It used to be that forcing sex on an unconsenting adult was considered rape. No longer. Now personal, deviant and x-rated sex is quickly becoming commonplace in the public square.
In just the last week, this occupant of the ‘public square’ has been treated to images best confined to the pages of porn magazines. Images and acts that are popping up regularly on billboards, television, the internet and pages of major publications.
Calvin Klein, in their latest breach of good taste, launched a huge billboard in SoHo showing four languid, half-dressed models engaging in group sex. That billboard managed to be more offensive than Calvin Klein’s last campaign, which featured half-clad dead bodies. I guess porno and death sell jeans. Go figure.
Not to be outdone, Burger King just released their new ‘Super 7 Incher’ ad, equating burgers with acts that are best kept private. Absent from the ad was any hint of subtlety. Apparently Burger King believes that appealing to your sexual appetite will titillate you into buying their burgers. Or something.
Moving right along, this weekend San Francisco celebrated sexual ‘diversity’ with the 39th annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Parade & Festival. This fun festival includes a Dyke March and the annual Castro Street Dance hosted by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. If last years’ Festival is any indicator, nudity and sex will be prominently featured. In the public square.
Ditto New York. Last weekend, New York played host to the Folsom-East Deviant Sex-Fest. Again, homosexual bondage, fisting and the casual swapping of bodily fluids played out in the public square. Lewdness laws were suspended for the duration. Just imagine the outcry if that were a terrorist receiving electro shock instead of an American citizen intent on displaying his sexual habits and his genitals in public.
These increasingly public displays of sex that many now claim as a right, portray sex as the mere indulgence of a fleeting impulse instead of an act that used to be associated with love. Sex, which is considered private and sacred by most Americans, is now being brought down to the level of a crude bathroom joke. And its being done smack dab in the middle of the public square, where channel changers and radio dials are of no use.
Last week Apple decided to cash in on the sexual tsunami by supplying porn to Iphone users. Since we are still a capitalist country, (for now, at least) this is Apple’s right. Just as it is the right of consumers to choose not to download their porn. A choice that is increasingly being denied many Americans as smut, porn and casual sex become staples of more advertising campaigns. As more ‘gay pride’ events take place in ever more public places. As more and more Americans ascribe to the notion that their sexuality belongs in the public domain instead of in the bedroom.
In today’s public square, it has been decided that Christians have no right to foist their beliefs on others, but no such constraints shackle the gay activists, businesses and the old media who continue to thrust their demeaning view of sex into the face of every American.
Sex sells. Appealing to base instincts, prurience and scandal will always find an audience in those that need to see ugliness in others in order to feel better about themselves. The silver lining is, at least now we’ll be able to identify those sad souls. They’re the ones wearing Calivn Klein jeans and stuffing Burger King 7 inchers into their mouths.
Daniel Horowitz
Neil Stevens
Moe Lane
Steve Maley
Jake Walker
Which will lead to eventual collapse of the...
Matt Genk (Diary) Tuesday, June 30th at 7:05AM EST (link)…greatest nation in the history of the world.
We are headed down the path to self-destruction. As with the Greek and Roman empires, this great experiment in democracy is under the threat of falling in on itself.
In 1947 (before Barack Obama was a twinkle in his daddy’s eye), Harvard sociologist Doctor Carle Zimmerman (http://www.hebookservice.com/products/bookpage.asp?prod_cd=c7231) published a work on the decline of civilizations throughout history. He discovered eight common trends…
1. The breakdown of marriage and rise of divorce.
2. The loss of the traditional meaning of the marriage ceremony.
3. The rise of Feminism.
4. Increased public disrespect for parents and authority in general.
5. Acceleration of juvenile delinquency, promiscuity and rebellion.
6. Refusal of people with traditional marriages to accept their family responsibilities.
7. A growing desire for and acceptance of adultery.
8. Increasing interest in and spread of sexual perversions (homosexuality) and sex-related crimes.
History repeats itself. We are beyond the point of no return.
“Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” – George Orwell, Politics and the English Language, 1946
Genesis 19:24
wordsarepower (Diary) Tuesday, June 30th at 8:51AM EST (link)“Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah a brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven…). The depravity of this nation will be punished. The Lord is lifing His hand of blessing.
Christians…stay close to the Lord, and do right. Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Sites like RS help us be wise…Thanks everyone.
You are right!
marlen456y Friday, July 17th at 4:23AM EST (link)>>Christians…stay close to the Lord, and do right. Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Sites like RS help us be wise…Thanks everyone.
Indeed buddy, I could not agree more! I appreciate the authors of this website for bringing forth critical issues like this and highlighting how far our society has downgraded!
Sad, but true, we have gone too far to return back! We must move on!
IDK if that works
aesthete (Diary) Wednesday, July 8th at 2:44AM EST (link)For one thing, the governments, cultures, and peoples of the time were radically different from us. Their marriage customs were different, authority and the way that you treated it was different, etc. “Homosexuality” and “marriage”, for instance, are concepts that have been extensively modified over time. For instance, there were many cultures which embraced ritualized homosexuality (Sparta, Thebes, Crete, possibly some in the Middle East), specifically pederasty, but didn’t consider the men that participated in such rituals as homosexual, as the rituals were not considered (in the culture’s mind, at least) erotic acts, but rather was linked with a child’s coming of age. Marriage was often de facto, and many times de jure, polygamous, if not polyandrous, and the term scarcely entered the vocabulary of the rural peasant. Rather, the marital situation of a peasant was more akin with “live-in” status in the US, though dowries were, of course, common. Youth, also, is a term that has changed greatly, and the definition of who was a youth would have been answered very differently than it is today. TBH, there really wasn’t such a thing as a “juvenile” in most places, notwithstanding the nobility. Even adultery has had many alterations in meaning: in ancient Rome, it wasn’t considered adultery if a nobleman slept with one of his slaves on a casual basis.
Does that mean that I believe that these definitions are ones that we should accept, or “tolerate”? H*** no! But we have to keep this in mind when talking of the people of that time, and I think that saying that X, W, and Z are present when Y happens is only valid when X, W, and Z are defined the same in all instances.
The act of defending any of the cardinal virtues has today all the exhilaration of a vice – G.K. Chesterton
Agree with that
carmen539tu (Diary) Thursday, July 9th at 8:00PM EST (link)I absolutely agree. I guess that we are becoming worse than even the third-world, developing countries, and what for? Just to show how “liberal” we are, or is it the effect of globalization?
I'll file my dissent: for starters, Apple's the wrong target here
Finrod (Diary) Tuesday, June 30th at 11:00AM EST (link)Apple pulled that iPhone app as soon as they noticed that it had actual nudity, even though the iPhone now comes with parental controls that allow anything like that to be locked out. The original app didn’t have anything that you can’t see at your local beach or at a mall lingerie store; they changed the photos the app could load after the app already had approval from Apple, after which that approval got rescinded very quickly.
Not to mention, it’s pretty pointless complaining from either side about Apple and the ‘porn’ app; every iPhone has a web browser that will let you see anything on the Internet, which includes just about every form of porn imaginable. That’s life on the Web.
Furthermore, how do you propose doing anything about this without trashing federalism? If New York and California want to repeal or ignore public decency laws, take it up with them. Besides, it’s not like this kind of stuff hasn’t been going on in public for a long time now; there’s a Reason that Bourbon Street in New Orleans during Mardi Gras has the reputation that it does.
Stuff like this may feel good to rant about, but it’s like eating candy: just empty calories.
Let’s get down to brass tacks here. How much for the ape?
Finrod, I'll have to offer a dissent to your dissent,
mailloux (Diary) Tuesday, June 30th at 1:51PM EST (link)The odious Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco is a perfect case in point. If you’re not familiar with it, please do check out Zombietime’s photo essay of the event, but make sure not to do it at work or with any children playing nearby. The link is: http://www.zombietime.com/folsom_sf_2007_part_1/
The Folsom Street Fair is worth a good robust rant and then some. Vile acts are performed there every year, with children present. Most of those acts, if performed in public, are already illegal I imagine. However, there were cops just standing there watching it. And, Miller Beer was also there to sponsor the event.
Folsom can occur every year and no one bats an eyelash. If on the other hand a cross or the 10 commandments are found on public property, there is great wailing and gnashing of teeth and lawsuits. A couple in San Diego County (if memory serves) is told their Bible study is illegal, but it’s quite all right if naked, gay men shake each other’s phalluses on the streets of San Francisco during a Miller Beer sponsored event. The hypocrisy is palpable.
I do not think it needs to be legislated out of existence. Conservatism isn’t only about what can and what cannot be legislated (but then again, I’m a SoCon, so that opinion shouldn’t come as a surprise). However, there is absolutely nothing wrong with shining the light of day on these kinds of shenanigans . . . for the best antiseptic is the light of day.
To me, these kinds of cultural topics are not the equivalent of candy. They are the meat and potatoes that make for a healthy society. If a civilization becomes utterly preoccupied with a debased and shallow view of sex, then it is surely a civilization in decline. I think this was Nancy Morgan’s theme in her post. It certainly is my belief.
Take Care (& always respectfully), mailloux
Be careful shining light on these events, you may only end up encouraging them
Finrod (Diary) Tuesday, June 30th at 3:41PM EST (link)Shining a light into a dark place may make cockroaches scatter, but it can also make kudzu grow. One phenomenon I’ve noticed over this decade and the past decade is that people with unusual interests, particularly various sexual fetishes, have discovered primarily via the Internet that hey, they’re not the only person they know that likes that particular kind of thing. This has led to many subgroups and subsubgroups that can accumulate a critical mass of people with shared interests. Shining light on places like the Folsom St. Fair (I’ve seen the pictures) may not only bring the negative publicity that you’re wanting, it may also attract more people to them, thus negating what you were trying to accomplish.
I can understand and emphasize with your desire to keep children away from sexually-oriented events; I myself attend a convention every year that enforces a strict ban of anyone under 21, which originally was to make it simpler for people attending to serve alcohol (don’t have to check the badge of every single person you hand a drink to), but also has the side benefit of making absolutely sure that there’s not even a question of any age-of-consent issue or photography of those underage.
My question to you is: if an event like the Folsom Street Fair was held indoors, and strictly limited to those 21 and over, would you still object? Even if they continued all the same activities that they do now?
Let’s get down to brass tacks here. How much for the ape?
Finrod, a good question . . .
mailloux (Diary) Tuesday, June 30th at 4:35PM EST (link)If an event like Folsom were held indoors and limited to only legal adults, then I would not object in the same way . . . for instance, there should be no children there and they are certainly not using the public streets for their spectacle. With that said, I would still find it morally objectionable. Would I do anything about it? Sure. I would contact the sponsors and even the venue where the event was being held. I would voice my disapproval. To me, though, I’m only exercising my rights as a citizen and a capitalist who happens to be a very conservative Christian.
Although the sexualization of the culture seems to be like an unstoppable tidal wave, I’ll do what I can to dissuade it. When we, as a culture, deform and warp sex, then I believe our society will suffer.
So, Folsom indoors or out would be morally objectionable, but legally speaking it’s less troublesome indoors.
As always, it’s a pleasure exchanging ideas with you.
Take Care, mailloux
I don't get the thinking behind the Burger King ad
6eorge Jetson (Diary) Tuesday, June 30th at 1:30PM EST (link)I haven’t been to Burger King in three or four years, after a horrible “Angus burger” (yeah, right) left me associating Burger King with gross.
I mean no disrespect, but that ad makes that subconcious association even worse (if that’s possible) for this heterosexual male. Eating, after all, is one of the most sensation-sensitive things we do.
There's one more thing I wanted to add here
Finrod (Diary) Wednesday, July 8th at 12:38AM EST (link)It sounds like you’re trying to compare the legal plights of Christians as opposed to those that would attend events like the Folsom St. Fair.
That’s not an argument that you’re going to convince many with.
As far as the GLBT community goes, heck, homosexuality wasn’t even legal everywhere until recently, and the BDSM community collectively gets far more legal harassment in one year than Christians have gotten in the entire history of the Republic.
I can appreciate your overall argument, but this bit only works with those already sympathetic to you. Others won’t accept it.
Let’s get down to brass tacks here. How much for the ape?