Family values
by Lori Barrett | April 11, 2008 at 7:26 am
Posted in baltimore news, sex
Marriott International, the worldwide hotel chain based out of Bethesda, is under fire for its in-room amenities.
The American Family Association and several other conservative groups have asked Marriott to stop offering movies with pornographic content to its guests, in an effort toward “promoting the well-being of children and families.”
How far can we take this?
Well, to conform to the AFA’s ideals, the liquor in the mini-bar has got to go, as well as any hotel bar downstairs. Bikinis by the pool? People sharing a bed? Maybe they should just open their own “family-friendly” hotel chain. Wouldn’t that be easier?
Then I clicked through the link and was presented with AFA’s site. Let’s just say that I had no idea Walt Disney World promoted anti-family values. But they do, according to the AFA. A college education, George Clooney, and America’s Next Top Model are also evil. (In all fairness, I’ll give them one of three, although not for the same reason.)
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April 11th, 2008 at 1:57 pm | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
Whatever happened to the right to choose? If people want to go somewhere family friendly there are options. No one is forcing them to stay at a Marriott, or even to rent the adult films. This is just ridiculous in general.
April 11th, 2008 at 8:06 pm | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
I support Marriot's right to offer it's customers the content it chooses. However, it's unfortunate that pornography, and other such worthless pursuits, is often the subject of the rights we most ardently defend in our pursuit of freedoms.
"What's the use of a fine house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?"
Thoreau
Pornography may very well be worthless. But it and other similarly "worthless" pursuits are often the first to be attacked. If we don't defend our freedom to view nudity or smoke cigarettes or drink whiskey, some of us (ok, me) fear a trickle-down effect, in which not only these "immoral" things would be prohibited, but perhaps more basic rights would be regulated (like, having an opinion about anything). Unlikely maybe, but it's happened elsewhere before. --LB
April 12th, 2008 at 8:14 pm | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
One of the great things about living in a free (and free market) country where your basic rights to Life/Liberty/PursuitOfHappiness are (supposedly) guaranteed, is that you can do, think, see, eat, read what you want, w/o fear of reprisal. The flip side is that there is a lot of boneheadedness and stupidity that one has to tolerate, if the ideals of that society are to have any meaning. This why people waste time watching porn or hiring hookers. This is why we have to hear self-absorbed fundamentalists whine about having immorality forced on them by society.
The AFA and others are making themselves out to be put upon by the networks, but it seems to me that far too many of those folks just don't want to do the work of filtering for themselves. This is why I am not passive about what I watch or read; the networks should not be making up your mind for you.
This also seems to be a case of a religious (or religion-based) organization of confusing 'religion' with 'morality'. Or in the case of the AFA, confusing 'family'
with 'religion'. If this Christian organization really wanted to change minds, they should stick to illuminating the contents of the Bible (in its entirety, no cherrypicking allowed) instead of trying to impress their personal choices (which have more to do with sin than the life of Christ)on everyone else. They may not want to admit it, but it is possible to be a good person in life and still take an occasional peek at 'Playboy'.
In a hotel room where the content is PPV, is a 'family' really going to be watching the 'Wet and Wild Amateurs, Vol.2'? Whose in charge of the credit cards, Mom & Dad or the teenage son? Besides, have you seen how much they charge for those movies? Sheesh, you'd be better off bringing a laptop (no puns, please) with you own downloads on it!
The AFA and everyone else should remember that the conditions that allow someone to indulge in watching porn or gambling on horse races are the same conditions that allow someone to believe in God or UFO's, without int