The Mass Media: Soft-Core Porn Peddlers
CHAPTER 136 — THE MASS MEDIA: SOFT-CORE PORN PEDDLERS
American Life League
The public has been so bullied intellectually by the proponents of contemporary art that it has wearily resigned itself to just about any idiocy that is placed before it ... But the common man has his limits, and they are reached when some of these things emerge from the sanctuary of the padded cells of galleries and museums and are put in public places, where the public is forced to live with them and pay for them ... The current philosophy and practice of art thrives on a belief system of deliberate contempt for the public ... They are after more than our money. They are ridiculing traditional values, and trying to destroy them, and casting themselves in the role of victims once again when we object ...
Frederick Hart, Fall 1989 Arts Quarterly.
WARNING!
Some of the material described in
this chapter is extremely
offensive in nature.
Anti-Life Philosophy.
We have the best television network and programming in the world. Those people who try to control what is aired are retrograde thinkers and outright censors.
Television and radio are good influences on children, and are invaluable educational tools.
Introduction.
You are dying. I see in you all the characteristic stigma of decay. I can prove that your great wealth and your great poverty, your capitalism and your socialism, your wars and your revolutions, your atheism and your pessimism and your cynicism, your immorality, your broken-down marriages, your birth control, that is bleeding you from the bottom and killing you off at the top in your brains can prove to you that these are characteristic marks of the dying ages of ancient states Alexandria and Greece and neurotic Rome.
Oswald Spengler, The Decline of the West.[1]
Why Sex and Violence?
Thinking people generally accept the idea that pornography does not just refer to so-called 'sexually explicit material' it also includes material that features excessive amounts of profanity and/or violence. By this definition, a very large percentage of the popular media is, to some extent, pornographic, because it is literally saturated with sex, violence, and obscenity.
The inhibitions of Americans have become numbed and jaded by the media's constant and unrelenting bombardment of the public with graphic material. It is virtually impossible to raise children in this country without exposing them to the constant stream of negative television programming, music, literature, and toys that is available everywhere.
Projecting a Worldview.
This torrent of violence- and sex-soaked media is no accident, because it reflects the personal attitudes and ambitions of those in control of the American entertainment industry.
Grant Tinker, President of NBC, stated on the PBS series "On Television" that "The public wants violence, and we produce it for them." And Richard Salant, former president of CBS News, asserted that "Our job is to give people not what they want, but what we decide they ought to have."[2]
This overbearing attitude is extremely common among network executives and directors. Christopher Knopf, former president of the American Writers Guild, said that "We're feeding America all the pap we know as lies and nonsense; we are feeding things we personally resent, which have no resemblance to real life."[3]
Oscar Wilde summed up the situation a half-century ago when he observed that "The public has an insatiable curiosity to know everything, except what is worth knowing. Journalism, conscious of this, and having tradesman-like habits, supplies their demands."[4]
The colossal arrogance of the media leaders and the reasons for it is well-documented in the Lichter-Rothman studies, described in Chapter 124, "Sources of Media Bias."
The primary reason that the media moguls bombard the public with graphic scenes of violence and sex is quite simple. Through the process of desensitization, they seek to accustom Americans to bizarre, vicious and obscene acts on television. It is obvious that, once accustomed, the public will be far more likely to accept the reality in the form of abortion, euthanasia, and sexual perversions.
Of course, this objective has largely been met. Pro-life sidewalk counselors are astonished when passersby become insanely angry because their gory pictures of aborted preborn babies while blithely accepting the reality inside. Many Americans unthinkingly accept the slogans 'gay rights' and 'death with dignity,' but are enraged to encounter anyone who opposes homosexual perversions or euthanasia by speaking plainly about them.
Pain, Suffering, and Death.
Since the first true 'splatter' film ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre") was released and distributed in 1973 by the mob-controlled Bryanston Films, movies and television have become more and more vivid in their depiction of human suffering, pain, and death.
Now, on television prime-time, we can be treated to a dog lapping up the blood of a murder victim and watch an airline pilot feed his murdered wife's body through a wood shredder.
This chapter describes how and why the mass media specifically television, motion pictures, literature and the 'arts' gets its sexy and violent message across to us.
Violence in the Media.
I think the best thing to do is not to look at television, and to that end, I have, as has been said, disposed of my set.
Malcolm Muggeridge.[5]
Introduction.
The average American child spends an incredible 30,000 hours watching television between the ages of 3 and 18. If the child is not sitting in front of a television, he is usually entertained by movies and video games, for an total average of 45 hours of electronic viewing per week.
Compare this to the average of about four hours per week a child spends with his or her parents mostly at the dinner table!
If he is not being entertained by electronic devices, he has easy access to a wide variety of breathtakingly violent and graphic novels and comic books.
No wonder well-meaning but naive parents moan "Where did we go wrong?" when their children grow up imbued with society's values instead of theirs.
Violence on Television.
In one average year (1987), the American Family Association recorded a total of 33,590 incidents of sex, profanity, and violence on the three major television networks over a total of 14,500 hours of programming, as follows;
INCIDENTS OF SEX, PROFANITY, AND VIOLENCE ON NETWORK TELEVISION
[A medium text size on your computer's 'view' setting is recommended, otherwise, the tables may be discombobulated.]
Incidents of Total
Network Sex Profanity Violence Incidents
NBC 3,615 4,508 2,985 11,108
ABC 3,059 4,054 2,768 9,881
CBS 3,018 5,883 3,700 12,601
9,692 14,445 9,453 33,590
The frightening mathematics regarding this situation are relatively simple. Using the above figures, we can calculate that, by the time he or she is 18, the average American teenager has watched 20,000 sex acts, 30,000 obscenities, and 20,000 acts of violence on television.
Most Christian parents remember the Three Stooges and the Roadrunner/Coyote Saturday morning cartoons. These may have been violent, but they were tame compared to the fare cranked out by the industry today. The fact that there are more acts of violence on Saturday morning programming that during the rest of the week combined is no coincidence. Our young children eagerly await what has literally become 'The Saturday Morning Bloodbath.'
Researchers have determined that one of the most popular Saturday morning cartoons, "The Transformers," depicted an average of 83 violent acts every hour, including a murder or attempted murder every 60 seconds.[6] The Nielsen Television rating service estimates that a typical 18-year old has seen 18,000 murders on television.[7]
Would this supersaturation desensitize a person to profanity, sex, and violence?
Decide for yourself!
No Escape at the Movies or Arcade.
As late as 1975, about five percent of all Hollywood motion pictures were rated "R." Today, more than 65 percent possess this rating, and each movie includes an average of fifty acts of violence, sex, and profanity.
The days of pinball games and Pacman are gone forever. Today, the average video game includes eleven violent acts every minute. Therefore, the average teenager has seen an incredible total of more than two million acts of violence, sex, and profanity, as summarized below;
VIOLENT ACTS VIEWED BY AGE 18
Violent Acts Viewing Total Violent
Medium Per Hour Hours Acts Viewed
Television 2.3 30,000 70,000
Movies 25.0 2,000 50,000
Video games 660.0 3,000 1,980,000
TOTAL ACTS OF VIOLENCE: 2,100,000
Snuff Novels and 'Girlcotts.'
The only good thing about violent programming and movies is that they are usually watched only once (unless taped with a VCR). The situation with violence-soaked novels, stories and comic books is quite different, because they can be read again and again. Even more ominously, the type of violence that until now was confined to pornographic bookstores is beginning to appear in supermarket book sections and on the shelves of 'mainline' bookselling chain outlets.
It is natural that writers and comic book artists would try to 'keep up' with movies and television programming. After all, story writers and illustrators compete for business as well.
One of the best-publicized controversies involving extreme violence in literature revolved around Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho. After Simon and Schuster rejected the novel, Random House accepted it for publication. This book includes graphic descriptions of acts against women whose offensiveness is exceeded only by their degree of physical impossibility. One example;
I keep spraying Torri with Mace and then I try to cut off all her fingers and finally I pour acid into her vagina which doesn't kill her, so I resort to stabbing her in the throat ... While Tiffany watches, finally I saw the entire head off torrents of blood splash against the walls, even the ceiling and holding the head up, like a prize, I take my c_ck, purple with stiffness, and lowering Torri's head to my lap I push it into her bloodied mouth and start f___ing it until I come.[8]
The reaction of Neofeminists to this trash was, as always, frenziedly inconsistent. Tammy Bruce, president of the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), called for an economic boycott of Random House. She inadvertently hit the nail on the head when she said that "[The book] spits in the face of humanity ... In a capitalistic society, sometimes attacking the pocketbook works."
But she vividly demonstrated the hypocritical double-standard that is so inherent in NOW politics when a writer asked her to compare NOW's action to the pro-family boycott of the blasphemous film "The Last Temptation of Christ."
Bruce dragged out her old dog-eared pro-abortion slogan book and said that the "Last Temptation" boycott was "vocal minorities attempting to impose their views on the majority." She essentially maintained that only Left-wing groups have the moral right to boycott, because "We truly represent the majority of Americans in this instance, and in a democracy, the majority rules."[8]
The Most Critical Years.
Children have been shown to be most susceptible to depictions of violence between the ages of three and eight. In other words, they will reflect in their adult personalities what they see on television during these ages.
The saturation of violence and sex in TV programming is not particularly surprising, because the 26 major television stations must fill more than 125,000 hours of programming each year. The level of competitiveness of these stations has steadily increased, and, in order to hold their audience's attention, their visual material must be more and more riveting. This is true of not only television, but of motion pictures as well.
Suicide Solution.
The National Coalition on Television Violence found that portrayals of suicide on prime-time television occur about once every 28 hours of programming. This means that the average teenager will have viewed about 800 acts of suicide on television by the time he or she is 18 years old.
Not surprisingly, suicide is now the third-leading cause of death among teenagers and the second most common cause of death among college students.
See It > Fantasize About It > Do It!
Television is the first truly democratic culture the first culture available to everybody and entirely governed by what the people want. The most terrifying thing is what the people do want.
British drama critic Clives Barnes.[4]
Introduction.
Imaginary violence in the media has two direct effects on potentially unstable individuals;
(1) The individuals perceive this violence as a legitimate and ingrained part of social institutions, and
(2) they victimize themselves and/or others individually with violence.
Institutionalized Violence.
The unwitting individual victims of the relentless bombardment of violent media propaganda may not only suffer lasting damage themselves, but they may influence others to become what they have been conditioned to perceive as "normal."
A woman who was battered as a child may take a job as a counselor in a woman's safe house and counsel rape and assault victims to leave their families and to distrust all men, thereby locking in a cycle of fear and paranoia instead of breaking it.
Many male and female homosexuals become counselors in public-service agencies and encourage younger people to pursue homosexuality as a rewarding lifestyle and in many cases use their positions to make new pedophilic contacts.
Many women who have had abortions (so glorified in the media), or whose mothers told them that they wanted to abort them, or whose childhood was so stressful that they wish that they had never been born, take positions in abortion clinics and invariably counsel their 'clients' to have abortions.
Individual Acts of Violence.
Particularly unstable individuals are liable to view acts of violence and imitate them almost immediately. These are the episodes that make the news.
Unfortunately, for every such act that makes the news, there are a hundred that do not.
Troy Starks of Mississippi went to see "Rambo: First Blood, Part Two" with his friend Tony Jenkins. After this, Jenkins told his friend that he "... wanted to be a hero like Rambo." Jenkins then waited by a busy road and fired a stolen rifle at a passing car. When he was finished, he had fulfilled his wish: He had killed four-year old Jimmy Freeman.[9]
After watching Jason (the star of the violent movie "Friday the 13th: Part III") hang himself, an 11-year old Madison, Wisconsin boy hanged himself by the neck with his belt until he died.
Two Stilwell, Oklahoma teenagers were charged with murder in 1987 after they threw a 15-pound rock through the windshield of a pickup truck. The driver, David Huffaker, died from head injuries, and his teenage son required 23 stitches for a wound in his head. The teenagers told officials they got the idea from the movie "The Road Warrior."[10]
Federal authorities stated that 28 persons killed themselves playing Russian Roulette in the single week following the motion picture "The Deer Hunter," on television, which featured a long, drawn-out and agonizing scene of a main character playing the 'game.'[11] Normally, about five such incidents could be expected over a one-week period.
Mass murderer Patrick Sherrill, who gunned down 14 people in an Oklahoma post office in 1985, had a house filled with violent and pornographic magazines, including Playboy, Penthouse, and Soldier of Fortune.[12]
After a 13-year old Mountain, Michigan boy saw a similar act in Arnold Schwarzenegger's movie "The Terminator," he assembled a pipe bomb, which detonated prematurely and killed him.[13]
Despite the obviously destructive influence of extremely violent movies, even politicians continue to glorify them. Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley designated Friday, September 13, 1991, as the city's official "Freddy Krueger Day." Krueger is the grisly villain of the six-movie series "Nightmare on Elm Street."[14]
Studies on Media/Violence Connections.
As long as people will accept crap, it will be financially profitable to dispense it.
Dick Cavett.[4]
TV: Cause of 10,000 Annual Murders?
In the April 1989 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology, University of Washington researcher Brandon Centerwall concluded that the influence of television indirectly causes approximately 10,000 homicides a year.[15]
Centerwall cautioned that this is a causal relationship, similar to the early studies that noted that lung cancer was much higher in smokers without knowing exactly what carcinogens were present in cigarette smoke.
In the case of television's effects upon children, the lag time between the introduction of violent programming and the enactment of such violence is about ten years, which is the average time between TV's greatest psychological impression upon children and the beginning of their adult lives.
TV: School for Criminals.
A study of 208 Federal inmates by Grant H. Handrick showed that 90 percent of them learned new crime tricks and improved their techniques by watching television, and 40 percent of them stated that they had exactly copied crimes that they had witnessed on television.[11]
The Violence Connection.
The most extensive study ever performed on the relationship between television violence and violent acts concluded that there is an intimate correlation between the degree of children's violent behavior and how much violence they are exposed to on television.
Drs. Rowell Huesmann and Leonard Eron, psychologists at the University of Illinois at Chicago, conducted a 22-year long study by charting the television viewing habits of an entire third-grade class, and then examining the students again at age 30. They found that children who had watched more violent television were convicted of significantly more violent crimes than those children who were not so exposed.[16]
Summary of the Studies.
Out of 85 major studies conducted over the decade of the 1980s, only one showed that television did not increase aggression among young children. The lone dissenting study, predictably, was commissioned by one of the leading purveyors of television violence, NBC.[17]
Profanity in the Media.
There should be more sex in movies. It's about time that kids who are 13 years old are shown making love.
Don Simpson, producer of the movies "Flashdance" and "An Officer and a Gentleman."[18]
Many people remember that the introduction of the word "damn" into a major motion picture forty years ago caused quite a flap. By contrast, the 1988 motion picture "Midnight Run" watched by hundreds of thousands of parent-accompanied children used the word "f___" 125 times in 122 minutes an average of more than once per minute![11]
These days it seems that the omission of profanity is cause for sensation. On network television, we are treated to words like "bastard," "son of a b__ch," "slut," "b__ch," "butthead," and "turd" on a routine basis. And some parents wonder where their children 'pick up' their bad language!
On January 27, 1988, rear nudity occurred for the first time on prime-time television. "St. Elsewhere's" Dr. Westphal mooned a hospital administrator and told him, "You can kiss my ass, pal." This scene was deliberately placed at the very end of the episode so the camera could lovingly linger on Westphal's naked rear end while the credits crawled slowly across it.
NBC vice president Perry Simon boasted that this scene was "a great moment in the life of the series."
Pornographic "Art."
Art is the signature of man.
G.K. Chesterton.[19]
Introduction.
In times past, talent was all that counted among artists. If a person had the ingrained ability, skill, and the determination to succeed as an artist, he became well-known and successful. If he did not possess talent, he failed. He would continue their art as a personal hobby and find some other employment.
In today's world, talent, ability and determination to succeed are no longer qualities that count, particularly in the so-called "artistic community." Although there are still many "real artists" who can make it on their own ability, many sham "artists" have no talent, and they know it. They correctly realize that the only possible way anyone will ever notice them is if they "create" something that will anger and insult people. They possess exactly the same mentality as a four-year old who has learned a swear word and wants to get a reaction out of his parents by using it repeatedly.
These quacks are a disgrace to the profession, and real artists despise them for it.
There is a simple way to discern the difference between an artist of true talent and a hacker with no talent at all. An average person could never duplicate the magnificent work of the true artist. However, anyone off the street could easily duplicate the 'works' of the hacks.
Following are a few examples of "art" (to stretch the term to its limit) that have made the rounds recently. Their only claim to fame is their offensiveness.
Sorrano and His 'Piss Christ.'
Andres Sorrano, a little-known "artist," simply filled a glass vat with his own urine and then dumped a photograph of a Crucifix in it. He imaginatively entitled this masterpiece "Piss Christ." For this magnificent and imaginative effort, he received a $15,000 award from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA).
Urine tax dollars at work.
His "work" was selected for the Awards in the Visual Arts program of the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art of Winston-Salem, North Carolina for display and tour.[20] This program, perhaps not coincidentally, is funded by The Rockefeller Foundation, which also heavily funds worldwide population control. This is an excellent example of how the population control cartel undermines the authority of those organizations (in this case, the Christian Church) who oppose their worldwide program of genocide.
Outside of Satanism, no more direct attack on the Person of God has ever been launched, and yet even so-called 'Good Christians' squabbled over Sorrano's "rights of expression." Even Jesus physically attacked the moneychangers who desecrated only His Father's house not his very Person.[21]
Sorrano's "art" was displayed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Carnegie-Mellon University Art Gallery in Pittsburgh, the Virginia Museum of Fine Art in Richmond, and the Stux Gallery in New York.
Sorrano's other works include "Piss God" and "Piss Pope." When asked what he would "work" with next, Sorrano replied "semen."
He was as good as his word. The following year, he displayed a series of photographs entitled "Ejaculate Trajectory." These consisted of photos of his own semen jetting across a black background in abstract patterns.[22]
The National Endowment for the Arts had previously awarded Sorrano another $15,000 of tax money in 1985 for "Creating artworks composed from human body parts and decapitated heads of animals exhibited in glass vats."[23]
It would be interesting to find out if Sorrano had the courage to 'create' a "Piss Martin Luther King," a "Piss Bella Abzug," or (we can hope, can't we?) a "Piss Patricia Schroeder." It would also be fascinating to see how far the artistic 'community' would go to defend Sorrano's freedom of expression then.
Mapplethorpe's Images.
Accompanying Sorrano's "work" on tour was Robert Mapplethorpe's exhibit of photos of explicit homosexual behavior. One of his photographs depicted two naked men urinating into each other's mouths. His photographic self-portrait depicted a bullwhip protruding from his own anus. Mapplethorpe achieved "gay martyrdom" by dying of AIDS in early 1989.[24]
The public complained bitterly that their hard-earned tax dollars were being wasted on this stupidity, and spurred 143 United States senators and congressmen to demand an end to public sponsorship of such "morally reprehensible trash."
Predictably, defenders of this garbage-as-art used the tried and true First Amendment defense: Howard Fox, curator of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which hosted the exhibition(ism), whined that "I think it's unfortunate and dismaying that some elements in American society have prevailed upon Congress to consider interfering with artistic expression."[25]
After a Cincinnati jury acquitted the art gallery owners who showed Mapplethorpe's "display" of obscenity, Neoliberal actor Ed Asner remarked that "The decision by the Cincinnati jury on the Mapplethorpe exhibit was phenomenal! After all, I consider the Mapplethorpe picture one man urinating into the mouth of another as merely a depiction of Ronald Reagan's trickle-down theory."[26]
Annie Sprinkle.
The National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) indirectly funded, through the New York State Council on the Arts, Chelsea's Kitchen Theatre, which in winter 1989 sponsored a dozen sex shows by Annie Sprinkle. She has "performed" in more than 150 pornographic movies.
Part of her act involved laying on her back, spreading her legs, and inviting onlookers to inspect her vagina with a flashlight. On several occasions, she paused halfway through her act and boasted "Usually I get paid a lot of money for this, but tonight it's government-funded."[27]
Other Examples of Pornography Funding. The above examples of NEA-funded pornography represent only a small fraction of the obscenities paid for by this Federal "pornocracy." Other examples of pornography that have been funded by the National Endowment of the Arts are listed below.
Burning Bibles.
NEA gave $20,000 to the group Artpark, which in turn gave Survival Research Laboratories (SRL) money to put on a Lewiston, NY show called a "Bible Burn."
SRL posters distributed to art galleries all over the country read;
SRL will create large, sexually explicit props covered with a generous layer of requisitioned Bibles. After employing these props in a wide variety of unholy rituals, SRL machines will proceed to burn them to ashes. Bibles can always be obtained for free from hotels, churches, and your parents' house.[28]
There were no complaints from the anti-censorship organization People for the American Way about book burning. After the City of Lewiston found out about the nature of the show, Artpark sued it.
Degenerates for Sure.
"The Helms Degenerate Art Show/Protest," which was displayed at New York City's Black and White in Color Gallery, received a $500 symbolic NEA subgrant from "Artist Space." This show featured Shawn Eichman's "Alchemy Cabinet," which displayed her own dismembered aborted baby next to the obligatory twisted wire coat hanger; a poster featuring Senator Jesse Helms nailed to a cross; and Dread Scott's "What is the Proper Way to Display a U.S. Flag," which invited viewers to walk across an American flag that was spread on the floor.[29]
Tongues of Idiocy.
David Wojnarowicz's "Tongues of Flame" art show featured, among other things, a picture of Christ shooting up heroin; drawings of acts of bestiality; an essay where the "artist" calls Cardinal John O'Connor "that creep in black skirts;" attacks on the Catholic Church using extreme obscenity; and many extremely graphic homoerotic photos. The NEA awarded $15,000 to Illinois State University to host this show.
Wojnarowicz died of AIDS in mid-1992.
S&M Funding.
The NEA granted $5,000 to the Southern Exposure/Project Artaud, which put on an exhibit entitled "Modern Primitives: An Exhibition and Series of Live Events on Contemporary Body Modifications." Features were literary sources in sado-masochistic (S&M) culture; the benefits of extreme S&M; performances of masturbation; and videos of the extreme wounding, cutting, and genital piercing of human beings.
More Homosexual Nonsense.
Almost all of the controversial NEA grants have gone to sodomites.
In addition to the grants mentioned above, NEA funded a photographic journal called Nueva Luz, which consisted of photos of naked children in sexually graphic situations with naked adults.
Another New York NEA-funded exhibit included booklets that showed one female sex pervert inserting various objects into another, a photo album of group sex, a crude 3rd-grade level drawing called "Jesus Sucks," and another photo with a man asking "Is it a sin to f___a priest?"
NEA awarded a grant to the Gay Sunshine Press so it could publish "Orgasm of Light: The Gay Sunshine Anthology." This book included drawings of the Statue of Liberty with a penis, and graphic depictions of bestiality and homosexual orgies.
In 1969, the NEA gave The American Literary Anthology a grant, and it subsequently gave Aram Saroyan more than $500 for his poem that consisted of a single misspelled word: "Lighght." Two years later, the organization gave $50,000 to the theatre troupe Living Stage, whose specialty was to perform before elementary schoolchildren while encouraging them to chant "bullsh_t!" throughout its entire performance. In 1972, it gave Judy Chicago $36,500 for "Dinner Party."[30]
The NEA funded the 1990-1991 "New Festival" in New York State, which included the films "Strip Jack Naked," "Jesus Christ Condom," "Queers Bash Back," "S&M Sex and Music," "Why I Masturbate," "No Skin Off My Ass," "Multiple Orgasm," "Yearning for Sodom," "Portraits of Lesbian and Gay Teens," "Beyond Superdyke," and "Boots, Boobs and B_tches."[29]
In 1990, the NEA gave a grant to Chicago Filmmakers, which put on a radical Neofeminist show entitled "Rattle Your Rage." This included a post entitled "Sister Serpent F___s a Fetus," which had a heading that said "For all you folks who consider a fetus more valuable than a woman, have a fetus cook for you, have a fetus affair, go to a fetus' house to ease your sexual frustration."[31]
NEA even funded Artist Space of New York City, which put on an exhibition featuring a bust of a transvestite Jesus Christ with a crown of thorns, make-up, and breasts.
The Battle Over NEA Funding.
In mid-1990, private citizens and lawmakers who were outraged at the excesses of the National Endowment of the Arts attempted to obtain a guarantee that taxpayers would not have to pay for garbage that deliberately attacked religion or offended the vast majority of people.
NEA chairman John Frohnmeyer, of course, wanted lots of tax dollars but no accountability. During the funding battle, he said that "I wish all those people who know nothing about art would stay the f___ out of my business."[32] In an editorial letter, Frohnmeyer squawked that
Obscenity to these Republicans means what they don't like. As to blasphemy, the images against which some have taken offense could be described as Christ's taking the sins of the world and the cross as a symbol of man's inhumanity to the Son of God. Those are hardly blasphemous concepts, except perhaps to those seeking offense.[33]
As if Frohnmeyer, a political appointee, knew anything about art!
When the debate over NEA funding hit the House floor, conservative Congressmen tried to display Robert Mapplethorpe's perverted images so that they would be broadcast on C-SPAN's live coverage, but Speaker Tom Foley forbade such a showing, allegedly because it would cause "public outrage."[28]
In other words, the Neoliberals were forcing the public to fund material that was literally too filthy for them to see.
When the battle was over, even a minimal Congressionally-approved statute that required the NEA to consider "general standards of decency" was challenged in court by the National Association of Artists' Organizations and four performers whose obscene grant applications were rejected by the NEA in 1990. These 'artists' were Karen Finley, Holly Hughes, John Fleck and Tim Miller. Predictably, the organization handling the lawsuit was the American Civil Liberties Union.[34]
One of the issues stressed during the Congressional hearings was that the NEA peer review panels are a textbook example of conflict of interest. Panel members rubberstamp certain applications for funding and award each other sizable grants. There is no wonder that artists are struggling to get appointed to these panels; once they do, they have a meal ticket for life!
This is one of the primary reasons that the NEA funds so many offensive works of 'art.'
For example, Karen Finley's "partner," Jerry Hunt, sat on the panel that recommended them both for a $25,000 grant. Holly Hughes, who does a solo act about lesbian desire involving unprintable language and blasphemous imagery about Jesus, had her friend and associate Ellen Sebastian give her $15,000 in 1991.
Janet Kardon, director of the Philadelphia Institute of Contemporary Art, sat on the same panels that awarded her institution $155,000, including $30,000 for the controversial Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition.
William Olander, curator of the New York's New Museum of Contemporary Art, sat on panels that gave his Museum $97,000. Gary Young, Director of the Connecticut Commission on Art, sat on panels that gave his institution $374,000.
A New York Times art critic called this "... the buddy system: You give me a grant, I give you a grant."[28]
Despite all of this evidence, Neoliberal congressmen allowed the NEA funding process to remain intact. It seems that ethics are applicable to everyone except congressmen and the 'art' community or whatever pet issue those in power want to protect.
During the hearings, several experts pointed out that the NEA often rejects religious art purely because of its content, holding such art to a much higher standard than the crude trash often submitted by sodomites.
Frederick Hart's "Creation Sculptures," which are vividly lifelike figures that now adorn the Washington National Cathedral, were rejected by the NEA because they were "not art." Hart had previously designed the Three Soldiers for the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial, the second-most visited site in Washington after the Lincoln Memorial.
Several painters whose works were so lifelike they were often confused with photographs were turned down by the NEA because they were "too representational." These artists include Richard Lack ("Scherzo"), and Stephen Gjertson, ("Peace, Be Still;" "After the Bath;" and "The Recorder Lesson").
Public Opinion On Arts Funding.
Robert O'Neill, founding director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, conducted a public opinion poll in June of 1990. The primary question asked if artists had the right to produce "offensive" works of art.
Only 24 percent of the 1,500 respondents agreed that there should be restrictions on arts funding, while 74 percent agreed that artists should be able to produce such works if not tax-funded.[35]
Of course, anyone making money from the arts tends to demand that they be supported by the public. Garrison Keillor, author of A Prairie Home Companion, said that
The Endowment made the mistake of embarrassing itself on 20 occasions, and I wish it would do so more often. I don't regard those 20 'controversial' pieces as errors. I wish there were more 30 to 50 at least. The lesser number is testimony to how timid and repressed the arts are.[36]
But They're Not All Bad ...
Despite their propensity for funding this type of idiocy, we perhaps shouldn't come down too hard on the NEA. Just a quick look at some of the garbage the agency has recently refused to fund shows that its personnel possess at least a small vestige of judgment and good taste. Either that, or the cascade of garbage they review in funding requests is so vast that they simply cannot fund all of it.
After Congress refused to place restrictions on the "artistic content" of NEA-funded works, a few "artists" gleefully thought that they could literally get away with anything.
But these "artists" were outraged when NEA turned down the following applications for funding in mid-1990. They sniveled that America is retreating into a "sewer of censorship and Stalinistic art;"[37]
• John Fleck of Los Angeles, who 'one-ups' Andres Sorrano by urinating on a picture of Jesus in a toilet bowl. When a writer from the Washington Post asked him why it was art, he replied "Because art professionals say it is. I've got a pile of reviews saying how wonderful I am."[28] Fleck called his 'performance art' "Blessed Are All the Little Fishes."[38]
• Karen Finley of Nyack, New York, who strips naked and then coats her body with chocolate (representing feces) and bean sprouts (representing sperm). Then she rubs yams across her vagina. She states that this "show" advances her strong feminist outlook. She often states her wish to see 9-year old boys cut off their father's testicles and eat them, and says that she would love to personally castrate Wall Street traders with a knife.[39] The NEA review panel applauded her "act" as "courageous and candid."
• Holly Hughes of New York City, who allegedly "advances the cause of lesbianism" by shoving her hand up her vagina and announcing that she saw "Jesus between my mother's lips." One of her dreams is to "arrange a giant quartz-and-steel vagina in [New York's] Federal Plaza that would topple the military." Hughes did not explain the mechanism by which her 'mega-vagina' would destroy the armed forces.
Insanity in the 'Arts?'
Mass democracy, mass morality and the mass media thrive independently of the individual, who joins them at a cost of at least a partial perversion of his instinct and insights. He pays for his social ease with what used to be called his soul, his discriminations, his uniqueness, his psychic energy, his self.
British writer and poet Al Alvarez.[4]
Introduction.
Some of the material circulating in the 'artistic' community thrusts the activist Christian beyond mere shock and outrage to simple amazement that anyone would waste their time in such pursuits. Much of this material is so extreme that is cannot be taken seriously; because of its nature, it simply possesses an air of ephemeral unreality.
The 'artwork' vomited out by some people appears to embody the pointless, agonized shrieks of souls who suspect that they are damned and are determined to drag as many others down with them as they can.
Atrocities masquerading as "art" sometimes force normal people to wonder whether or not the 'performers' are literally insane. The 'artists' rant and scream senselessly about social issues and then turn out 'works' that do nothing but sow confusion and pity. Their semi-illiterate explanations do nothing to cut the inky blackness surrounding their tortured personalities and 'art.'
Of course, almost all of the sexually-oriented "art" that is produced today is committed by sodomites. Anyone who has attended an "avant-garde" art show will immediately notice that almost all of the "artwork" that features explicitly sexual themes are done by homosexuals. This is not surprising, in that homosexuals are literally addicted to their perversions. Sodomy and other sick sex acts are the center of their existence.
A description of homosexuality as sexual addiction is contained in Chapter 116, "Homosexual Orientation."
A Sick Accomplishment.
Such sick and savage 'artwork' does accomplish one very important Neoliberal goal.
Every gradeschooler who has spent any time in the school yard knows that anyone who will not fight back is cowardly and a prime target for abuse and ridicule. Every child also knows that a big kid who takes such abuse without complaint can make a smaller kid look like a hero when he bullies the larger child.
Deliberately blasphemous 'artwork' has one very deleterious effect upon many Christian activists, and upon the Church in general. When Jesus Christ can be ridiculed and blasphemed in such an extreme manner with impunity, it says a lot about the lack of courage of Christians in general. They have been intimidated into passively accepting or ignoring the most outrageous sacrileges imaginable for fear of incurring government and ACLU wrath and being labeled as "censors," "intolerant," or "backward."
And so, such 'artists' help to undermine Christian faith, courage, and credibility in the public eye all of which are commodities that we have too little of already.
This has been admitted by numerous Neoliberals, among them those Neofeminists who wrote The Document: Declaration of Feminism in 1970. The authors of this little booklet declared that "The development of art is a vital part of any revolution."[40]
Especially a sexual or moral revolution.
It's about time that the 'big kid' in the schoolyard bloodies the noses of a few bullies. It is obvious that the self-style "revolutionary artists" are only willing to "revolt" for as long as they remain comfortable.
Writer and critic Keith Stimely hit the nail on the head when he said that
My misunderstood essay on "Aesthetic Terrorism" wasn't really a wish for art-as-criminality; it was a slap at the so-called subversive artists who are the underground darlings, who aren't subversive one bit. Since when is it subversive to sound off against men and things male-ish? Since when is it subversive to declaim against racism? And against Eurocentric culture? And to be foursquare in favor of every pietous liberal sentiment? Since when is it subversive to create absurdities of ugliness and slap the label "art" on them? Hell, all these viewpoints are the national secular religion! Codified, instilled, and enforced by every government agency and all "responsible" media check it out![41]
Some examples of the insane gibberish masquerading as art are described in the following paragraphs.
Karen Finley.
Karen Finley (the 'artist' who performs with her more talented companions, the yams) described one of her 'works' as
... including some wonderful queer material, both written text and visual art, among them a painting of 'God the Homosexual' which depicts John the Baptist and two of Jesus' apostles as you guessed it gay. In the painting the men are sucking each other's c_cks. I did the drawing after the Helms thing. There's a strong possibility, if you wanna look at Jesus as a prophet, there's a strong possibility that Jesus was Gay. Another painting depicts the Virgin Mary and proclaims 'The Virgin Mary is Pro-Choice.' The angel asked Mary if she wanted the child and she said, 'yes.' That's choice.[42]
Roehl's "Barbecue."
Richard Ralph Roehl sent the American Family Association a picture of a crucifix surrounded by the letters 'SEX.' His accompanying letter described the 'work' (funded by your tax dollars) as follows. Keep in mind that the deliberate misspellings of words including the syllable "cum" refer to semen.
The red, white and blue theme of this piece reveals the immense struggle between the perverse sexual urges of simple minded christians and their desperate attempts to hide the calling of their animal 'whore-moans.' The painting manifests the liberation of the 'naked whiteman' from his 'cross' and surrounded by red hot SEX. Jesus becums a very tasty morsel for the 'devils' fork'... his body and blood ready to be consumed at the cannibalistic and barbaric barbecue ceremony of 'Holy Cummunion.'
"Barbecue" was financed by a full artist fellowship given to the Artist from the National Endowment for the Arts in the 1980s. He had a good time spending the taxpayers money. Thank you!
Richard Ralph Roehl, Anartist.[42]
Wellman's "Sincerity."
Playwright Mac Wellman's "Sincerity Forever" was one of the shrieks of protest directed against Jesse Helm's efforts to curtail coercive taxpayer funding of pornography. He dedicated it to "Jesse and the Wildman."
One of the players is Jesus H. Christ, who babbles
America, you got your eyes open so wide you can't see a f___ing thing. America, you're crazy if you think your f___ing, milksop, harebrained Christianity has anything whatsoever to do with Jesus H. Christ ... What the f___ do I care who f___s with who? They [sic] f___ing is they [sic] own concern; and may they use it wisely, and well. Furthermore, whoever puts words in my mouth, he too f___s with me in the abstrack [sic] sense ... I mean, the handle's on your side, I always say and if you don't want to see that, tough sh_t, it's your problem and none of mine. Face it, you [sic] a sleazy, lying, conniving bunch of sh_theads. If you f___ up, it's your fault, not mine ...
Yet More Contradictions.
One of the exhibits at the "Third Annual Lavender Art & Craft Exhibition: Contradictions" was a bronze statue entitled "The Fundamentalist Dream Girl." The show's brochure describes it as "The Fundamentalist Dream Girl rests on her back, legs spread wide, intimate parts open for inspection and easy access. The girl's vagina has been sewn together with silvery metal thread."
Vaginas for Dinner.
In the midst of severe budget cuts, the University of the District of Columbia proposed payment of $1.6 million for a "work of art" by Judy Chicago. This particular atrocity was entitled "The Dinner Party: A Symbol of Our Heritage," and consisted of a triangle-shaped banquet table, some 140 feet long, set with 39 places, each representing a "great woman of the past."[30]
Each plate contained of a stylized sculpture of a vagina.
Certainly Not the Bible.
The only reason that writers have been mocking and degrading Christianity longer that television producers is that the written word has been in existence for a much longer period of time. In all areas of media expression, there are protected religious groups and then, in a separate unprotected category, there is Christianity.
Since there is no Federal Communications Commission looking over the shoulders of writers for evidence of hate crimes, their attacks on Christianity can be overt and offensive in the extreme, and any objection whatever can be labeled an assault on free speech, artistic expression, and the First Amendment.
For example, the entire book Not the Bible, written by Sean Kelly and Tony Hendra and published by Random House, is a parody of Scripture, and mocks its principles in the most hideous ways imaginable. One typical passage is a song entitled "The Book of Psongs," set to the lyrics of "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus," and reads as shown below.
"THE BOOK OF PSONGS"
O bloody bloody Jesus, I love your blood so red,
I love the bloody corpuscles streaming from your head;
O bloody bloody Jesus, I love thy crimson tide,
I love the bloody Roman spear that got stuck in your side;
O rare and bloody Jesus, I love thy hands that bled,
I love the nails that pierced them O Jesus red and dead;
I'd love to drink the blood O Lord that drips from off thy feet,
and wash my hands and brush my teeth O Lord would that be sweet!
O bloody bloody Jesus, I love thy blood so red;
I loved you when you were alive, but I love you better dead!
Reference. "Random House Likes Jesus Dead." National Federation for Decency Journal, May 1984, page 3.
Book of the Damned.
Another particularly extreme example of public and overt Christian-bashing is a bizarre compendium of zombie-horror stories entitled Book of the Dead and edited by John Skipp and Craig Spector in 1988. This book, and others just like it, are instructive merely because their extreme anti-Christian (and pornographic) language can be found in any bookstore and in any supermarket book section.
In the Book of the Dead, Joe Lansdale's "On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert With Dead Folks" features a Catholic nun and monk who oversee a tawdry 'city of the dead' in a desert. The main attraction of this city is a five-story high statue of Jesus, equipped with a ten-foot long erect and spotlighted penis.
The grossly obese monk is described as having body odor like "stale sweat, cheesy balls and an unwiped asshole," and has injected his nose with a virus, causing it to rot (this act is supposedly penance for his sins). The nun is dressed in a very abbreviated habit that would be more appropriate garb for a prostitute.
The monk and the nun kidnap two live drifters, Wayne and Calhoun, and a breathtakingly vile conversation commences;
"What order are you?" Wayne asked.
"Jesus Loved Mary," the nun said.
"His mama?" Wayne said.
"Mary Magdalene. We think he f___ed her. They were lovers. There's evidence in the scriptures. She was a harlot and we have modeled ourselves on her. She gave up that life and became a harlot for Jesus."
"Hate to break it to you, sister," Calhoun said, "but that do-gooder Jesus is as dead as a post ..."
"Thanks for the news," the nun said. "But we don't f___ him in person. We f___ him in spirit. We let the spirit enter into men so they may take us in the fashion Jesus took Mary." "No sh_t?"
"No sh_t."
" ... why don't you shuck them drawers, honey, throw back in that seat there and let ole Calhoun give you a big load of Jesus ... I can get religion at a moment's notice. I dearly love to f___. I've f___ed everything I could get my hands on but a parakeet, and I'd have f___ed that little b__ch if I could have found the hole."
Believe it or not, the more offensive portions of the above conversation have been omitted!
This book included several other stories about priests and ministers gathering up zombies solely for the purpose of abusing and exploiting them. This book was available on any supermarket bookshelf, and is not at all atypical of the type of Christophobic attitude currently prevalent among American novelists.
Aborted Babies As 'Art.'
Nothing is sacred or of intrinsic value to the kind of 'artist' described above. They mock and abuse religion, the act of sex, tradition, and the human body both living and dead.
It is therefore no surprise that some sick individuals would eventually turn their attention to aborted preborn babies.
Several artists during the time period 1985 to 1990 "created" earrings and other forms of adornment that featured small preborn babies encased in plastic or plexiglass. These "works" were widely praised by art critics.
As described above, the "Degenerate Art Show" received a $500 NEA subgrant from "Artist Space,"and featured Shawn Eichman's "Alchemy Cabinet," which displayed her own dismembered second-trimester aborted baby next to the obligatory twisted wire coat hanger.
National Council on the Arts member Jacob Neusner proposed that the NEA adopt language prohibiting the funding of works of art that "utilize any part of an actual human embryo or fetus." He was basically laughed at, and his proposal was defeated by the lopsided score of 10 to 2. Three Council members confided to him that "You can make beautiful earrings out of pieces of fetuses."[43]
Canadian sculptor Rick Gibson was fined the by a London Court for "outraging public decency." He had displayed his earrings made of fetal skulls at an art gallery owned by Peter Sylveire until police seized the exhibit. Sylveire was fined $612, and Gibson was fined $850.[44]
At least the British have some restraint in their artistic expression. 'Art' without some form of discipline is, after all, no art at all.
Do It Please!
'Performer' G.G. Allin got out of prison after serving a term for imprisoning and torturing his 'girlfriend,' and then went on the 'punk rock' tour. His 'performances' are more like riots, as he inserts his microphone up his rectum, defecates on the stage and eats it, cuts himself and rubs feces into the wounds, and performs sex acts with his own brother. His 'songs' include "Expose Yourself to Kids." His 'band' is named "The Murder Junkies." One of the reasons that he pulls big crowds is that he has promised to commit suicide during one of his "acts."[45]
Dreary Predictability.
It is curious that all of the pornographic 'artists' and writers in this country apparently without exception appear to have unhealthy and violent fixations on various perverted sex acts. Perhaps this is because they are sexually dysfunctional themselves, and they have to express their sexuality through other mediums.
Their 'art' is drearily monotonous and depressingly predictable in the extreme because it has only two major themes: A vicious hatred of Christianity and a morbid preoccupation with perverted sexual acts. This is very revealing to anyone with a background in psychology or psychiatry.
Once again, we see pitiful people crying out against God as they feel the terrible tension within themselves that springs from resisting His gentle but persistent call.
Music and Madness.
Shoot up heroin, I don't care.
Do it, have fun, it's your life!
Motley Crue.[46]
Introduction.
Music is a specialized art form that can distill and concentrate feelings and emotions powerfully because it utilizes two mediums simultaneously: Words and coherent sounds. The Greek philosopher Aristotle once said that "Music has the power to form character." If he was correct in his assessment, the United States is in deep trouble indeed.
In our country, certain types of music are being used to promote violence, sadism, Satanism, and suicide. Unfortunately, this music is directed towards the most impressionable segment of our population.
The most extreme and violent music goes by several names: "Death Metal," "Black Metal," "Snuff Metal," and "Trash Metal." Whatever the name, the show is the same. 'Performers' frequently gash themselves with razors and drink each other's blood; urinate on the audience; kill and mutilate small animals; whip audiences into a frenzy with hateful lyrics; and mock and ridicule all religion and authority.
Themes of the Music.
The themes promoted by 'metal' groups include literally any activity that is violent, sexual in nature, or destructive to society.
Some of these themes, along with the groups and songs that promote them, are shown below.
EXAMPLES OF THEMES PROMOTED BY HARD-ROCK GROUPS
Forced oral sex
"Eat Me Alive," by Judas Priest
Masturbation
"I F___ Like a Beast," WASP (We Are Sexual Perverts)
Anarchy and violence
"F___ the Police," N.W.A. (Niggers With Attitude)
"We're Not Gonna Take It," Twisted Sister
Incest
"Sister," Prince
Sodomy
"Sex," Ice-T
"Me So Horny," 2 Live Crew
Sex with the dead
"Necrophiliac," Slayer
Sado-masochism
"Golden Shower," Mentors
"Leatherbound," B__ch
"Dungeon of Pleasure," Nasty Savage
Rape
"She Likes it Rough," Thrasher
Suicide
"Don't Fear the Reaper," Blue Oyster Cult
"Suicide's an Alternative," Suicidal Tendencies
"Killing Yourself to Life," Black Sabbath
"Fly to the Rainbow," Scorpions
"Fade to Black," Metallica
Prostitution
"The Trash Queen," Wrath Child
Lesbianism
"Ball Crusher," WASP
Satanism
"Altar of Sacrifice," Slayer
"Possessed," Venom
"The Number of the Beast, Iron Maiden
"Disciples of Hell," Malsteen
"Burn in Hell," Twisted Sister
Murder
"I Kill Children," The Dead Kennedys
"Bodily Dismemberment," Rigor Mortis
"Kill for Pleasure," Blood Feast
Reference. Thomas L. Jipping, J.D. "Filthy Music: It is Time for the Public to Speak Out." American Family Association Journal, May 1990, page 11.
Those people who present themselves as 'anti-censorship' crusaders invariably sneer that there is no causal connection between violent rock lyrics and violent activity. But the average American teen listens to this type of music for an average of up to five hours a day. One study found that 90 percent of 'black metal' fans knew all the words to their favorite songs and 60% agree all the time or often with those words.[47]
There is simply no way that such music cannot lead to increased violent activity, as described in the following paragraphs.
Satan's Tools.
Among many other groups, Twisted Sister, Ozzy Osborne, Judas Priest, Motley Crue, and KISS ('Knights in Satan's Service') sing the praises of Satan. This type of music has been verified as a contributing factor in ritual murders in New York, Washington, California, and other states. At least one mass murderer, Richard Ramirez, stylized by the press as Los Angeles' infamous "Night Stalker," was obsessed with Satan and the music of the group AC/DC.[48]
Suicide Solution.
Anything goes with today's rock music. It is amoral, valueless, and advocates any activity that benefits the participant on a momentary basis. Under all is a nihilistic worldview, relentlessly urging the listener to discount the value of everything including his own life. The basic message is that the situation is hopeless, there is nothing you can do about it, and nothing at all has any lasting value.
Some lyrics from recent popular albums are shown in Figure 136-1.
FIGURE 136-1
TYPICAL SUICIDAL HARD-ROCK LYRICS
B-1 bombers in flight,
Trident missiles in the air,
MX missiles underground,
Protect us till we're dead ...
Mass starvation,
Contaminated water,
Destroyed cities, mutilated bodies.
I'll kill myself. I'd rather die.
If you could see the future,
You'd know why.
Suicidal Tendencies, "Me0mories of Tomorrow."
Think I'll buy a forty-five;
Give 'em all a surprise.
Think I'm gonna kill myself,
Cause a little suicide.
Elton John, "I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself," Honky Chateau.
Father forgive me
for I know not what I do;
I tried everything
Now I'll leave it up to you
I don't want to live
I don't know why.
I don't have no reasons,
I just want to die.
Suicidal Tendencies, "Suicidal Failure."
Sick of people no one real:
Sick of chicks they're all b__ches;
Sick of you you're too hip;
Sick of life it sucks ...
Sick of life it sucks;
Sick and tired and no one cares;
Sick of myself don't wanna live;
Sick of living gonna die.
Suicidal Tendencies, "Suicide's an Alternative/You'll Be Sorry."
Life it seems, will fade away;
Drifting further every day.
Getting lost within myself;
Nothing matters, no one else
I have lost the will to live
Simply nothing more to give
There is nothing more for me
Need the end to set me free.
Metallica, "Fade to Black," Ride the Lightning.
Breaking laws, knocking doors
But there's no one at home
Made your bed, rest your head
But you lie there and moan
Where to hide,
Suicide is the only way out
Don't you know what it's really about?
Ozzy Ozbourne, "Suicide Solution."
Reference: All of these excerpts are quoted in Tipper Gore. "Merchants of Death: Touting Teen Suicide." National Federation for Decency Journal, September 1987, pages 11 to 14.
These lyrics, with their utterly hopeless message, carry too persuasive a message for those young people who are already under intolerable pressure. Teenagers, who are probably the most pressured people of all, can simply become transfixed by the idea of suicide's quick and easy "solution."
Father Morton Hill (co-author of the Hill-Link Minority Report on Pornography), aptly called rock videos a "flash of Hell."[49]
The consequences wrought by the combination of depressed teenagers and suicidal lyrics are plentiful, tragic, and inevitable;
• 16-year old John McCollum of Indio, California shot himself in the head with a large-caliber handgun. His body had headphones on and his tape player was endlessly repeating Ozzie Ozbourne's "Suicide Solution."[50]
• 16-year old Dennis Bartts of Center Point, Texas went to a football field and listened to AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" on his cassette tape player. He then told a friend that he "planned to meet Satan," and hung himself from the goalposts that night.[50]
• 16-year old Steve Boucher of Colorado was obsessed with AC/DC's songs, in particular "Shoot to Thrill." In 1987, he put a gun to his head and blew his brains out. He was sitting under a large poster of the black metal group at the time.[41]
• 18-year old Philip Morton of Delafield, Wisconsin hanged himself from a closet door in February of 1986. A human skull and burning candle stood on the floor beneath him. He had been continuously playing a tape of the Pink Floyd album "The Wall," which features songs entitled "Waiting for the Worms" and "Goodbye, Cruel World."[50]
Sex, Drugs, and Hard Rock.
Self-styled music fans and civil libertarians sneer at those who believe that the current crop of 'music' might have deleterious effects upon young children.
These are the same 'intellectuals' who apparently believe that Bibles in classrooms will have a negative effect on school kids. How can a person say with a straight face that a Bible will have a negative effect, and then turn around and say that lyrics like those in Figure 136-1 will have little or no effect?
Prince, considered to be the top rock musician of the late 1980s, frequently 'masturbates' his guitar on stage until it ejaculates white liquid. In his three-minute song, "Erotic City," he uses the word "f___" 17 times.
In his song "Sister," on the album "Dirty Mind," he whispers the lyrics;
I was only 16, I guess that's no excuse
My sister was 32, lovely and loose
My sister never made love to anyone else but me
Incest is everything it's said to be.
Inspiration for Violence.
Music makes us feel romantic; it inspires patriotic fervor in us; it makes us feel happy or sad; and yet, some out-of-touch dreamers believe that it cannot compel some unbalanced teenagers to think seriously about committing suicide or rape and murder.
Although it is certainly not unique, 2 Live Crew's song "Me So Horny" in the album "As Nasty As They Wanna Be" was the center of a publicity storm and obscenity trial in 1990. What is significant here is not just the lyrics of a single song, but the attitude of an entire genre of music and its relationship to concrete acts.
Some excerpts from 2 Live Crew's song are shown below.
EXCERPTS FROM 2 LIVE CREW'S 'ME SO HORNY'
To have her walkin' funny we try to abuse it
...
This album contains the word "f___" 226 times, the word "b__ch" 163 times, and contains references to genitals 117 times. This means that the album contained a total of 506 obscenities, or one every nine seconds.[49]
Even before the first conservative voice was raised in protest, the major media went to the defense of this album. The same people who snivel about rape and the stereotyping and victimization of women applauded and defended this type of garbage as "provocative," "challenging," "controversial," "outrageous," and "explicit."
There were also numerous knee-jerk statements of support made by anarchistic 'artists' who had not even bothered to think about the issue. Typical among these was 'singer' Sinead O'Connor, who whined that "I have immense admiration for 2 Live Crew. I think that what they've been subjected to is disgraceful, utter racism."[51]
Of course, 2 Live Crew are not the only rap group who spews hate-filled terroristic lyrics. Niggaz4Life's 1989 album entitled "Straight Outta Compton" included a song called "F___ tha Police," which ended with the final verse "When I finish, there's gonna be a bloodbath/Of cops dyin' in L.A."[52]
There was another 'censorship' battle over this album, with the self-styled "First Amendment defenders" desperately attempting to hold off the "attacks of the religious Right." In this case, the "defenders" deemed freedom of expression much more important than the lives of a few insignificant cops who might die because some gang members and other nutcases would be unduly influenced by Niggaz4Life's lyrics.
After they defend songs like those described above, all of the 'progressives' scratch their heads and wonder why 'wilding' happens, as when a gang of black kids raped a female jogger and beat her with bricks in Central park in April 1989. Said one of the rapists, "It was something to do. It was fun."
The New York Times editorialized that "The history of music is the story of innovative, even outrageous styles that interacted, adapted, and became mainstream."[50] Some people rather wonder what kind of world we will have if "Me So Horny" does become "mainstream."
Steve Bates, executive director of the South Carolina ACLU, which filed suit to challenge a ban on sales of 2 Live Crew's album, declared that the record " ... has significant literary, artistic, and political values that reflect the African and Afro-American heritage of a large segment of our population."[53]
2 Live Crew inevitably spawned a large number of copycat groups, including N.W.A. (Niggers With Attitude), whose album Niggers 4 Life included the song "One Less B__ch," an account of raping and murdering the wife of a district attorney.
The only "large segment" of the population that these albums represent is rapists, perhaps. We should ask Black Americans if they want to be identified with this type of song, and whether or not the lyrics add to the already serious problem of stereotyping young Black men as violent, oversexed, sadistic criminals.
References: Pornography in the Mass Media.
[1] Oswald Spengler. The Decline of the West. Quoted by John W. Whitehead. The Stealing of America. Westchester, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1983, page 1.
[2] "CBS News Head Puts It Bluntly." National Federation for Decency Journal, July/August 1985, page 16.
[3] Christopher Knopf, former president of the American Writers Guild, quoted in William Lambdin. Doublespeak Dictionary. Los Angeles: Pinnacle Books, 1979, Page 277.
[4] Quotes are from Jonathon Green. The Cynic's Lexicon. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1984, 220 pages.
[5] Malcolm Muggeridge. Christ and the Media. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1977. Page 82.
[6] "TV Violence Leaves Kids Unable to Grasp Pretend Attacks, Out of Control." American Family Association Journal, January 1988, page 3.
[7] Senator Gordon Humphrey (R-NH). "Moral Values Central Issue in Presidential Race." National Federation for Decency Journal, November/December 1987, page 10.
[8] Laureen Lazarovici. "Should We Call It a Girlcott?" Willamette Week (Portland, Oregon), December 13-19, 1990.
[9] "Man Sees Rambo, Kills 4-Year Old." National Federation for Decency Journal, April 1986, pages 1 and 22.
[10] "Movie Imitated, Man Dies." National Federation for Decency Journal, April 1987, page 13.
[11] D. James Kennedy, Ph.D. "Christianity and the Media." National Federation for Decency Journal, May/June 1986, pages 13 to 15.
[12] "Mass Killer Fed Mind With Violent, Porn Magazines." National Federation for Decency Journal, October 1986, page 6.
[13] "Sex Offender Cites Porn Use." National Federation for Decency Journal, November/December 1986, page 2.
[14] As described in an October 1991 Focus on the Family letter.
[15] Luke Hill. "Research Says Rising Murder Rate Related to TV." American Family Association Journal, May 1989, page 3.
[16] "TV Violence Does Cause Violence." National Federation for Decency Journal, March 1986, page 15.
[17] Mark Masters and David Kupelian. "Sneak Attack on America's Culture." New Dimensions Magazine, June 1991, pages 16 to 21.
[18] Don Simpson, producer of "Flashdance" and "An Officer and a Gentleman." Quoted in The Wall Street Journal and in "Lincoln Wasn't Pro-Choice," Conservative Digest, February 1985, page 35.
[19] Patrick J. Buchanan. "Jesse and the Yahoos." The Wanderer, August 17, 1989, page 5.
[20] USA Today, April 26, 1989, page D1.
[21] National Catholic Register, July 30, 1989, page 4.
[22] Robert M. Andrews. "Poll: Free Speech Not Same For All." The Oregonian, September 15, 1990, page A10.
[23] Patrick J. Buchanan. "The Lost War For America's Culture?" The Wanderer, June 1, 1989, page 8.
[24] The Oregonian, July 28, 1989, page D1. Also see Joseph Sobran. "O Ye of Little Faith." The Wanderer, July 6, 1989, page 5.
[25] As described in the National Catholic Register, July 9, 1989, page 1.
[26] Extreme left-wing actor Ed Asner, quoted in Off the Record, October 14, 1990, and in Mark Masters and David Kupelian. "Sneak Attack on America's Culture." New Dimensions Magazine, June 1991, pages 16 to 21.
[27] The Oregonian, March 28, 1990, page D8.
[28] "So That's Where Our Tax Money Goes!" The Phyllis Schlafly Report, January 1991.
[29] "NEA Continues to Fund Pro-Homosexual, Anti-Christian 'Art' With Tax Dollars." American Family Association Journal, September 1991, pages 1 and 22.
[30] "123 Congressmen Vote to Support NEA On $1.6 Million Funding of Obscene Art." American Family Association Journal, September 13, 1990, page 13. Also see Short Endings. "Higher Education?" Fidelity Magazine, October 1990, page 21.
[31] As described in "Some Controversial NEA-Funded Works." New Dimensions Magazine, June 1991, page 30.
[32] National Endowment for the Arts Chairman John Frohnmeyer, quoted in the Washington Post, March 11, 1991. Also see "NEA Chairman Tells Critics to Stay Away." American Family Association Journal, May 1991, page 4.
[33] John Frohnmeyer. "Creative Freedom Threatened By GOP." The Oregonian, October 21, 1992, page B5.
[34] Robert M. Andrews. "Artists Sue Over Decency Standard." The Oregonian, March 19, 1991, page A7.
[35] The American Spectator, February 1990, page 51.
[36] Alan K. Ota. "Arts Endowment Chief Fights Back." The Oregonian, March 30, 1990, page A16.
[37] David Gergen. "Who Should Pay for Porn?" U.S. News and World Report, July 30, 1990, page 80.
[38] "NEA Funds 'Artist' Urinating on Photo of Christ." American Family Association Journal, August 1990, pages 1 and 23.
[39] C.H. "Max" Freedman. "Hatchet-Job on Wildmon Shows Moral Bankruptcy of His Foes." American Family Association Journal, October 1990, page 12.
[40] The Document: Declaration of Feminism. Originally distributed by Nancy Lehmann and Helen Sullinger of Post Office Box 7064, Powderhorn Station, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55407.
[41] Keith Stimely. "Meet the Apocalypse Man: Quotations from Chairman Parfrey." PDXS (Portland, Oregon), March 2-15, 1992, page 4.
[42] Karen Finley, quoted in the Philadelphia Gay News, April 12-18, 1991, and in "Finley Presents Jesus as a Homosexual and Mary as Pro-Choice." American Family Association Journal, July 1991, page 24.
[43] "Some Praise 'Fetus Earrings:' NEA Council Defeats Commonsense Reforms Inside Washington." Action News (Pro-Life Action League, Chicago), December 1990/January 1991, page 15.
[44] Anti-Life Report. "Gallery Owner, Sculptor Convicted for Display of Fetal Skulls." ALL About Issues, April 1989, page 10.
[45] "Outlaw Scumf___." PDXS [Portland, Oregon], February 17-March 1, 1992, page 13.
[46] Advertisement entitled "Every Parent in America Needs to See This Video!" American Family Association Journal, March 1988, page 7.
[47] Thomas L. Jipping, J.D. "Filthy Music: It is Time for the Public to Speak Out." American Family Association Journal, May 1990, page 11.
[48] "Rock Music Has Influence." National Federation for Decency Journal, November/December 1986, page 16.
[49] "Rock Videos Called 'Flash of Hell.'" National Federation for Decency Journal, June 1984, page 20. Also see National Review, August 6, 1990, page 13.
[50] Tipper Gore. "Merchants of Death: Touting Teen Suicide." American Family Association Journal, September 1987, pages 11 to 14.
[51] George F. Will. "America's Slide Into the Sewer." Newsweek Magazine, July 30, 1990, page 64.
[52] 'Singer' Sinead O'Connor, quoted in Rolling Stone, October 4, 1990, and in Mark Masters and David Kupelian. "Sneak Attack on America's Culture." New Dimensions Magazine, June 1991, pages 16 to 21.
[53] Tim Collins. "Toxic Pop Breaks Into the Mainstream." Focus on the Family Citizen, August 19, 1991, page 9.
[53] "ACLU Challenges Sales Ban on Album." The Oregonian, August 14, 1990, page A12.
Further Reading: Pornography in the Mass Media.
Leo A. Brodeur. Hell's War Against Our Children.
Order from Keep the Faith, 810 Belmont Avenue, Post Office Box 8261, North Haledon, New Jersey 07508, telephone: (201) 423-5395. The author describes the various weapons that Satan uses to target our children, causing them to lose faith, patriotism, respect for their parents, and even their desire to live. Special emphasis is given to Satanic and violent rock music.
National Federation for Decency (American Family Association) Journal.
This biweekly publication is the most comprehensive follower of the various offenses against Christianity committed by the media.
Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican's Pontifical Commission for Social Communications. "Pornography and Violence in the Communications Media: A Pastoral Response."
May 16, 1989 Letter. Available from the Office for Publishing and Promotion Services, U.S. Catholic Conference, 3211 Fourth Street N.E., Washington, D.C., 20017-1194.
United States Government, Surgeon General's Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior. Report on Television Violence and Social Behavior.
5 volumes, 1972. United States Government Printing Office.
Donald E. Wildmon. The Case Against Pornography and The Home Invaders.
Victor Books. Order from the American Family Association, Post Office Drawer 2440, Tupelo, Mississippi 38803, or from Victor Books, Post Office Box 1825, Wheaton, Illinois 60189. Mr. Wildmon, a former pastor and currently Executive Director of the AFA, is the world's most experienced pornography fighter. These books outline his strategies for fighting pornography in general and the violence that permeates television programming. He also shows how you, as a concerned Christian and parent, can fight it too. Mr. Wildmon explains exactly how damaging porn and violence can be when it is allowed to spread unchecked. These are not off-the-wall books; they are heavily documented with convincing evidence.
© American Life League BBS — 1-703-659-7111
This is a chapter of the Pro-Life Activist’s Encyclopedia published by American Life League.
