_ | \ | \ | | \ __ | |\ \ __ _____________ _/_/ | | \ \ _/_/ _____________ | ___________ _/_/ | | \ \ _/_/ ___________ | | | _/_/_____ | | > > _/_/_____ | | | | /________/ | | / / /________/ | | | | | | / / | | | | | |/ / | | | | | | / | | | | | / | | | | |_/ | | | | | | | | c o m m u n i c a t i o n s | | | |________________________________________________________________| | |____________________________________________________________________| ...presents... Whose Morality? by Tequila Willy >>> a cDc publication.......1990 <<< -cDc- CULT OF THE DEAD COW -cDc- ______________________________________________________________________________ Quite recently, I was reading the August, 1990 issue of Playboy magazine and it was reported that in the city of Cincinnati, "...no depictions of erotic passion shall be allowed to disturb the moral equilibrium and civic serenity of Tehran-on-the-Ohio." It further went on to explain that no depictions meant the censorship of adult bookstores, adult movie theaters, peep shows, strip joints, pornographic video cassettes, and raunchy skin magazines. Holy cow, I don't know about you folks, but I like sex! I like looking at pictures of naked women. I think pornographic videos are great. Now I don't view pornography every day, but I feel good knowing I have the right to legally purchase such material from someone who is willing to sell it. Just who are these people that not only want to censor this material but are successfully doing so? A wild guess might land us at the conclusion that religious fanatics and ultra-conservative political organizations might be behind this plot to violate your First Amendment Rights. By censoring messages which they feel threatened by, these groups seem to think they are doing "God's work." Personally, I think that this is un-Constitutional and un-American. This censorship is not only successful in banning pornography, but also in banning the sale of 2 Live Crew's albums. Music stores are chock-full of albums with stickers warning the purchaser of their highly immoral content. So what's the bottom line here? Morality. If morality is to dictate our actions, then we must ask ourselves what morality is. Perhaps God has outlined morality for us. But, is there really a God? As an empiricist I find no evidence supporting the existence of God and therefore I must rationally conclude that God does not exist. After all, if I am to believe in God I must do so out of faith and faith is defined as "...a nonrational belief." If we can't rationally draw the foundation of morality from an outside supreme being, then how can we dictate morality? First let's understand what morality is. Morality: noun 1. conformity to the rules of right conduct; moral or virtuous conduct. 2. sexual virtue. 3. moral quality or character. 4. the doctrine or system of morals; ethics; duties... Now let's take another look at the situation of censorship. Let's pretend we are in a position to make laws, or in a position to write laws which will affect the people of this great nation. If Moniki Mombowazi, a lobbyist, tells us that Hustler magazine is immoral and it should be banned, how should we rationally decide the validity of such a claim? If morality is a doctrine or system of morals, ethics, and duties, then where do we draw our ethical behavior from? Ethics ask us what prescriptions for behavior or intentions are justified and how. In order to determine what prescriptions for behavior are justified we must consider what is right or wrong. Acts that bring us pleasure we tend to call good and acts that bring pain we can call wrong. To expand on this idea let us consider the following example. If I am hungry and I eat, my body rewards me with a good feeling of satisfaction. If I leap out of a twenty foot tree, I may derive pleasure from the experience of falling through the air, but my body responds with a negative feeling of pain upon hitting the ground. My body seems to communicate to me what is good for its survival and what is bad for its survival. My body rewards me when I do things which perpetuate my existence. Eating then is ethical, while landing on the ground after a twenty foot fall is not. Since I experience many people who appear to operate - at least biologically - very similar to myself then it would be rational to assume that they experience the world much as I do - though their interpretations may be vastly different. With this in mind it would seem that if I were to inflict pain on others then my behavior would be unethical because, as my body has demonstrated to me, pain is wrong. Therefore, pleasure is ethical as long as it does not infringe upon the pleasure of others. Now we have a logical and rational definition of a set of rules and behaviors by which we can logically dictate morality. With this definition, there is no reason to ban Hustler magazine. Censorship is designed to keep you docile and ignorant. Don't let it win. Pornography may not be for you. Rock and Roll music may not be for you. Don't let the religious fanatics decide what is for you. Don't let them turn America into a nation of check-mailing nincompoops (in the name of Jesus Christ). _______________________________________________________________________________ This uncensored content of this official Cult of the Dead Cow text file is protected by the Constitution of the United States. To learn more about the Constitution write: Constitution, Washington D.C. 20599. (The Commission on the Bicentennial of The U.S. Constitution.) _______________________________________________________________________________ _ _ ____________________________________________________________________ /((___))\|The Dead Zone........214/522-5321|Demon Roach Undrgrnd..806/794-4362| [ x x ] |Grassroots...........619/460-3249|NIHILISM..............415/285-9453| \ / |The People Farm......916/673-8412|Tequila Willy's GSC...209/526-3194| (' ') |Lunatic Labs.........213/655-0691|The Works.............617/861-8976| (U) |====================================================================| .ooM |(c)1990 cDc communications by Tequila Willy. 07/23/90-#144| \_______/|All Rights Pissed Away. |