Review of Out of Harm's Way

I had the opportunity to meet and visit with Jack Thompson recently. He was being recognized by America's Freedom Foundation with an award for his involvement in confronting the negative influences of the media in the lives of our children.

I know very well that the name Jack Thompson elicits a wide variety of attitudes. A search of Jack's name on YouTube will give you a good idea of the negative feelings about him. After all, Jack has been instrumental in getting shock jock Howard Stern off the broadcast airwaves and onto satellite radio. He has battled courts and the popular media to get obscene and violent music from 2 Live Crew and Ice T off the shelves and out of the hands of children. And he has been one of the major forces in helping establish the link between violent video games and school shootings. That kind of activity can make someone pretty unpopular among media moguls, gamers and others.

But Jack, despite his detractors, is first and foremost a father who cares about the pervasive elements of pornography and violence that seem to confront our children everywhere. And his autobiography, Out of Harm's Way, tells the story of this father's crusade against the tide of the widespread availability of violence and obscenity.

Throughout Out of Harm's Way, I found several consistent threads. First is the importance of sticking to your beliefs despite challenge and hardship. As Jack Thompson began in his own community of Miami working to get a local shock jock off the air during drive time, the radio host and his station began a concerted attack on Jack. As Jack complained first to station management and then to the Federal Communications Commission, his home address and telephone number were shared over the air and the threats to him and his family and his law practice began. A lesser man, and man who cared less for the well being of children in his community, would have stopped there. But Jack Thompson continues his crusade and works to make his community and eventually the United States, a little safer for his son and others.

Jack Thompson makes no secret of his Christian faith and the optimism it breeds in him. His faith is interwoven throughout the story of Out of Harm's Way, and to some readers that may be over the top. But it is, after all, an autobiography, and his faith is a driving force. One of the elements that I found impressive about Jack was that while he is a man of faith, he relies on the law and public process to effect change. No threatening of hellfire and damnation here as he tries to influence others. He patiently and methodically worked within the law and through well defined legal processes to stop the flow of this material to the ears and eyes and computers of children.

Jack speaks frequently about the "culture war" that is alive and well in the United States--between those who push the envelope of historical cultural limits and those who want to preserve them. Out of Harm's Way is a treatise on what is at stake in the culture war and on the tactics associated with both sides. Obviously, Jack has a bias and is one of the foremost warriors on the conservative side of this conflict. But he shares his passion and reflects the passion of others on both sides of the issues.

After listening to Jack speak and visiting with him and his wife, I bought Out of Harm's Way and read it over a period of a couple of weeks. It was a pretty easy read, and I found it inspiring in the sense that a father with concern for his and other children would take on, in some cases almost single-handedly the powerful influences of the media and made a difference. Whether or not you agree with Jack Thompson's view of the world, his passion and tenacity are an example to many of us who would rather sit on the sidelines. Jack Thompson no longer even knows there is a sideline. He is in the game wholeheartedly and for that, many fathers can be grateful.