CNA<\/a>).- Catholic law professor Robert P. George of Princeton University is discouraging pornography use in hotel rooms by calling on hotel CEOs to consider the harm that it causes.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n\t\u201cPornography is part of a larger phenomenon that\u2019s rooted in the fundamental misunderstanding of sexuality,\u201d he told CNA in a July interview.<\/p>\n
\tGeorge recently teamed up with prominent Muslim intellectual Shaykh Hamza Yusuf in writing letters to the CEOs of the five largest hotel chains that offer pornography in their hotel rooms.<\/p>\n
\tHe explained that the move was an attempt \u201cto re-stigmatize pornography,\u201d which has been presented to the public as \u201cat worst, a kind of harmless naughtiness\u201d with no lasting personal or social effects.<\/p>\n
\tHowever, studies show that pornography \u201cdoes damage to everybody concerned,\u201d including those involved in producing and viewing it, and the marriages and families into which it enters.<\/p>\n
\tGeorge said that rather than threatening a boycott or protest, the letter simply presents a moral appeal to the consciences of the businessmen, respectfully asking them to regard the women involved in pornography as their beloved daughters and wives.<\/p>\n
\tIt reminds \u201crespectable business people\u201d that there are some things \u2013 such as pornography \u2013 that are degrading and dehumanizing and therefore wrong even if they are legal and profitable, he explained.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe are old-fashioned enough to believe that an appeal to conscience will sometimes do the job, that everything\u2019s not money,\u201d he said. \u201cWe think people are still reachable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tAs an example, he pointed to the 1998 decision by Omni Hotels to remove pornography from all of its hotel rooms because the CEO believed that it was wrong to sell it.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cPeople have a basic sense of human dignity,\u201d he said, and even if it is deeply buried, it can be reached and begin to change society.<\/p>\n
\tGeorge explained that the widespread acceptance of pornography is rooted in \u201ca very serious problem\u201d present in contemporary culture.<\/p>\n
\tYoung people are falsely taught to think of sexuality as \u201cmere recreation\u201d rather than something \u201cprofound\u201d that is \u201cfounded upon the reproductive unity of male and female,\u201d he observed.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cTo totally detach sexuality from its procreative dimension is at the same time to detach it from its marital significance,\u201d he said, adding that this ultimately renders \u201cunintelligible the basic norms of fidelity, sexual exclusivity and the pledge of permanence\u201d that make marriage the profound human institution that it is. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\tIn this way, he noted, pornography has the same fundamental cause as high levels of divorce, promiscuity, widespread contraception and a push for \u201cgay marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tAll of these problems are rooted in a general misunderstanding of \u201cthe marital, conjugal significance of our sexuality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\tThis, in turn, is tied to a false conception of what it means to be human, George continued. He explained that pornography users come to view other people as objects to be used for satisfaction and themselves as mere bundles of appetites.<\/p>\n
\tThey objectify themselves and others, losing \u201cthe sense of true humanity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\tThe truth, however, is that we are \u201cbearers of a much more profound dignity,\u201d capable of self-control and not \u201cslaves of our desires or lusts,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe undermine our own dignity as persons when we permit ourselves to become enslaved to our own passions,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\tThe connection between basic human sexuality and dignity is not only a religious tenant but a \u201cfundamental principle of reason,\u201d he observed. Found as far back as Plato, this is \u201can insight that anyone of any faith and even people of no particular faith can grasp.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tGeorge hopes that his collaboration with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf will show that \u201cwe can and we should be collaborating and working together in defending and promoting those values.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tWhile the two religions are sometimes depicted as being suspicious and hostile towards each other, there are \u201cmany, many values which are shared\u201d by Muslims and Christians, he explained.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cCatholics should never hesitate to reach out across the theological divide and partner with people who share our basic values,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\n
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Washington D.C., Aug 1, 2012 \/ 02:03 am (CNA).- Catholic law professor Robert P. George of Princeton University is discouraging pornography use in hotel rooms by calling on hotel CEOs to consider the harm that it causes. <\/p>\n
\t“Pornogra…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\n
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