Posted on 03/21/2007 9:14:58 AM PDT by Frank Sheed
A friend recently quipped to me that if Americans were as good at the “war on terror” as we are in our “war on common sense,” the world would be a much safer place. He was talking about our country’s increasingly confused attitudes toward sex.
Last week offered a good example. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, said that “I believe that homosexual acts between individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts. I do not believe the United States is well-served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way.”
Note that Pace did not say that, “homosexual persons are evil.” He said that homosexual acts are wrong. And of course he’s right. We might question the general’s choice to comment in the context he did, but not his content. He simply stated the Western moral tradition. We should respect his courage for saying it. Every human being has an inalienable dignity as an image of God. But as part of that dignity, we also have free will, and our choices — our behaviors — create wholeness or havoc around us, depending on their moral content.
Our sexual behavior is never merely a “private” matter. Human sexuality is deeply linked to issues of identity, fertility and new life. Our sexual behavior always has social implications because it directly or indirectly impacts others. Therefore it helps shape the wider culture. This is not a uniquely Christian point of view. Most Americans clearly agree with Gen. Pace. The only thing strange about his remarks was the theatrical wave of shock they generated from critics. In fact, with the good exception of Sen. Sam Brownback and some others, many members of Congress scrambled to criticize Gen. Pace — despite the moral beliefs of the people who elected them.
The bickering over Gen. Pace is just an icon of wider problems. The sexual confusion at the top of U.S. society now has an echo in every corner of American life. Sexually transmitted disease, child sexual abuse, adult Internet predators, divorce, cohabitation and nearly every other indicator of a dysfunctional society stand at epidemic levels. But very few people want to name the biggest single environmental crisis we face: a multi-billion dollar pornography industry that pours garbage into our homes every day through the Web and other media.
Forty years ago, when steel mills pumped hundreds of tons of toxic waste each week into the Great Lakes — literally “killing” Lake Erie and damaging the health of tens of thousands of families — citizens got organized. They forced the mills to clean up or shut down. We need to do the same today. Citizens need to stop the pornography industry now — not out of some kind of Victorian prudery, but because pornography poisons the human heart, imagination and soul just as those steel mills once poisoned our air and water, only worse.
Pornography is never “innocent entertainment,” no matter how private it might seem. It turns human beings into objects. It coarsens our appetites. It darkens our ability to see real human beauty. It creates impossible expectations about sexual intimacy. It kills enduring romance and friendship between the sexes. And ultimately it’s a lie and a cheat. Pornography is a cheap, quick, empty copy of the real thing — the real joy of sexual intimacy shared by a man and woman who have joined their lives in a loving marriage.
In recent months, two Catholic bishops have begun some extraordinary work against pornography in their Midwest dioceses: Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., and Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kan.
Bishop Finn’s excellent pastoral letter, “Blessed Are the Pure in Heart: The Dignity of the Human Person and the Dangers of Pornography,” has a wealth of good information about the scope of pornography, the damage it does and many practical tips to fighting it in our homes. Archbishop Naumann’s anti-pornography initiative, “As for Me and My House, We Will Serve the Lord,” includes a DVD and workbook with valuable resources for fighting pornography, teaching chastity and wholesome sexuality, and helping others who have been hurt by pornography addiction.
We can’t do much to fix the sexual confusion at the top of our society, beyond writing to our elected officials and demanding candidates who will advance our convictions when the time comes to vote. But we can do a lot about the poison in our homes and local communities. Pornography is poison. It should be controlled like any other toxic waste. And don’t be fooled. This isn’t “censorship.” It’s a matter of public health and common sense.
Bishop Finn’s pastoral letter can be found online at www.diocese-kcsj.org; click on “Bishop,” then on the pastoral letter. For information on Archbishop Naumann’s anti-pornography initiative, contact the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kan., at 913-721-1097.
You can also use the Comstock laws. Their biggest contribution to American history was to make Margaret Sanger a celebrity.
LOL What, stop the world's oldest profession?
How?
The wankers will be out in force trying to defend and rationalize their perversion ...
Can't find the off button?
Sheeesh......
What a stupid comment. By the time children - or adults - realize that it is porn, they have already been exposed to it.
************
Who can better be objective, one who is addicted to pornography, or one who is not?
I dunno about your children, or you, but a titillating picture on the Internet is not pornography, it's a tease designed to get you to register to a site.
Frankly, I have not seen one of these teases in over a year, since better controls were invented to counter redirects and porn bombs.
I would agree that those were offensive to the average computer user. They have been dealt with effectively and without using a sledge hammer to fix a dent.
What you folks are proposing, is akin to book burning and a direct violation of free speech.
This is not something that fly with the courts, or most conservatives, not to mention populists, or any majority.
If you have problems with kids or adults accessing things you don't want them to see for any reason, the best way to address this is at the keyboard.
I would prefer to keep the internet free, and the gambling ban was onerous and offensive to me, even though I do not gamble!
Let's not go down the road that you are trying to pave, because I promise you that I will be standing in your way, no mater what issue you decide is offensive to you.
".......and you have heard it said that thou shalt not committ adultery but I tell you that anyone who looks lustfully on a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
Those who place this sort of temptation in the way of fallen human nature face a terrible judgment. This applies not only to pornographers but those in the fashion and popular music and entertainment industries. So much of modern popular culture is aimed precisely at generating those impulses which Jesus condemns.
Saying "if you don't like it don't look at it", just doesn't cut it. It ignores a) fallen human nature b) a basic human right not to be afflicted with this sort of perversity and temptation and c) the destructive effects which it has on families, relationships and human dignity.
The good news is that we have a choice. We can either curb our own addiction to moral depravity or we can let the Muslims do it for us when they round up all the pornographers and slit their throats. 'Course, they'll probably slit ours as well but by then true Christians will probably prefer this to continued living in Sodom.
Thanks for your incisive comments. You seem to understand the gravity of what happens when man's every "wish" can come true. What happens when the "computer virtual reality world" literally leads people to act out latent desires to the point where they die of exhaustion?
The movie, "Forbidden Planet," demonstrated the effect of "monsters from the Id." The movie was way ahead of its time.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1804482/posts
How appropriate. I stumbled upon this in the Breaking News forum!
Nice loaded question . . . "addicted" to pornography . . . as if.
Asking a priest for relationship or sexual advice is like asking your dog for help with your differential equations homework.
Not really. This kind of crap is hackneyed, gay, and humorous---nothing to write home about. Don't flatter yourself.
Thank you for proving my point.
Yawn.
I take it unfounded accusations don't count as "bearing false witness" as long as they're implied, and not explicit.
If you can.
Commentary posted on this thread has already demonstrated the truth of my prediction. I have little doubt that it will continue to do so.
If you can.
Commentary posted on this thread has already demonstrated the truth of my prediction. I have little doubt that it will continue to do so.
I think you erred when you thought that simply accusing everyone who disgarees with you of being a "pornographer or pornography user" was actually an argument.
I do see the irony, from a worldly point of view. But, I also know that the truest book I have ever read that dealt with love and marriage was "Love and Responsibility" by Pope John Paul II. The Catholics "get it"-- in fact, I think that they're the last true romantics left in this world. They KNOW what a marriage is supposed to be. Whether that came from the bible, or the Holy Spirit, or centuries of study of human nature, I don't know. But if you don't believe me, read the book.
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