Timothy Plan Adviser and Staff Join Campaign
More than one million people have signed a petition urging authorities to shut down the most popular pornographic website in the world – Pornhub – over child porn and sex trafficking.
A “non-religious, non-partisan effort,” the campaign is “supported by activists from 192 countries and a broad spectrum of over 300 organizations.”
Timothy Partners, Ltd., adviser to Timothy Plan funds, is proud to be one of those supporting the petition.
Timothy Plan funds was launched in 1994 as an investment product for people who didn’t want to profit from activities contrary to a Judeo-Christian ethic, such as harming the innocent. Pornography was one of the earliest filters employed to weed out culpable companies.
Protecting Innocence and Beauty
“Pornography has much greater power to do harm than many people realize,” said Timothy Plan founder Art Ally. “Because of its addictive nature, it poses great risk to the consumer. More importantly, it’s an ugly regression in the progress we had made to end exploitation and mistreatment of women. Biblically speaking, protecting the innocence and beauty of God’s creation is a clear commandment, so filtering out pornography is a must if we’re to be truly a biblically sound investment product.”
Over the last 26 years, Timothy Plan has added additional ethical filters to its investment products, but the quest to end the mistreatment and sexual exploitation of women through pornography has never dimmed. This passion extends from the leadership of Timothy Partners down to all the employees.
“One of the commitments we made when we launched Timothy Plan was to bless others as we are blessed,” Mr. Ally said. “So, when there are other organizations that align with our efforts, and we have the opportunity to join them to effect change, we will always take that into consideration.”
Recently, Mr. Ally was approached by a few of the home office employees with such a cause in mind. What began as a newspaper opinion column (see below) exposing the profoundly evil practices of child sexual exploitation on the internet and sexual trafficking of women is morphing fast into an international movement.
Some of the staff brought the effort to hold Pornhub accountable for their actions to my attention. They wanted to distribute the petition throughout the office and raise money on their own as a staff. That’s the kind of people we have working here, and I am humbled to have such a team,” Mr. Ally said.
In a show of support of his employee’s convictions, Timothy Partners, LTD., adviser to Timothy Plan funds, will double match all employee contributions.
“It’s moments like this, when we have the opportunity to directly participate in meaningful change, that keep us focused on Timothy Plan’s broader mission,” said Cheryl Mumbert, Chief Marketing Officer of Timothy Partners, Ltd. “Leadership is pleased that our employees bring much of this to our attention. Real change often starts on the ground, but support is needed at the top. Mr. Ally’s unwavering support of the mission means we will continue to find ways to lift up the marginalized in our culture, beyond our core financial objectives.”
Political Support
The traffickinghub.com campaign has also attracted backers on Capitol Hill. On March 10, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) asked Attorney General William P. Barr in a letter to investigate Pornhub for allegedly facilitating human trafficking.
“In several notable incidents over the past year, Pornhub made content available worldwide showing women and girls that were victims of trafficking being raped and exploited,” Sen. Sasse wrote.
“Pornhub must not escape scrutiny. I therefore, request the department open an investigation into Pornhub and its parent entity MindGeek Holding SARL for their involvement in this disturbing pipeline of exploiting children and other victims and survivors of sex trafficking,” the letter said.
According to traffickinghub.com, an anti-porn group, Pornhub “has been repeatedly caught enabling, hosting, and profiting from videos of child rape, sex trafficking, and other forms of non-consensual content exploiting women and minors. We’re calling for Pornhub to be shut down and its executives held accountable for these crimes.”
How the Campaign Began
The Traffickinghub.com campaign was launched on February 9, 2020 with an article in the Washington Examiner, “Time to Shut Pornhub Down,” penned by Exodus Cry’s Director of Abolition, Laila Mickelwait.
Exoduscry.com’s mission is “to break the cycle of exploitation and help those sold for sex.” The U.S. State Department estimates that 25 million people worldwide are being trafficked, many as sex slaves. Of those, the vast majority are women and girls.
“The sex industry is a global system of violence, exploitation, and gender inequality that encompasses prostitution, pornography, and stripping,” Exodus Cry explains on its website.
“It’s driven by the demand of men and necessitates a constant supply of women and children who are sold for the profit of pimps, traffickers, and other predatory stakeholders. Some are trafficked through means of force, fraud, or coercion, while others are seduced by the deceptive “empowerment” narrative in our culture, and still others are compelled to join the sex industry in order to survive.”
Why This Matters
Pornhub is the 34th most visited website in the United States, with more than 42 billion visits in 2019, or an average of nearly 115 million visits per day, according to company statistics cited in The Washington Times.
“More than 6.83 million new videos were uploaded to Pornhub in 2019, according to data from its parent company, MindGeek,” the paper reported. Those who upload the videos make ad money based on viewing statistics.
Pornhub maintains that its staff uses various technologies to screen out child exploitation materials, but Exodus Cry is not buying it.
The petition cites numerous instances of trafficked children appearing on PornHub, including a 15-year-old girl who had been missing for a year until her mother learned that 58 videos of her were posted on the website. Her trafficker (and alleged rapist) now faces a felony charge, the petition states.
The Internet Watch Foundation, a nonprofit clearinghouse based in the United Kingdom, reported removing 132,700 web pages in 2019 that showed children being sexually abused.
“At this very moment, there could be hundreds, if not thousands, of videos of underage sex trafficking victims on Pornhub,” Laila Michelwait wrote in the Examiner. “We already have evidence, and it is just the tip of the iceberg.
“It’s time to shut down super-predator site Pornhub and hold the executive megapimps behind it accountable.”
With Congress and the Justice Department alerted, more than a million petition signers in less than three months, and more than 300 organizations around the world backing the campaign, the problem may finally be getting the attention it deserves.
Most importantly, the voice within the public square is growing louder, and that is the voice that will ultimately move the needle.
“Our culture has exchanged true beauty and sexuality for the lust of the eyes and impurity—and seeks to make it a commodity,” the Timothy Plan website explains.
Tens of thousands of people place their investment dollars with Timothy Plan because of heartfelt beliefs such as this. Those in leadership who have not yet heard the growing voice would do well to listen, as it is only going to get louder.
A writer for Timothy Partners, Ltd. He is a regular weekly columnist for The Washington Times and Townhall.com and is frequently published by AmericanThinker.com, DailyCaller.com, OneNewsNow.com, and others. He has authored the following books: “A Strong Constitution: What Would America Look Like If We Followed the Law” (D. James Kennedy Ministries, 2018), Invested with Purpose: The Birth of the Biblically-Responsible Investment Movement, and A Nation Worth Fighting For: 10 Steps to Restore Freedom.
