March 16, 2012 by David K. Sutton
Rick Santorum Would Combat ‘Illegal Obscene Pornography’ If President
Social conservatives talk about the ills of society when they say the country is heading in the wrong direction. They want to turn back the clock to a time that appears to have a greater resemblance to a 1950s sitcom then it does to reality. The problem is that conservatives fantasize about a past that never existed. I think the problem that conservatives have with the world today is that things that were once private are now out on display and available for public consumption. The ‘societal ills’ that social conservatives complain about existed 60 years ago, the key difference was fewer people talked about it publicly.
On Rick Santorum’s website, it says he wants to do away with “illegal obscene pornography”. If elected president Santorum says, “I will appoint an Attorney General who will do so.” Nevermind freedom, liberty and small government, Rick Santorum knows what is good for you. This is nothing more than one person’s opinion, ‘informed’ by his religion, about how people should live their lives.
Rick Santorum for President – Enforcing laws against illegal pornography
America is suffering a pandemic of harm from pornography. A wealth of research is now available demonstrating that pornography causes profound brain changes in both children and adults, resulting in widespread negative consequences. Addiction to pornography is now common for adults and even for some children. The average age of first exposure to hard-core, Internet pornography is now 11. Pornography is toxic to marriages and relationships. It contributes to misogyny and violence against women. It is a contributing factor to prostitution and sex trafficking.
I think there is already plenty of misogyny against women and it doesn’t need pornography, all you have to do is listen to conservative favorite, Rush Limbaugh. I also think there was plenty of misogyny and violence against women back in that era of conservative nostalgia that is 1950s America, you just didn’t hear about it. I don’t think we are any worse off now than we have been in the past, instead I think the difference is that we are more aware of bad human behavior. I don’t think society is degenerating, instead I think human ills that have always existed are now out in the public to a greater degree. Society had its collective head in the sand 60 years ago but that has changed over the decades since. So it seems to me that social conservatives are less concerned with what people are actually doing and more concerned that people are doing it openly. If you do it (whatever ‘it’ is) in private, conservatives are happy to remain blissfully ignorant, but give them any idea of what you are up to and that is when you hear them talk about writing and enforcing laws at the federal level.
One last point, social conservatives talk about the growing number of single-parent homes and an increase in the divorce rate as proof of societal degeneration. Or could it be that women are more empowered to stand up for themselves and not stay in emotionally or physically abusive relationships? Is the increase in single-parent homes a result of a societal ill or is it instead an example of an improvement in human rights and dignity?
When conservatives say “I want my country back” it means rolling back the clock to a time when greater ignorance existed. It’s almost as if they want to roll back their minds to a more child-like state before the harshness of reality intruded. But you can’t roll back the clock or your mind. Everyone must accept that we live in a free and diverse country of differing opinions, perspectives and lifestyles.
I don’t want my country back, I want my country forward.
dks
