There’s nothing wrong with voicing Conservative op-eds in the one and only newspaper in Rochester, so long as a Liberal op-ed or even essay can be printed in the same paper. I know most of us on the Left are well aware of the Conservative slant of the D&C, but I thought I’d make sure that it was good and clear to those outside our little loop.

To whit, the fight over the Rochester Central Library’s Internet policy. In the essays section, entitled “Speaking Out,” they posted the opinion of one relatively conservative woman. Then they posted the supposedly countervailing opinion that was horribly misinformed.

Now they give an op-ed to the “Teen Council,” (which I’ll betcha doesn’t have any teens in it) who writes this lovely bit of garbage:

Democrat & Chronicle: Teen Council

Pornography falls in the same category as drug addiction. It presents many of the same conflicts and consequences, and is detrimental to the family unit that is an integral part of society. Like drugs, pornography ruins marital relationships and exploits innocent children and teenagers. Although society has been led to believe that pornography is a freedom to which each individual is entitled, society’s definition of freedom has become synonymous with licentiousness. The general idea that everyone should mind their own business and that pornography isn’t wrong as long as no one is hurt does not apply to this issue. Pornography always involves a victim, whether voluntarily or involuntarily.

Keep reading.  If you liked that, you’ll love the bit where they start blaming the favourite whipping-bitch of The Right, the ACLU.  Never minding, of course, that Chief Justice Rehnquist(pdf) was in fact far more responsible for the current policy than the ACLU ever was.

As one commenter points out in the comments, this doesn’t account for the folks out there playing video games or blogging or any number of other things for more than 11 hours a week. But more over, their sources seem like they might be a bit skewed. I mean, it would be hard for the National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity to get funding if they didn’t find that pornography was addictive, would they? Everything they say might be true, but I’d be a lot more impressed with an objective study by a psychological association.

As for the The National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families, well, you’ll be astonished when you read their “About Us” section:

About Us: Vision & Goals

Cultural Apologetics
Cultural Apologetics has grown into a multi-faceted initiative of the National Coalition. Through Cultural Apologetics, the National Coalition addresses relevant social and moral issues for the purpose of equipping Christians with an intelligent defense of biblical truth in the matters of moral and ethical conflict in today’s culture.

You can read more about them as an agency here.

Now, understand, I would have no problem with any of this - at all - if they were willing to give us any kind of genuinely intelligent counter-argument, but they do not. In fact, I tried to submit an essay to the “Speaking Out” section and they didn’t even bother to tell me it wasn’t good enough. They said, “well, it’s too long for a letter to the editor.” I didn’t want to send a letter to the editor, and my subject line read “Speaking Out Submission.” I explained as much, politely, and they never wrote back.

I’ll post it in another article. You can decide for yourself if you think it’s really unbecoming of publication in a newspaper.

Technorati Tags: Rochester Central Library, Pornography, First Amendment

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