group-with-trump-ties-waging-war-on-pornhub |access-date=2 November 2020 |work=Daily Beast|date=2 November 2020}}</ref> |
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On December 1, 2020, ''[[The Daily Beast]]'' reported that Exodus Cry spokesperson Laila Haddad Mickelwait had filed declarations supporting two men working with Exodus Cry accused of sexual harassment and posting death threats against Dr. Nicole Prause, a scientist whose high-profile study disputed the existence of porn addiction. <ref>{{cite news |last1=Hitt |first1=Tarpley |title=Inside the Shady Sex-Work Abolitionist Group That Gutted Pornhub|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-the-shady-sex-work-abolitionist-group-that-gutted-pornhub |access-date=17 December 2020 |work=Daily Beast|date=17 December 2020}}</ref> "It’s ironic to me that they claim to support women, when they’re actively advocating for men who are sexually harassing and intimidating women," Dr. Prause said. |
On December 1, 2020, ''[[The Daily Beast]]'' reported that Exodus Cry spokesperson Laila Haddad Mickelwait had filed declarations supporting two men working with Exodus Cry accused of sexual harassment and posting death threats against Dr. Nicole Prause, a scientist whose high-profile study disputed the existence of porn addiction. <ref>{{cite news |last1=Hitt |first1=Tarpley |title=Inside the Shady Sex-Work Abolitionist Group That Gutted Pornhub|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-the-shady-sex-work-abolitionist-group-that-gutted-pornhub |access-date=17 December 2020 |work=Daily Beast|date=17 December 2020}}</ref> "It’s ironic to me that they claim to support women, when they’re actively advocating for men who are sexually harassing and intimidating women," Dr. Prause said. |
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Revision as of 23:38, 21 December 2020
Exodus Cry is a non-profit Christian advocacy organization seeking the abolition of the legal commercial sex industry, including pornography, strip clubs and sex work, and illegal sex trafficking.[1][2][3] The organization began in 2007 as a weekly prayer group founded by Benjamin Nolot, a filmmaker and member of the charismatic Christian International House of Prayer. Nolot is currently the CEO of the organization. Exodus Cry says it is no longer directly affiliated with the church, but is faith-based and does offer prayer instruction on its website. [4][5]
Exodus Cry has been repeatedly criticized for failing to disclose the conservative religious views that underpin its anti-trafficking advocacy.[6][7][8]
Traffickinghub campaign
In February 2020, the organization's Director of Abolition, Laila Mickelwait, launched a petition to shut down the adult website Pornhub. Mickelwait's #Traffickinghub campaign was co-sponsored the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, an anti-pornography organization formerly known as Morality in Media. By September, the campaign had gained over two million signatures, and on December 10, following a opinion column by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof alleging the site was being used to share sex abuse videos,[9] Visa and Mastercard stopped allowing the Pornhub to accept credit card transactions.[10]
Reason's Elizabeth Nolan Brown suggests that in the Traffickinghub campaign Exodus Cry and NCOSE "hold up isolated tales of abuse as representative of Pornhub content more broadly."[11]
In the wake of the campaign against Pornhub, sex workers said that the loss of credit card processing will most impact independent performers, who use the platform to sell directly to fans.[12] The Sex Workers Outreach Project called religious groups pressure on Mastercard and Visa a "war against sex workers" in which "many sex workers will be forced even further into the margins."[13]
Criticism
In 2017, Exodus Cry released Liberated: The New Sexual Revolution, a documentary film filmed during Spring Break condemning hook-up culture and casual sex. The film was shown on Netflix and at various college campuses, but was criticized for hiding the groups religious background, and director Nolot's historic opposition to abortion and LGBTQ rights.[14]
In November 2020, actress Melissa McCarthy and HBO pulled their planned charitable support of the organization, after learning that founder and CEO Nolot had once compared abortion to the Holocaust, and condemned gay marriage.[15] Exodus Cry denied it was anti-LGBTQ and that Nolot's personal views were not relevant to the overall mission of the organization.[16]
The documentary God Loves Uganda criticized the International House of Prayer for helping advance the Anti-Homosexuality Act in Uganda, which punishes homosexual behavior with death.[17]
While Exodus Cry's website and #Traffickinghub campaign claim a non-religious non-political concern with sex trafficking, the organization "opposes decriminalizing or legalizing sex work and wants to abolish porn altogether," according reporting by VICE.[18] In 2017, the organization altered its mission statement to remove all references to Jesus Christ and prayer to avoid discovery of their religious motivations.[19]
On December 1, 2020, The Daily Beast reported that Exodus Cry spokesperson Laila Haddad Mickelwait had filed declarations supporting two men working with Exodus Cry accused of sexual harassment and posting death threats against Dr. Nicole Prause, a scientist whose high-profile study disputed the existence of porn addiction. [20] "It’s ironic to me that they claim to support women, when they’re actively advocating for men who are sexually harassing and intimidating women," Dr. Prause said.
On December 18, 2020, the International Slavery Museum pulled their planned collaboration with the organization after learning that they oppose LGBTQ rights.[21]
References
- ^ "Our Solution". ExodusCry.com. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- ^ "Become an Abolitionist". ExodusCry.com. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- ^ Hitt, Tarpley (2 November 2020). "Inside Exodus Cry: The Shady Evangelical Group With Trump Ties Waging War on Pornhub". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- ^ Hitt, Tarpley (2 November 2020). "Inside Exodus Cry: The Shady Evangelical Group With Trump Ties Waging War on Pornhub". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- ^ Cole, Samantha (1 September 2020). "How A Petition to Shut Down Pornhub Gained Over Two Million Signatures". VICE. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- ^ Provost, Claire. "Revealed: the US 'Christian fundamentalists' behind new Netflix film on millennial sex lives". OpenDemocracy.com. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
- ^ Grant, Melissa Gira (10 December 2020). "Nick Kristof and the Holy War on Pornhub". The New Republic. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
- ^ Hitt, Tarpley (15 November 2020). "Why Are HBO and Melissa McCarthy Raising Money for an Anti-LGBTQ Group?". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
- ^ Kristof, Nicholas (4 December 2020). "The Children of Pornhub". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- ^ Friedman, Gillian (10 December 2020). "Visa and Mastercard Stop Allowing Their Cards to Be Used On Pornhub". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- ^ Brown, Elizabeth Nolan (16 December 2020). "Pornhub Isn't the Problem. That Won't Stop the Politicized Crusade Against It". Reason. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
- ^ Dickson, EJ (11 December 2020). "Pornhub Upended the Porn Industry. Now New Changes Could Destroy Sex Workers Livelihoods". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
- ^ "SWOP Behind Bars Statement Regarding Pornhub being Banned from Accepting Visa and Mastercard". SWOPBehindBars.com. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
- ^ Provost, Claire. "Revealed: the US 'Christian fundamentalists' behind new Netflix film on millennial sex lives". OpenDemocracy.com. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
- ^ Rosen, Christopher (13 November 2020). "Melissa McCarthy Apologizes for Supporting Charity with Anti-LGBTQ Past". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
- ^ Foley, Ryan (17 November 2020). "Exodus Cry responds after Melissa McCarthy withdraws support over 'homophobic,' 'anti-choice' views". The Christian Post. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
- ^ Hitt, Tarpley (2 November 2020). "Inside Exodus Cry: The Shady Evangelical Group With Trump Ties Waging War on Pornhub". Daily Beast. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
- ^ Cole, Samantha (1 September 2020). "How a Petition to Shut Down Pornhub Got Two Million Signatures". Vice. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
- ^ Hitt, Tarpley (2 November 2020). "Inside Exodus Cry: The Shady Evangelical Group With Trump Ties Waging War on Pornhub". Daily Beast. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
- ^ Hitt, Tarpley (17 December 2020). "Inside the Shady Sex-Work Abolitionist Group That Gutted Pornhub". Daily Beast. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
- ^ Pye, Laura (17 December 2020). "A statement from Director of National Museums Liverpool, Laura Pye, about the ArtXFreedom display". International Slavery Museum. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
