N
Nick_A
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Hell All
What is mob rule?
Government by violent gangs, or by the masses
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mob_rule
This is what has happened with the question if God is a Pornographer. The inability to be open to the question and the joys of righteous indignation and condemnation assure that what Juantoo wrote must be carried out:
The mob mentality must be placated. But the question becomes what is lost by doing so?
It is obvious to anyone not falling into the need for righteous indignation and condemnation that on the one hand God cannot be a pornographer but on the other, calling all pictures of naked fourteen year old girls pornographic by definition, ignoring the variable of intent, then God must be a pornographer.
So how can it be reconciled without a mob mentality of denial? IMO it requires admitting that pornography is a matter of intent. As soon as we do, it becomes obvious that to call a fourteen year old girl's body pornographic and her a pornographer, we must first know her intent.
For me, a young girl with a misguided sense of love trying to impress a boy isn't being a pornographer but just a growing girl who could use some guidance. But the mob prefers condemning these girls and calling the police. To me this is child abuse. the purpose of the police is to protect the young, not kill them psychologically.
It does so because we simply don't know how to relate to a fourteen year old girl about sex, sex energy, and her body. Fundamentalists can express though shalt nots and psychologists can speak of self esteem but obviously it means nothing. How can we as adults tell the young what is wrong when we are watching "Desperate Housewives" and the sopranos? Any kid worth his or her salt see the hypocrisy. Is it possible that some adults can allow the young to experience the value of what is right rather than just being told what is wrong?
This person, though well meaning, is right to observe that it is a problem of values but wrong IMO to see the solution as self esteem. Group values amongst teens supply self esteem and as we've seen they can be create mixed results.
Falmouth sexting incident a symptom of society - Falmouth, MA - Falmouth Bulletin
This is what mob rule based on righteous indignation and condemnation has denied.
It would have been possible to make the next step after agreeing that since God is not a pornographer, the problem must be us.
We've become so securlarized that we no longer can appreciate the depth of what is meant by humility, modesty, and the body being the "Temple of the Holy Spirit." If a young girl could value her body as a tool for growing into human meaning and purpose so it is necessary to keep it inwardly clean, then perhaps she would not be as tempted to draw this kind of attention to it. We don't throw what we value into the dirt? Would we do it with a painting we admire? No. The trouble is that the young do not understand the purpose of the body and how humility is just an expression of the value of becoming open to something greater than ourselves.
But mob rule has denied it. Righteous indignation and condemnation have made it impossible to take the next step. We cannot admit that if God is not a pornographer, it means that pornography is something we create and it is a question of intent. Calling a girls body pornographic by definition then is a form of child abuse based on our justified ignorance and inability to awaken the young as to what the body, sex, and sex energy means in relation to growing into ourselves.
It is a shame. Some good conversations could have developed. but we've decided for the sake of the peace of self justification to pacify those with bristled feathers rather then coming to admit that if God cannot be a pornographer, the problem is one of intent.
The mob expressing its condemnation and righteous indignation has won, but what it has won is another question. What we do know is that the kids that condemned this girl and caused her to commit suicide, didn't invent these techniques themselves. They learned it from society. Relying on righteous indignation and condemnation to substitute for our inability to allow the young to experience the worth of some essential values such as humility, assure more suicides. Under the circumstances where the primary goal is to pacify the indignant, what else can be expected?
What is mob rule?
Government by violent gangs, or by the masses
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mob_rule
This is what has happened with the question if God is a Pornographer. The inability to be open to the question and the joys of righteous indignation and condemnation assure that what Juantoo wrote must be carried out:
The mob mentality must be placated. But the question becomes what is lost by doing so?
It is obvious to anyone not falling into the need for righteous indignation and condemnation that on the one hand God cannot be a pornographer but on the other, calling all pictures of naked fourteen year old girls pornographic by definition, ignoring the variable of intent, then God must be a pornographer.
So how can it be reconciled without a mob mentality of denial? IMO it requires admitting that pornography is a matter of intent. As soon as we do, it becomes obvious that to call a fourteen year old girl's body pornographic and her a pornographer, we must first know her intent.
For me, a young girl with a misguided sense of love trying to impress a boy isn't being a pornographer but just a growing girl who could use some guidance. But the mob prefers condemning these girls and calling the police. To me this is child abuse. the purpose of the police is to protect the young, not kill them psychologically.
It does so because we simply don't know how to relate to a fourteen year old girl about sex, sex energy, and her body. Fundamentalists can express though shalt nots and psychologists can speak of self esteem but obviously it means nothing. How can we as adults tell the young what is wrong when we are watching "Desperate Housewives" and the sopranos? Any kid worth his or her salt see the hypocrisy. Is it possible that some adults can allow the young to experience the value of what is right rather than just being told what is wrong?
This person, though well meaning, is right to observe that it is a problem of values but wrong IMO to see the solution as self esteem. Group values amongst teens supply self esteem and as we've seen they can be create mixed results.
Falmouth sexting incident a symptom of society - Falmouth, MA - Falmouth Bulletin
So, if people are open to moving beyond affirming self esteem through righteous indignation and condemnation what can be done?
This is what mob rule based on righteous indignation and condemnation has denied.
It would have been possible to make the next step after agreeing that since God is not a pornographer, the problem must be us.
We've become so securlarized that we no longer can appreciate the depth of what is meant by humility, modesty, and the body being the "Temple of the Holy Spirit." If a young girl could value her body as a tool for growing into human meaning and purpose so it is necessary to keep it inwardly clean, then perhaps she would not be as tempted to draw this kind of attention to it. We don't throw what we value into the dirt? Would we do it with a painting we admire? No. The trouble is that the young do not understand the purpose of the body and how humility is just an expression of the value of becoming open to something greater than ourselves.
But mob rule has denied it. Righteous indignation and condemnation have made it impossible to take the next step. We cannot admit that if God is not a pornographer, it means that pornography is something we create and it is a question of intent. Calling a girls body pornographic by definition then is a form of child abuse based on our justified ignorance and inability to awaken the young as to what the body, sex, and sex energy means in relation to growing into ourselves.
It is a shame. Some good conversations could have developed. but we've decided for the sake of the peace of self justification to pacify those with bristled feathers rather then coming to admit that if God cannot be a pornographer, the problem is one of intent.
The mob expressing its condemnation and righteous indignation has won, but what it has won is another question. What we do know is that the kids that condemned this girl and caused her to commit suicide, didn't invent these techniques themselves. They learned it from society. Relying on righteous indignation and condemnation to substitute for our inability to allow the young to experience the worth of some essential values such as humility, assure more suicides. Under the circumstances where the primary goal is to pacify the indignant, what else can be expected?
earl
