Socrates drank poison in 399 B.C. after being put on trial for religious
heresies and corrupting the youth. Copernicus’ theories of
heliocentricity did not displace the idea that the Earth was the
center of the universe until he was on his deathbed in the early
1500s.
New ideas take a while to take hold in culture. History tells us
that.
So perhaps, just maybe, some of the more novel and radical theories
today will be accepted theories of thought in 10, 20 or 50 years.
What’s the next wave of thought? I believe it is a continuing
sexual revolution.
Our country has come a long way, but for such a seemingly forward-thinking
nation, America—a nation obsessed with sex—will not
allow the culture to accept sexuality as a moral tenet of life.
Yes, I mean sexuality: “the condition of being characterized
and distinguished by sex” by the American Heritage Dictionary
definition, not sexual intercourse.
A major contributor to the slow acceptance of new ideas is religion.
People often use God as the reason for why they are right and others
are wrong.
“There is this assumption that any material having to do with
sex is really dangerous to kids, to the extent that we have many
debates and people who are actively against sex education in schools,”
University of Syracuse professor Robert Thompson told the French
Press Agency this month. “Whenever these arguments come up,
mentions of God and religion are usually pretty close to follow,
some of which are pretty far away from Biblical grounding,”
he said.
C-SPAN recently aired broadcast indecency hearings in an attempt
to begin legislation for stricter Federal Communications Commission
regulations.
Fred Upton (R-Mich.) cited how many Americans were “fed up
with all the too frequent flouting of common decency over our public
airways.”
Yes, Janet Jackson’s breast was not necessary to her Super
Bowl halftime show, but the shock of something completely unavoidable
at the time is no reason to suffocate an industry that strives on
telling stories, relating news and entertaining the masses.
Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) even made the mistake of including other
cultures in American standards of decency. She said she has seen
“varying degrees of different programming, some of which I’ve
questioned for many years, particularly on Spanish language television.
I’ve seen indecent exposure many times that is somehow allowed
to go on.”
Somehow allowed to go on?
The Spanish language channel in question is for Hispanic audiences.
It is like telling Mexico that its people must change their entire
culture because we are morally superior.
How can Christians around the world base their morality so adamantly
on the same book and at the same time be so very different?
How can French and Italian Christians accept nudity and sexuality,
and allow it on their newsstands and in their broadcasts? Are they
less moral than we Americans?
William Romanowski attempts to give guidance to Christian critics
of culture.
“We need popular art to … open our eyes to injustice,
express our emotions, show us the humor of situations, depict the
grief, hardships and struggles of everyday life and help us understand
the calm of forgiveness and the meaning of redemption,” he
said in his book, “Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular
Culture.”
Sexuality is a part of life, just like birth, marriage, death and
taxes.
My point is not that everyone should run around naked having sex
with whomever they run into on the street.
My point is that people should not join a frenzy trying to avoid
change.
Believing sexuality should not be on broadcast television is a respectable
belief; just acknowledge that it is not the only belief.
If the Western world maintained the status quo throughout history,
the Earth would still be the center of the universe.
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