Here’s a surprise bit of news from the FCC: it’s considering dropping current broadcast decency standards that ban explicit profanity and “non-sexual” nudity. Apparently they’ll cut their backlog of pending complaints significantly (I think by about 70 percent), and save a ton of money in the process.
Translation—we’d be hearing a lot more “shit” instead of “shoot” or “crap”; “fuck” instead of “frack” or “fudge”; and seeing more boobs and (fingers crossed everyone) cock on television. Naked breasts I could care less about. Cock, however…
Not surprisingly, the “family” councils (e.g., American Family Association, my local Minnesota Family Council) are up in arms over this “outrage.” I guess while they were focused on keeping gays and lesbians from getting hitched, the Gay Agenda snuck this one through the backdoor to finish its job of stripping the United States of its morals.
Their response: send their legions of panic-stricken Christians to the FCC website to file complaints. Some of the responses are unwittingly hilarious (taken verbatim from the FCC Electronic Comment Filing System page). Like this one:
Philippians 4:8 says – for the rest, brethren,whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatver is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virte and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things (fix your minds on them). F words and nudity would cause my to discontinue television.
The old fundamentalist Christian standby—when there’s no rational argument, quote Bible verses! That one always works. Or this one:
By allowing the F word and nudity on to television you are striking very damaging harm to the already seriously wounded culture in the United States. Our sex saturated culture harms especially young people and deprives them of hope that their lives can mprove when they experience the reults of a culture which places sexual gratification as the ultimate game. When many young people realize that they have been deluded they will be tempted to increase the already alarming statistic on youth suicide.
So if the FCC broadcasts words like “fuck” and (non-sexual) images of nude women (and men!!!) … young people will commit suicide?
Some comments make wild use of punctuation to drive home their point:
Do you think more FILTH on TV is good for our country???????????????
Or this one, from a gentleman who claims that the United States will somehow be overthrown and its citizens enslaved if the FCC airs “naughty” words:
Your advocacy of nudity and profanity on public TV are the signs of the terminal moral decay of America, as this nation turns from its moral foundations to puruse its own direction free from the moral and religious standards that once made this nation great. You are part of the sweeping tide that is bringing about the destruction of our nation through the advocacy of pornagraphy and profanity; an advocacy which only 20 years ago would have been unthinkable. Freedom abused and misused wiil be freedom lost,as we lose this country to the results of moral decay – which will be our enslavement. Be forwarned.
The FCC wouldn’t be advocating nudity, profanity or pornography, any more than it currently advocates batshit crazy Evangelical theology by allowing lunatics like Pat Robertson and Bryan Fischer to air their hateful ideology on their television and radio shows.
Then there are comments like this one:
Please do not relax the FCC standards. If anything, tighten the standards and enforce them. TV and radio have gotten too filthy and violent. It’s already too indecent and repulsive and needs to be cleaned up. Our culture is in rapid decay, every little bit we can do to reverse the damage would be a step in the correct direction.
With one breath, these Christians tell the government to stay the heck out of their lives and their religion. With the next, they demand the FCC enforce some kind of moral police state. Which do they want—a small government, or a Big Brother state? (We know the answer: they want nothing short of an Evangelical Christian theocracy.)
Of course, I know plenty of Christians and other people of faith who won’t be flummoxed at all by this. They drink, swear, fuck, and enjoy a good nudie show as much as the next godless heathen. And I know plenty of atheists who are just as offended by profanity and nudity as many of these Christians (albeit for different reasons).
Point is—if you don’t like what’s on TV, don’t watch. With the exception of activities that really do harm people (e.g., cigarettes, stabbing people with knives), just because you feel offended by or don’t like something doesn’t give you the right to try and outlaw or ban it for everyone.
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More on this from the International Business Times: http://www.ibtimes.com/fcc-may-finally-relax-draconian-bush-era-indecency-rules-parents-television-council-not-happy-about
a hard and a rock place 