Wednesday, Jun 18, 2008    Text size: 

Magicians Penn and Teller's Showtime series "Bullshit" will leap to the defense of the adult industry on tomorrow's premiere episode, subtitled "The War on Porn."

Like all episodes of "Bullshit," this one will feature lighthearted interviews with various sources interspersed with showman Penn Jillette's commentary.

Arguing against the industry will be Donna Rice, whose dalliance with then-Sen. Gary Hart ended his presidential bid in 1984. Since the mid-1990s, Rice has been an anti-pornography advocate. Representatives from anti-porn ministry XXXChurch.com and the conservative Family Research Council will also condemn adult.

One of the main figures called to defend adult is Dr. Marty Klein, a counselor, sex therapist and author.

"There's no peer-reviewed, scientific data that proves that people who look at porn are more likely to commit violent acts than anyone else," Klein says on the program. He also cites one of his books, "America's War On Sex."

Klein told XBIZ that antiporn advocates often rely on flawed methodology when compiling evidence for their arguments.

"No one disputes the fact that a certain percentage of people of people who commit sexually related crimes have porn on their person or in their homes," he said, explaining that antiporn advocates make two mistakes when they argue that watching porn caused these crimes. "One, correlation does not equal causation. Someone who commits a sex crime may have watched porn that morning, but they may have also had coffee that morning. They may have watched 'Seinfeld' that morning. That doesn't mean that those things caused them to commit the crime."

Second, Klein said that while antiporn advocates are quick to point at sex criminals who have watched porn, they fail to consider the large number of people who have watched porn with no subsequent bad behavior.

Adult star Brandi Love will also appear on the show with her husband to refute claims from conservative quarters.

“This was one of the most entertaining and creative media pieces I have ever been involved with,” said Love, whose segment was broadcast on the OneCams.com network.

A preview for the episode of "Bullshit" is available at Showtime's official website.

"Penn & Teller's Bullshit: The War on Porn" will be broadcast Thursday, June 19 at 10 p.m. on the east and west coasts on Showtime. For more information, visit Sho.com.