"Deprived of his drug, the addict lurches about in a frenzy..."

[elfs]

Last week I dismissed Mary Eberstadt's piece on how our inability to clearly articulate morality about sex translated into zealous moral impulses about food. Eberstadt's article begged too many questions and omitted too many details. morality isn't a substance that flows along channels, where a shortage in one leads to a surfeit in another. Eberstadt oversimplified the question far too readily to have produced a meaningful discussion.

I do think there is merit, however, to another idea: deprived of the impression that they had some control over their destiny, the bluenoses in our country have started to lash out, looking for any outlet they can for their frustrated desire to frustrate desire in others.

I mean consider Eberstadt's article as of a piece with other anti-sex impulses rising around the country. Just weeks after the anti-abortion forces crowed that their blatant terrorist tactics were working, the group Americans for Truth About Homosexuality announced that they were subscribing to and monitoring every gay, lesbian, transgender, poly, and kink-friendly mailing list in the country they could find. Their goal was to target and protest public gatherings of non-normative sex groups and, as they succeed with the anti-abortion movement, force the organizers to spend extra time and money dealing with the press, the police, and health officers.

Don't miss AfT's article castigating the Unitarian Universalist for including "sadomasochism" and "non-monogamy" in a pamphlet for older teenagers trying to understand their sexuality, describing it as "pure evil." The language is becoming less restrained. OneNewsNow characterized a school's decision not to fire a transgender janitor as "outrageous" and added, "The whole idea that someone like this should be in the public schools, of course, is beyond belief."

Then we had Susan James's atrocious ABC report on kinky sex, which followed on our local ABC affiliate, KOMO TV's, hit piece on a private sex club in Seattle. The club is registered as a private social club (imagine that!) and KOMO's objection was that by registering in such a way the club derived the same tax benefits as hunting clubs and even private drinking clubs. The headline read, "Are your tax dollars going to pay for a sex club?" (The KOMO article was so bad KOMO eventually retracted it, and publicity for the Center for a Sex Positive Culture actually led to a significant increase in membership.)

Meanwhile, the right is absolutely lathered that David Ogden has been nominated for a position at the Justice Department because he has worked for pro-pornography groups in the past, defending their 1st Amendment Rights.

I really do hope that all of this recent anti-sex lathering is coincidental, but I have my doubts. Freed from the time-constraining responsibility of carrying water for a failed presidency and desperate for some cause to embrace and vent their excessive anger upon, the forces of repression have returned to their favorite themes of policing your bedroom and your heart.

Comments

[codeamazon.livejournal.com]

Don't forget that historically times of contraction coincide with increased persecution for those that can be defined as "different."

If there isn't enough to go around, it makes sense to define as many as possible as unworthy of what IS available.

[mrf-arch.livejournal.com]

Yup.

This also coincides with the Repressive Right's preferred leaders being roundly kicked out of Washington, and losing direct access to the levers of power (for what little good such access actually did them) is only more likely to encourage them to resort to guerrilla tactics and violence.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

F*** them. Literally. These people *need* to get laid; they're FAR too uptight. Of course they won't, though. I just hope the inevitable outing of their daughters as hot bi babes happens sooner rather than later. You know I'm right; growing up it was *always* the preacher's kid that was into *everything* and up to no good...

[hydrolagus.livejournal.com]

In a bit of good news, though, the porn tax failed.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Yes, I saw that! I was going to comment on that later, but now it seems moot. On the other hand, some kook in Bellingham has introduced a bill banning all non-monotheists from active participation in the political process. Initiative 1040 (http://www.bellinghamherald.com/102/story/800162.html).

[emeric1120.livejournal.com]

Remember also that during the early Middle Ages, when the church effectively ran the government, the church tended to leave well enough alone. If I'm remembering this right, it wasn't until the "one church" started to fragment and lose control that they got all that uptight about morality. Again, if I'm remembering correctly, this would be about the time of the Inquisition (which went on until at least the 1700s).

This does not include the Crusades, where they started by going to Germany to kill Jews to get their money to finance the thing, then killed Christian, Jew, and Muslim alike to "save" the Holy Land. Hey, what better way to "save somebody's soul" than to kill them?

I don't think these acts are random or unconnected. They're feeling the power slip away and the backlash is in full swing.

(I'm pretty sure I have the historical facts right. Of course, the last paragraph is opinion, but I think it's accurate.)

[pixel39.livejournal.com]

The Crusades were the church's response to increasing inter-group violence in Europe--Hey, if we send them to "rescue" the Holy Land, they'll stop killing each other!!.

[gromm.livejournal.com]

Hey, what better way to "save somebody's soul" than to kill them?

Burn them. That purifies their souls, allowing them access to paradise.

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

I ignore anyone telling me what to think/believe/teach.

[fallenpegasus]

I don't see the forces of repression as being wholy, or even mainly, something "of the right".

The concept of "the uptight Seattleite" is something that is funny only because it's true.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

All eight signatories to the recent Washington State bill raising taxes on erotic materials and "paraphenalia" were Democrats.

It's pols like that who give the Log Cabin Republicans a reason to live.

[fallenpegasus]

Someone will probably now chime in that they are DINOs... which may be a fair accusation, I dont know who they are, and the DINO/RINO phenominon happens in states where one party has far too much advantage (such as Ds in WA and Rs in UT).

[(Anonymous)]

the group Americans for Truth About Homosexuality announced that they were subscribing to and monitoring every gay, lesbian, transgender, poly, and kink-friendly mailing list in the country they could find.

Time to set up a few 'bots and bury them in information?

What if they were the only ones to show up at the protest, meeting, riot?