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From: bill@hpfcla.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: RE: Ban Porn Discussion
Message-ID: <43400020@hpfcms.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 26-Sep-85 15:06:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: hpfcms.43400020
Posted: Thu Sep 26 15:06:00 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 2-Oct-85 09:04:29 EDT
Organization: 26 Sep 85 13:06:00 MDT
Lines: 97



I'm responding to a response as a base note to avoid creating an orphaned
response, which responses from our nodes seem particularly wont to do.
Understand?  Never mind.

olivee!gnome writes (concerning the "ban porn" debate going on):

>I have a hard time believing that the pro-ban messages aren't
>some kind of joke made specifically to inflame the flamers.

>I love how "global thinking" is bad -- we should all be like
>Ray and not think past the ends of our noses.

>If these geeks would wake up from their marathon religious-cable-channel
>paranoia, they'd realize that porn exists in other countries in much
>more open areas (mainly Scandinavian countries) and they haven't 
>tried to invade the USA and rape your dog.  Why?  Because, on a whole
>they have a more balanced and humanistic view of sexuality than any
>of the Bible waving extremists that we're forced to hear about in the
>press. 

Ah, the "balanced and humanistic view".  That view that says

    "Everything's ok!  Heck, you're ok, and I'm ok.  If you like
     porn, that's ok!  If you're homosexual, why shoot, that's your
     right!  You like to sleep around you say?  Great!  If you like
     it, go for it!  Hey, I'm tolerant of everything, because it's
     all ok!"

An exaggeration?  Maybe, but there's a bit too much truth there to write
it off completely.  It was ok for the sexual revolution of the '70's to
happen, and we had the largest and most wide-spread outbreak of venereal
desease in history.  It was ok for the homosexuals to come out of the
closet, and we've got AIDS to reckon with.  And if mankind is truly the
captain of this ship we're all on, I want off.  Is the quality of life
better because of man's efforts?  Yes, we've got labor-saving devices
and cures to deseases we never had before, but new deseases pop up each
year to contend with, many of which can be attributed to the quality of
this life, provided compliments of man, the ultimate determiner of
everything.  You've got to ignore a lot to make the doings of mankind
look good and noble.

It's not too hard to understand why the humanistic view of porn is "more
balanced" than that view put forth by the "bible-waving extremists".
Porn is "beautiful", it's "art", and "by god, if I want to look at that
kind of thing, that's my right".  The reason this view is so "balanced"
is because it has a wide endorsement, and because the only alternatives
to this view are the extreme ones you tend to pick on.

Finally, I'm not too sympathetic about all the stuff you're "forced to
hear about" in the press.  You're looking for it, so you see it.  If
you'll take the opposite tack, look for humanism in the press.  You'll
find plenty, and you'll find a lot more of that than you will coverage
of these extemist positions.  Some of it is subtle, because it's just
part of life.  But it's there.

>The real porn in this country is coming from Rev. Jerry F and his
>trained monkey Jesse H.  and the various neo-nazi groups like
>the Christian Defense League.  They teach of domination, hatred,
>and brainless violence.  And they LOVE reactionary moral majority
>fools - because they talk the same language.

Let's take a couple of examples of "Christian" beliefs in action, such
as those listed above, and then let's say that those beliefs are
representative of ALL Christians, shall we?  I'm a Christian, and I
disagree with a lot of this stuff as much as you!  I believe what
the Bible says, and I want to see its teachings manifested in our
lives.  However, it says nothing about dominating, hating, and creating
violence for "the cause".  If anything, Biblical Christianity is a faith
of peace and love.  The only warfare going on should be spiritual.  We
also have the responsibility of reaching out in this world, but that
NEVER entails violence.  This is a gross error of interpretation in
deciding just what weapons are available to us.

>Let's get back to basics -- the KKK, public lynchings, book burning,
>slavery, cross burning, and death camps!   That'll get rid of them
>"perverts" like Hugh Hefner!   And when your daughter gets pregnant
>because there's no contraceptives, we can hold a good ol' shotgun
>wedding!  Yeee Haw!

Yep, by golly, all those things are biblical, because heck, there must've
been a "Christian" involved in those things at one time or another.  And
athiests must be real creeps, because Madeline Murray O'hare, Hitler, and
Stalin are athiests!  Sheesh!  In proving a point, all's fair, isn't it?
The KKK and slavery are instances of racial hatred or discrimination, and
you'll find no Biblical teaching in their favor (in Christ there is no
Jew or Greek, no slave or free - just children of God).  As for those
other things you mentioned, well, you'll find no justification for them
in the Bible, either.

Go ahead and attack Christianity if you want to, but attack what the Bible
says - NOT what individuals do!  You'll often find the two are radically
different.

Bill Gates
ihnp4!hpfcla!bill-g


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