What porn does
“Bishop [Paul] Loverde does not hesitate to characterize pornography as ’gravely sinful’ and, if engaged in with full knowledge and consent, a ’mortal sin.’ … It immerses users of pornography in a fantasy world and thus turns a man’s attention and affection away from his wife through the creation of ’unrealistic and often immoral expectations’ for a couple’s intimate life. Thus, he approaches his wife ’only as a means to his own gratification.’ Pornography also produces a consumerist and licentious view of sexuality, especially of women. Again, as a theological matter, it destroys our perception of reality and ’the true vision of God and the beauty of His creation.’
“The Bishop of Arlington does not view this as a strictly private matter at all. Given pornography’s deleterious impact on women, families, and the character of the nation’s citizenry, he does not hesitate to instruct political leaders on their duty. … Protecting a billion dollar criminal enterprise which destroys the lives of both those depicted in pornography and those intended as audience through the excuse of protecting free speech is not service, but complicity.’ Indeed, Bishop Loverde maintains that ’Free citizens have the right and the responsibility to form a culture that supports the life and the dignity and nobility of every person.’ ”
— G. Tracy Mehan, writing on “An Industry of Mutual Degradation,” Wednesday at the American Spectator
What religion does
“There have been great crimes committed in the name of religion, but it is wild to claim, as some atheists have, that bad fruit fills the religion basket.
“On the contrary, the gifts of Christianity alone to culture, Islam to early medicine, Roman Stoicism to philosophy and Judaism to the legal order are priceless. It is also impossible to think of anti-theist print journalists without the Gutenberg printing press invented by Christians to make mass copies of the Bible. Similarly, various atheists’ positions as academics would be inconceivable if the Christian monastic tradition hadn’t preserved ancient knowledge during the Dark Ages, then shared it again in newly created universities from the Middle Ages onwards.
“Indeed, the only reason religion rejecters can tally the apparently long list of religious errors is because religious believers invented the intellectual disciplines and furnished the academic tools that are used today to attack religion. And it was a Christian, Pope Gregory XIII, who divided time into units — days, months and years — to tell monks and priests when to pray and atheists when to launch their books.”
— John Heard, writing on “God is not Responsible for War and Suffering,” June 7 in the Australian newspaper
What Paris does
“I was disturbed by the litany of too many commentators claiming that Paris had done absolutely nothing to earn her celebrity. It’s true Paris had become overexposed, but only because she lacks Madonna’s brilliant facility for changing styles and personae to keep it all fresh. Paris was stuck in the rut of one look and was getting too long in the tooth to play the daffy ingenue.”
“While Paris became known to a wide audience through her self-parodying role in ’The Simple Life,’ that TV show is a relatively minor phenomenon. The fact is that Paris has been a reasonably successful professional model since she was 19, seven years ago. Her collective body of work belongs to the chronicle of our time. Paris’ distinctive, riveting and often choreographic visual images were produced improvisationally on the nightclub scene as well as in formal shoots for commercial clients like Guess.”
— Camille Paglia, writing on “Don’t Run Al, Don’t,” Wednesday at Salon
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