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Malleable Pornography Is a Poison To Youth Morals

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Author: Professor Johnson Odesola
Posted to the web: 2/6/2007 3:50:27 PM

Society is like a power generator. If one part is spoilt, the generator grinds to a halt and causes a black out. Society is a complex. Government, business, military, the transport and tourist industries, the schools the police, the hospitals-these are the working parts. No part functions on its own. They all depend on each other.

 

To add to the complexity, each person within society is also like a part in the generator. Unlike a machine, these parts are free to choose and they are gifted with different degrees of intelligence. Each part has to figure out what it is supposed to do. Unlike a machine, where parts stay in place once they are properly set, society depends on the goodwill and intelligence of each individual. Each person needs to keep his or her commitments – commitments both at work and at home – and each person has to do it freely.

 

In a machine, each part has a different role to play. Even a small part can cause disaster. The Challenger Space Shuttle exploded in mid-air because a piece of rubber called an O-ring failed to make a good seal on the fuel tanks. The engineers did not make the mistake on purpose. Even so, it had horrible consequences. Something similar can happen in society. One example is the problem of “soft” pornography flooding today’s entertainment. It is the subtle though constant exposure of music and images that are carefully crafted to appear just on the borderline. Each show appears to be harmless enough to avoid censorship and yet remains sufficiently provocative to arouse intense interest.

 

An enormous service

A businessman who knows little about the effects of “soft porn” can ruin an entire generation of youth by broadcasting it on radio or television. He may be convinced he is providing a great service. Still, he is doing something that causes great harm. Maybe we can assume businessmen working in the entertainment industry would never make this mistake on purpose.

 

Does this mean we should turn a blind eye? Go back to the case of the engineers who designed the O-rings for the Space Shuttle. Their goodwill did not prevent the Space Shuttle from exploding. In the case of the businessmen, their desire to provide good entertainment does not keep their programme or a particular radio show, this is an attempt to explain the general principle. Even if the rest of society is humming along – government, military, industry and education – a serious defect in the entertainment industry can cripple the efforts of everyone else. One defective part can wreck of the whole machine. When one organ in the body goes bad, the person suffers pain or even death.

 

Why is it necessary for the businessmen to prohibit their programming staff from using soft porn? Soft pornography harms the weakest members of society – young people. Even if they wanted to stay away from it – a very bit “if” – most youth have little ability to resist sexually suggestive material. They will say, “Hey, if this is what adults think is normal, it must be OK. Let’s watch it!” It is no great surprise that 50 years of radio and television programming have proven that shows featuring soft porn get the biggest audiences. The leaders the entertainment industry can regulate themselves but only if all of the cooperate. One television station or one radio station can ruin the efforts of the rest since. Since advertising tends to follow the biggest audiences, morally evil shows will increase profits.

 

The net effect is that those trying to provide good entertainment will draw losses. Individual citizens can put pressure on advertisers. But this only shifts the dilemma to the businesses that pay to advertise.

 

Moral integrity

It takes a great deal of moral integrity to allow a competitor to grab prime advertising slots just because a few people are complaining. In the end, it is a social question. Everybody has to work together – but truly everybody as opposed to almost everybody. As things stand now, the entertainment industry in Zambia should see to it that they are not causing major harm in discharging their duties.

 

Johnson Odesola (PhD) is a Regional Coordinator in the Redeemed Christian Church of God and a Professor of Divinity with European Theological Seminary UK & Trinity International University. He is presently a missionary in Southern Africa based in Zambia

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