For almost 200 years no constitutional scholars, nor the men who wrote it, thought that the First Amendment protected obscenity, pornography or strip clubs.
Thanks to the ACLU, porn producers and (IIRC) the same SCOTUS who legalized abortion, we now have tons of people who think that porn is intended to be Constitutionally protected free speech and should be legal. Constitutionally speaking, it should not be legal.
Thanks for the thorough and very thoughtful response. Even here on FR, I see those (often of a libertarian bent) who defend the smut merchants from a laissez-faire free market business perspective. Like you, little jeremiah, I draw the line there and choose not to side with filth peddlers like Larry Flynt. Well, if that makes me a prude, then so be it.
I think it serves us well to remember one of the tenents of communism is to..."break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV."
I’ve been on quite a few libertarian threads lately (last few weeks) and learned that the Real, Official, Signet Ring Libertarian Party Platform is pro-abortion, pro-every bit of “gay” agenda, as well of course as pro-prostitution, pro-drug, and pro-porn with no holds barred.
It’s very core is vice. It is another in a long line of utopian philosophies that can never, ever work, and never have. Only it is actually a lot worse than some of the historical ones.
Even here on FR, I see those (often of a libertarian bent) who defend the smut merchants from a laissez-faire free market business perspective.Here's a great post: "On How To Defeat, Lust, Impurity and Pornography." I started a thread on it [long time ago], and the man who wrote it signed up on Free Republic to answer and issue commentary, but the thread got so ugly *in a hurry* I had to request it be pulled. You know, all those "I'd hit it" remarks and photos of unattractive "guilty" women (which the author felt were disrespectful in and of themselves, much like enjoying pornography is ultimately disrespectful towards women) and so on.