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by Br ALOYSIUS
AISI
Porn corrodes our moral fibre
WE talk about sex, we read about sex,
or maybe teach our children about sex.
The most obvious fact about today’s young people with respect to
sex is that they have grown up in a sexually-supercharged era.
They have been bombarded by sexual stimuli as no other generation
has.
The single most powerful sexual stimulant in existence is the
film, the images shown on TV or video; its seductive lure is
almost overwhelming.
It is difficult to imagine that any young person who watches
today’s sex movies regularly could ever again feel – let alone
think – about sexual intercourse in the same way that his/her
parents did.
There has been widespread confusion about moral norms; technology
has made pornography accessible to a vastly-expanded audience,
including young people and even children.
A problem, which at one time was confined mainly to wealthy
countries, has now begun, via the communication media, to corrupt
moral and ethical values in developing nations.
I wish to describe here the more serious effects of pornography on
individuals and society, to indicate some of the principal causes
of the problem as it exists today among our young people whom I
have spoken to and met.
The word media and communication will be used in this story
because these two terms can mean books, films, stories, TV, video,
advertising, art, carvings and the list goes on.
Pornography in the media is understood as a violation, through the
use of audiovisual techniques, of the right to privacy of the
human body in its male or female nature.
It is also a violation, reducing the human person and human body
to an anonymous object of misuse for the purpose of information in
the media.
While no one can consider himself or herself immune to the
corrupting effects of pornography and violence or safe from injury
at the hands of those acting under the influence, the young and
the immature are especially vulnerable and the most likely to be
victimised.
Pornography and sadistic violence debase sexuality, corrode human
relationships, exploit individuals – especially women and young
people – undermine marriage and family life, foster anti-social
behaviour and weaken the moral fibre of society itself.
Thus, one of the clear effects of pornography is sin.
Willing participation in the production or dissemination of these
products can be judged a serious moral and ethical evil.
Exposure of these materials in the media can confuse children who
may not be able to distinguish readily reality from fantasy.
It has been said that there can be psychological link between
pornography and sadistic violence, and some pornography is itself
overtly violent in theme and content.
Those who view or read such material run the risk of carrying over
such attitudes and behaviour into their own relationships and lose
reverence and respect for others as precious children of God and
as brothers and sisters in the same human family.
Such a link between pornography and sadistic violence has
particular implications for those suffering from certain forms of
mental illness.
Pornography can foster unhealthy preoccupation in fantasy and
behaviour.
It can interfere with personal moral growth and the development of
healthy and mature relationships, especially in marriage and
family life, where mutual trust and openness and personal moral
integrity in thought and in action are so important.
Exposure to pornography could be like exposure to narcotics –
habit-forming and the likelihood of anti-social behaviour could
grow as this process continues.
In the worse cases, pornography can act as an inciting or
reinforcing agent, a kind of accomplice, in the behaviour of
dangerous sex offenders – child molesters, rapists and killers.
It would be fair to suggest that all communications media and all
communicators be involved in stopping this noxious trafficking.
I believe the Media Council of Papua New Guinea is aware of this
and should do its best to fulfill its responsibilities with a
strong commitment to ethical and moral norms and the common good
to provide wholesome family entertainment.
But the problem is that there is no control on pornography, which
has become profit motivated.
Pornography is a lucrative industry. Some segments of the
communications industry have tragically succumbed to the
temptation of exploiting human weakness, including the weakness of
young and impressionable minds, in order to make money from
productions.
In some societies, the pornography industry is so lucrative that
it has been linked to organised crime – and I believe it is
happening in Papua New Guinea.
Freedom of expression is said by some to require the toleration of
pornography, even at the cost of the moral welfare of the young
and of the right of all members of society to privacy.
Some even falsely say that the best way to combat pornography is
to legalise it.
The right to freedom of expression does not exist in a vacuum.
Public responsibility for promoting the welfare of the young, for
fostering respect for women and for the protection of privacy and
public decency indicates that media is at fault and has no
respect.
Sound laws must be enacted where they are lacking, weak laws must
be strengthened, and existing laws be enforced.
Wherever possible, all the churches must teach and foster these
messages.
They must also make the best possible use of its own institutions
and personnel to give education and formation concerning the media
of social communications and their proper role in individual and
social life.
Respective organisations should be urged to join in formulating
and applying ethical codes for the communications media and for
advertising, which respects the common good, and promote sound
human development.
Such codes are particularly necessary for television, which makes
it possible for images to enter directly into the home where
children may often be alone, and unsupervised.
Communicators should be urged to help make better known through
the media the steps, which can be taken to stem the tide of
pornography and the exaltation of violence in society.
The general public also needs to make its voice heard.
Individually and collectively, concerned citizens should make
their views known to producers, commercial interests and public
authorities.
There is an urgent need for continuing dialogue between
communicators and representatives of the public so that those
involved in the communications media may learn more about the real
needs and interests of those whom they serve.
Parents must re-double their efforts to provide for the sound
moral formation of children and youth.
This includes health attitudes toward human sexuality based on
respect for the dignity of every person as a child of God, on the
virtue of chastity and on the practice of self-discipline.
Note: The writer is the Coordinator for
Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation of of the Divine Word
Missionary, based in Mt Hagen.
 
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