We need to stop pornography, now

Denver Catholic Register ^ | March 21st, 2007 | Archbishop Charles Chaput

[Frank Sheed]

Archbishop defends the fight against pornography now going on and also defends General Pace and his comments. An excellent read!

[trisham]

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[Frank Sheed]

Cultural relativism slam by Archbishop Chaput!

[tacticalogic]

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.

I forsee yet another attempted abuse of the Commerce Clause in the offing.

[Salvation]

Our priest keeps putting this in his homilies and writings. He is fighting.

We need to follow!

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Have fun regulating supply and demand.

Many have tried. All have failed.

[Rutles4Ever]

Despite this great commentary by the Archbishop, the horse is way way WAY out of the barn on pornography. And I wouldn't compare it to dumping toxic waste in Lake Erie, because a toxic Lake Erie made people feel bad; toxic pornography makes people feel good (at least in the short term). In our "feel good" society, even those who THINK pornography is bad, tend to fall into the trap of moral relativism. I wish I wasn't so pessimistic, but there is so much money in that industry, and pornogrpahy touches so many OTHER industries (whether it soft-core Maxim or hard core XXX), it would take an apocalyptic change in society's attitude towards sex to build up any momentum against the industry.

[Dante3]

Even my liberal soc professor admitted that porn is harmful on many levels and strong family unit is essential for society.

[Rutles4Ever]

i.e., with the state of our society, it's too late to fight "industries", but it's never too late to save our friends and loved ones from this pit of death.

[Calpernia]

Good for the ping list.

[franky1]

At one time most police departments had a division or department called the "Moral Squad". They were involved in controlling, raiding and arresting individuals who were in pornography shops, drug establishments, prostitution.

It was funny how the drug paraphernalia was taken and burned immediately after a trial while porn films passed through the precinct so the cops could see them before turning them into the evidence room. No one knew where the films went after the trial.

The addiction to Porn has to be many more times worse than drugs. Many more addicts.

[HarmlessLovableFuzzball]

Have fun regulating supply and demand. Many have tried. All have failed.

The war on drugs will be won long long before the war on pornography.

[EnigmaticAnomaly]

"Despite this great commentary by the Archbishop, the horse is way way WAY out of the barn on pornography. And I wouldn't compare it to dumping toxic waste in Lake Erie, because a toxic Lake Erie made people feel bad; toxic pornography makes people feel good (at least in the short term). In our "feel good" society, even those who THINK pornography is bad, tend to fall into the trap of moral relativism. I wish I wasn't so pessimistic, but there is so much money in that industry, and pornogrpahy touches so many OTHER industries (whether it soft-core Maxim or hard core XXX), it would take an apocalyptic change in society's attitude towards sex to build up any momentum against the industry."

Agreed.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

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.

. . . about which a celibate priest knows exactly jack squat. Anyone else see the irony in looking to men who have pledged to deny themselves one of humanity's most basic urges---the sexual impulse---for guidance on sexual matters?

[R. Scott]

Pornography is as old as humanity itself. Without draconian measures it will remain with us.
What I fear from the anti-porn people is their definition of porn. Some have even labeled classic literature and art as “porn”.

[Dante3]

Don't be so pessimistic. There are many ways to fight porn.

[Quick or Dead]

Well, this is fun. We've tried the "War on Immorality" many times, and that's just in American history. I hate to keep using the Prohibition example, but it fits, when you try to legislatively choke off the supply for a product for which there is such a high demand, as admitted by the good archbishop when he called porn a multi-billion dollar industry. Just as when alcohol was outlawed in America, organized crime took it over, made money hand over fist and grew in both power and influence. The same thing would most likely happen with porn if the archbishop got his wish.

[ArrogantBustard]

The pornographers and pornography users are sure to get their knickers twisted by this article ...

[Nihil Obstat]

Gen. Pace and Sen. Brownback are true Catholics

[Dante3]

Absolutely. LOL.