WWW- The U.S. Congress passed a law in 1996 forbidding the sale of sexually explicit material on military bases, but it turns out the military uses a lenient definition of what constitutes such material.

When family advocates got wind that the law wasn’t being followed, Pat Trueman [pictured] of the Alliance Defense Fund said they immediately took action.

“About 40 pro-family leaders sent a letter to (Defense) Secretary Gates asking that he enforce the law,” he told Family News in Focus.

This week the letter was answered. Instead of pulling the material off of shelves, the Defense Department declared that about 10 titles — including Playboy and Penthouse — did not meet the definition of sexually explicit and would continue to be sold.

“It’s something that’s patently ridiculous on its face,” Trueman said. “The Department of Defense wants to sell pornography, and even though the law prohibits them, they found a way to do it.”

Daniel Weiss, senior analyst of media and sexuality for Focus on the Family Action, said he wants the military to be held accountable for its decision.

“If you’re going to find that Penthouse is not sexually explicit,” he said, “you really need to find out who’s on this review board making these decisions.”

Weiss said the material causes great distress in military marriages.

“Talk to any chaplain who’s deployed overseas or here domestically, and they’ll tell you that pornography is a big problem in the military.”