An evangelical's guide to Amsterdam's red light district
Lisa, a prudish and conservative evangelical from Oklahoma, spends a day and night touring Amsterdam's red light district at OSL's expense. This is her horrified report from the streets just west of Nieuwmarkt.
Yes, it's for real. In Amsterdam, when they say it's a live f-----g show, it's live
LISA'S STORY: I have spent 24 hours in hell. I have witnessed sexual excess, I have seen bodies for sale, I have seen women dressed in nothing but tassles and string offering their flesh to vile men, many of them married with children.
What is a red light district, you ask? It is a place where sex is sold beneath red lamps. In Amsterdam, the red light district -- there are actually three -- is concentrated in the old city center, just 10 minutes walk, or a few blocks south of the central station.
From the station, head south to Nieuwmarkt and the beautiful old building in Nieuwmarkt square. From there head a short distance west, following the throngs of tourists headed for the streets marked by bollards with red lamps. Alternatively, take Damrak south and head east for a block or two when you hit Beurs van Berlage.
These streets are constantly patrolled by police. They are among the safest streets in Amsterdam, despite the ongoing evil that takes place day and night in almost every window. If you are unsure of yourself, ask anyone, tourist or local, for directions to the red light district. They will not be shocked. Amsterdam's citizens are proud of their center for prostitution. They will direct you to its heaving heart with utmost enthusiasm and accuracy.
For less than $100 a man can do anything he wants with a woman in Amsterdam's red light district. The women who sell their bodies and souls to the devil on these sad streets will pleasure a man by hand, mouth, and that part of their bodies which should be the exclusive domain of their husbands.
Amsterdam is a modern Sodom and Gomorrah, a pitiful example of no-rules, anything-goes liberalism of the sort President Obama is intent on introducing in the United States.
Can you guess what happens inside?
What was once sacred is now on sale. What should be kept private, known only to yourself and the Lord, is in public view, sold openly, available to anyone with a few Euros in their pocket.
Bodies for sale
Amsterdam's red light district is marketed as a charming tourist attraction. Many tourist families walk the streets with children 16 and under, exposing them to the sexual holocaust taking place on every street corner. What God has so selflessly given us, the temples which are our bodies, the lowly people of Amsterdam hang a price tag upon and call it freedom. This is not freedom; we are not free to buy and sell our bodies. This is sexual bondage, making us prisoners of our lowest desires, slaves of flesh and temptation. What God has given us, Amsterdam mocks and ridicules. Here there is no romance, no love, no profundity of spirit.
Anything you fancy on the menu?
In the interests of research, I wished to speak face to face with one of the women beneath the red lamps. This proved easier than I expected, though the first few times I tapped on a window I was asked whether I wished to pay to watch my husband have sexual relations with one of the women of the house.
I was given an unnecessarily long list of sexual services on offer, including a number I had never heard of, plus some I would not even try in the safety of my own home. My husband, Samuel, who's 64, was horrified to hear he could have sex with a woman of 25 while I watched. The price would be no higher than $150, with coffee thrown in for free. Had I been so inclined, I would have been permitted to participate in a so-called threesome for a few dollars more.
The woman I spoke to -- she called herself Eva -- was attractive and intelligent. Her English was impeccable even though she was from a country called Slovakia, which I believe to be in Eastern Europe. She was incredibly businesslike and confident. What she was wearing could have been folded up and held comfortably in one hand. I asked Eva if she knew Jesus, but my question confused her. She told me if I was looking for marijuana she knew just the man for us. Samuel and I were disturbed beyond words and had to leave her pit of sexual and narcotic excess after less than 30 minutes.
Tickly toys have their fans
All and everything is flaunted in Amsterdam. Drugs are smoked openly in cafes along the canals. The foul stench of marijuana fills the air, making the passer by dizzy and giddy. Those unfamiliar with the smell will wonder whether garden weeds or rope are being burned. But no, this is drug liberalism in practice. This is what happens when there are no rules and people are allowed to run wild like a pack of wolves baying for blood.
Jesus died for our sins. Instead of acknowledging and celebrating that glorious fact, the sordid citizens of Amsterdam gamble with their lives, ignoring the judgment and punishment that will come when they are too old and frail to satisfy their base cravings, but instead must stand face to face with the Lord and make amends for their sin-filled lives.
Hell will be full to the rafters with the men and women of Amsterdam. Not only the customers will be damned, but also the women who have so willingly sold their bodies, and also the businessmen and politicians who made this "Pleasure Dome" possible, exposing innocents to debauchery, God's children to a life of vice. There will be moaning and gnashing of teeth as the people of Amsterdam plead for their lives at the Pearly Gates. "Oh, we didn't know any better .... Oh, we were only enjoying our God-given free will .... Oh, we did not know judgment would come." Well it will come, and it will be endless and unpleasant.
What Amsterdam needs is a Bible church on every street corner, and fiery preachers outside every brothel and place of ill repute. We need saints to take care of the lowly and afflicted, good people to direct sinners to the straight and narrow path of righteousness.
We need prayer, Amsterdam needs prayer because without it, the city, then the nation, then the continent, then the world will crumble and tumble into sin.
Amsterdam postcard art
There is but one way to salvation, through our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. If his message of love is brought to the streets of Amsterdam, there will be repentance, a great turning around and away from evil and sin.
Even the most hardened sinners will beg for forgiveness. Where once there were brothels, there will be chapels. Where once there were hash cafes, there will be soup kitchens. Where once there were bars and stores celebrating vileness and sin, there will be schools and kindergartens raising children into lives of virtue. This is my hope for Amsterdam. Lord, let it happen. Let it start today.