From: kasab@luther.che.wisc.edu (Haig Kasab)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.catholic
Subject: Re: Reply from NBC re: Sinead O'Connor
Date: 18 Nov 92 01:36:24 GMT
Organization: University of Wisconsin - Madison
Originator: kasab@luther.che.wisc.edu

In article <...> Brent Winiger <ABDWINIG@IDBSU.IDBSU.EDU> writes:
>On Mon, 16 Nov 1992 18:08:34 -0700 WERLING said:
>>There should be more free language on network television.  Nudity too.
>>Though I'd like to see less violence.
[stuff deleted]
>Network TV is one of the last, (but quickly disappearing) bastions where
>some measure of constraint is exercised.  Many millions of us are parents
>who are concerned about the effect that smut and filthy language have
>upon our children.  If these last measures of constraint are removed, our
>TV goes out to the garbage.

   So, you mean to tell me that your kids are completely unaffected by
the images of graphic violence and imaginary lifestyles that appear on
network television?  With a handful of exceptions, no one lives the way
that TV families do (at least, not in my experience).  And I'd prefer sex
to violence any day of the week, myself.  

   Moreover, TV networks are driven by some idealized perception of what the
"target consumer" wants to watch.  So, if they feel that "the people" want
more sex, they will give it to them.  If they feel that "the people" want a
lot of violence, they will give it to them.  After all, the TV networks
aren't in this for their _health_.

>    Sorry I sound a bit defensive.  Its probably a reaction to events of the
>last week in our area.  We saw a lawsuit filed by the ACLU to remove a granite
>copy of the Ten Commandments that had been on the Courthouse lawn for decades.
>[...] We saw public school teachers bringing in lesbian speakers to a class
>on parenting.  The talk ended up being more a promotion for the gay lifestyle
>than on parenting.  [...]
>     We've also got pending lawsuits against a couple of small school
>districts by the ACLU for trying to continue their long-standing tradition
>of short, generic prayers at graduation ceremonies.  These districts can't
>fight it, since they don't have the money.  Even though the communities
>are highly religious, one student is able to trample on the privileges of 99%
>of the students in the schools because the liberal ACLU has more money.

   Brent, believe it or not, the goal of the First Amendment is to protect
the minority, no matter how small it is.  And the separation between church
and state has been clearly defined in the courts over the years.  Hence, it
is inappropriate and unconstitutional for a local government to display a
preference for one religion over another by displaying the 10 Commandments
on public property.  And it is unconstitutional to have a prayer, even a
"generic" one, at a graduation ceremony.  

   After all, the United States comprises more than just Catholics or
Christians.  There are Protestants of every stripe, Jews, Mormons, Muslims,
Hindus, Sikhs, Buddists, Confuscians, Animists, and a whole horde of other
lesser religions expressed in our society, and it is not proper for an agent
of the government to display a preference for one of them in an official
capacity.  

   As for the "Gay Lifestyle Propaganda" incident, I challenge you to define
this so-called "gay lifestyle."  I don't know anyone who leads a "gay
lifestyle," although I do know several homosexuals.  They lead the lives of
students, of lovers, of teachers, of scientists, yet I see little that
distinguishes their lifestlyes from that of my heterosexual acquiantances.
I think it is appropriate for kids to be exposed to alternate parenting
situations, especially given our society's relatively fluid marriage
agreements.  

-- 
  Haig Kasab                             Arpanet: kasab@cae.wisc.edu
"Even the Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose"  
        _The Merchant of Venice_ I,iii,99
      The NSF and UW--Madison don't speak for me, nor I for them.
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