conserving ignorance

hys·ter·i·cal

   [hi-ster-i-kuhl] 

adjective

1.

of, pertaining to, or characterized by hysteria.

2.

uncontrollably emotional.

3.

irrational from fear, emotion, or an emotional shock.

4.

causing hysteria.

5.

suffering from or subject to hysteria.

A number of Christian men have confessed to me that they clicked on a porn site out of casual curiosity. They just wanted to see what the excitement was all about, but they became addicted almost immediately. I'm reminded that serial killer Ted Bundy started on his road to perversion and murder by innocently looking at 'nudie' magazines as a boy. It only took one time for him to become hooked.
    --  Al Menconi, from the American Family Association

Today's topic is the so called "religious right" (also known as the Christian Conservative movement) and their ongoing war against entertainment they call pornography.  I'm basically here to tell you that the religious right is neither religious nor are they right, and that the so called Christian Conservatives are mostly interested in conserving ignorance.  

As we can see from the quote which opened this post, folks over at the American Family Association equate the viewing of a single "nudie" magazine with becoming a serial killer.  Apparently, if you open just one online porn site, you'll become hopelessly addicted, you'll be just like the heroin addict scouring the streets for his next fix.

In case you are thinking I picked an extreme quote, that I'm exaggerating, that surely the religious right isn't so myopic as to believe that sex and sexually titillating materials are the root cause for all of society's ills, then you are not listening to their rhetoric.  Maybe that is a good thing, but it also may indicate that you are probably more than a little near sighted yourself.

Here's another example of the dangers of becoming sexually excited by a magazine or video:

"First, as more hardcore pornography is sold, more is produced, creating a demand for more porn 'performers' -- many if not most of whom are teens or look like teens. Second, as more 'adult businesses' open, there are more public venues for anonymous sexual encounters and the resulting spread of STDs, including AIDS. Third, as more 'adult businesses' open, more neighborhoods in communities large and small are adversely affected. Fourth, as more hardcore pornography becomes available, more youth are exposed to it; and the porn they are exposed to is more violent, degrading and perverse. Fifth, as more persons become addicted to hardcore pornography, more marriages are prevented or adversely affected; and more persons act out porn induced and fueled sexual fantasies -- oftentimes in a criminal manner. Sixth, as more persons are exposed to hardcore pornography, more are influenced to adopt its 'values' and lifestyles -- which contributes to the breakdown of morality."
    -- Pure Life Ministries

See, I'm really not making it up.  Some people truly believe that a sexually frustrated man wanking off to porn is directly contributing to the breakdown of the moral fabric of society.  I really thought we got over that in the '60's.

Discussing this with Serafina, she postulates that morality is a bit of a pendulum, swinging back and forth between the repressed and the libertine.  She assures me that another generation of free loving flower children are on the horizon.

She may be right. I hope she's right.  But, I'm not sure myself.  Her prediction certainly won't come to pass if Pure Life Ministries and the American Family Association (AFA) get their way.

Here's more rhetoric from the AFA:

Pornography leaves the impression with its viewer that sex has no relationship to privacy, that it is unrelated to love, commitment or marriage, that bizarre forms of sex are the most gratifying, that sex with animals has a specially desirable flavor and that irresponsible sex has no adverse consequences -- no venereal disease, illegitimate births, abortions, premature marriages, single-parent families or moral erosion. I see no way that a torrent of materials with this subliminal message, which ultimately fans out to reach people of almost all ages, can fail to have pernicious effects. Not that someone sees pornography and then rushes out to commit rape. That may happen, but that's not the main problem.
    --  Reo M. Christenson  American Family Association

I can imagine raising my hand and shouting out - "Point of order, Mr Christenson!" - only to call the man out for being titillated by bestiality.  I've never seen any commercially released video that contains sex with animals, let alone one that portrays bestiality as having some kind of special desirability.

I mean I've heard stories of donkey shows south of the border, but for God's sake man, those are punch lines from television, they are filed under the category - "Stupid Things Said by Charlie Sheen" - but I don't think they directly lead to abortions and or illegitimate births.

And while I'm at it, how do you like him throwing out - illegitimate births, abortions, premature marriages, and single-parent families - all in the same sentence?   The ONLY thing those topics have in common is somebody had sex.

Well, except perhaps in the case of the premature marriage.  You see I've observed a great number of folks who came from the religious right ending up in premature marriages.  If you can't have sex until you get married, some will get married in order to have sex!

My perspective here is very simple.  There are going to be times as we are growing up when our hormones are peaking and we have no experience with the feelings and urges they generate, times when the biological urge for sexual intimacy will overcome common sense.

When that happens, I'd much rather see a young person left with a feeling of remorse, of regret for a sexual encounter that wasn't perfect, than to watch them flail about in a hopeless marriage they rushed into because they were taught it was the right thing to do!

By the way, I was married the first time at age 18.  I proposed to a girl because circumstance led to us becoming roommates, and I'd been taught that I should to do the "right thing" and marry her.  She wasn't pregnant or anything like that, but by accepting her help in paying my rent and in engaging in hot sex, the morals I'd been raised to believe led me to make her an "honest woman".

Like there was ever anything dishonest about real love or youthful explorations!  Sheesh!