To: trisham
For some reason, it appears that those who are defending morality are to be chastised, while those who defend immorality are to be ignored. Why is that?
I do not chastise, nor criticize those who defend morality. Far from it. What I criticize is the mindset that the smut, sleaze and filth that permeates our society is 'unavoidable' and I while it may not be possible to avoid/evade all of it, it is the responsibility of parents to do what they can to limit the exposure of their children to that filth.
If that means not patronizing certain business establishments, theatres, restaurants, whatever, it is the price that should be paid without hesitation. We do not have the luxury of teams of high priced lawyers to file suits over objectionable displays, we do not have advocacy groups ready to step up and call for universal boycotts of businesses that engage in pseudo-pornographic advertising, we basically have the weapons of Prayer, and of voting with our feet and our wallets, which means that we have to act in the best interest of our families, and of our children. If that means being inconvenienced by going further to do our shopping, so be it. We shouldn't hesitate.
Now some seem to think that we should just go to whatever mall, shopping center, stores, etc., that we would normally and just 'accept' the fact that this sleaze is pervasive, and that there isn't anything we can do about it. I reject that.
The introduction of porn into the mainstream of our society (in my humble opinion) started decades ago with the introduction of a seemingly innocuous gift shop called 'Spencer Gifts', where one could buy all sorts of smutty gag items suitable only for a stag party, but they could be bought in the convenient modern atmosphere of a mall, without having to drive into a sleazy area of the city to the adult book stores, stripper bars and novelty shops. It was the introduction of products like that at the major merchant level (i.e., right next door to Sears, Wards, Penney's, etc.) that made it possible for our children and teenagers to be exposed to such stuff in an environment which was perceived at once time as being 'family friendly'. Unfortunately, once such smut is introduced into that family-friendly environment, it was no longer family-friendly. It's like introducing a toxic substance into a sanitized clean room, it doesn't matter how much of that toxic material is brought in, the rest of the room is subsequently contaminated and no longer 'clean'.
This may or may not be exactly what you were looking for, so far as how I view these issues. I don't "ignore" those who defend immorality, but you have to remember that even if you make a good conscience effort to debate (or clean) a filthy pig in the mud, the pig isn't interested in debate, and even if you clean it up for a short while, it will soon return to the mud, and you too, will be covered in mud.
Well, there you go. That's what I think about it.
To: mkjessup
Thank you. I agree, but I must say that it began long before Spencer Gifts came into being. It has been an issue for all time, and most recently, from the 50’s and early 60’s. If we go back to some of the books and movies that were in vogue, back to the inception of the “Playboy” influence, we can see that it was an insidious movement from far longer back than we may imagine.
I do agree that parents and married couples must do their best to avoid the contamination of pornography, but it is not completely avoidable. It has been with us for a long time, but has evolved into a movement that is growing in strength. We must not be silent.
261 posted on
12/29/2008 4:31:02 PM PST by
trisham
(Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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