No Porn for You

The Christian Right knows what’s best for you.

Which is why when you check into a Marriott hotel, they don’t even want to give you the option of watching porn.

Several conservative groups, including the American Family Association, are asking Marriott International Inc. to stop giving hotel guests the option of ordering pay-per-view movies with strong sexual content.

AFA, based in Tupelo, said 47 “pro-family leaders” have signed a letter asking chain’s chief executive, J.W. Marriott Jr., for a meeting to discuss their concerns.

This article doesn’t even mention the hypocrisy of how a Mormon hotel chain — that offers both a Bible and Book of Mormon in each room — makes plenty of money off those pay-per-view movies.

But that’s another issue.

The conservative groups don’t want to give you the option?

You know, you can always just not watch the movie.

You can always program your room’s TV to not display X-rated options.

You can always call the front desk and have them block the material for you.

None of that’s good enough, though. Apparently, these Christian Right groups don’t believe you have any self-control or willpower.

They just want to control your personal decisions.

Why? Who knows. Perhaps they think you’ll get so bored, you’ll read the Bible in the nightstand drawer.

Maybe the AFA and its ally groups should work on having their own members not use hotels for their own personal trysts.

(via Deep Thoughts)

[tags]atheist, atheism, sex[/tags]

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Derek

Apparently, these Christian Right groups don’t believe you have any self-control or willpower.

Perhaps they are the ones without self-control or willpower and really want the choice taken away from them before they set foot in the hotel.

After all, doesn’t Christianity teach not to place oneself in a position of temptation, and that apart from Jesus people are totally incapable of resisting temptation? It only stands to reason then that Christians cannot in good conscience stay at hotels that offer porn.

Of course, by that reasoning Christians shouldn’t be on the internet, go to the beach, have Cinemax, or rent videos at any shop that has a “restricted” room or section.
Bellesouth

Once I stayed at a Courtyard by Marriott and I actually got free hotel porn! I didn’t even ask for it!

There I was, flipping through the channels as normal on a Sunday morning – church-church-church-church-BJ-chu-WHAT?!

So I tried watching it for a few minutes and it wasn’t even good porn. The hotel didn’t bill me for it either.

Heck, maybe this happened to some Jesus crusader and that’s why they’ve started this campaign.

I sure hope the guy in the room it was intended for got some porn.
Bjorn Watland

I don’t know Song of Solomon is pretty hot, better cut that one out. And Lot’s daughters, whew, don’t drink anything offered by them.
Derek

I don’t know Song of Solomon is pretty hot, better cut that one out. And Lot’s daughters, whew, don’t drink anything offered by them.

Not to mention Poverbs 7:6-21:

6 At the window of my house
I looked down through the lattice.

7 I saw among the simple,
I noticed among the young men,
a youth who had no sense.

8 He was going down the street near her corner,
walking along in the direction of her house

9 at twilight, as the day was fading,
as the dark of night set in.

10 Then out came a woman to meet him,
dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.

11 (She is unruly and defiant,
her feet never stay at home;

12 now in the street, now in the squares,
at every corner she lurks.)

13 She took hold of him and kissed him
and with a brazen face she said:

14 “Today I fulfilled my vows,
and I have food from my fellowship offering at home.

15 So I came out to meet you;
I looked for you and have found you!

16 I have covered my bed
with colored linens from Egypt.

17 I have perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.

18 Come, let’s drink deep of love till morning;
let’s enjoy ourselves with love!

19 My husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey.

20 He took his purse filled with money
and will not be home till full moon.”

21 With persuasive words she led him astray;
she seduced him with her smooth talk.

I used to read that to get aroused in junior high whenever my mom took away my Victoria’s Secret stash.
Joseph R.

Yet another example of xenophobes pushing their morals on the general population.
TXatheist

What I find ironic is one week the fundies are saying the Mormons aren’t christians and then when they want to control people they get the mormon run hotel chain Marriott to work with them in controlling people’s choices. I’d love to see the statistic on hotel rooms rented to Christians and if that room had rented porn.
Masao

Song of Solomon is pretty HOT! Which makes no sense, IMO. Does this mean I can’t see reruns of Prince of Tides with Barbra Streisand? She’s married and she sleeps with another married man who’s not her husband. The man who’s not her husband- his wife is sleeping with someone else. 😆 However, that is not the plot of the movie. It is rated R though, not X, but who knows, the Religious Reich may also take issue with the movies I like.
Mriana

My son is going to kill me. 🙁 Next time I’ll just make him use his screen to post instead of mine or next time pay attention. 😕
cipher

They’re really only interested in freedom of religion, expression, etc. when it benefits them.
rekounas

How about an atheist group get together and lobby to take bibles out of hotels? I would love to do it just for the shits and giggles.
Herb

Perhaps they are the ones without self-control or willpower and really want the choice taken away from them before they set foot in the hotel.

I believe this is right on the money. Conservative communities have high rates of addiction to drugs, alcohol, gambling, porn and other vices, and they see these as primary causes which “destroy families” (rather than as indicators of deeper problems). Thus they want to ban these activities for everyone. It’s not just self-righteousness; it’s also partly desperation.
cipher

How about an atheist group get together and lobby to take bibles out of hotels?

Perhaps someone should write a letter to Marriott requesting this – “We demand equal consideration…” – just to play with their heads and piss off the Christians.
The Ridger

@Masao – there are Christian movie review sites out there that don’t want you to watch a movie that features a husband and wife in the same bed – nothing going on, just in the same bed – if the actors aren’t married to each other.
Ron in Houston

Well, think about it. Probably the primary purchasers of over priced hotel porn are Christian businessmen who can’t watch it at home.

Damn, what is it with Christians and porn anyway?
Mriana

The Ridger said,

April 14, 2008 at 4:38 pm

@Masao – there are Christian movie review sites out there that don’t want you to watch a movie that features a husband and wife in the same bed – nothing going on, just in the same bed – if the actors aren’t married to each other.

Yeah, reruns of “I Love Lucy” and “The Dick Van Dyke” show. 😆
richard

I don’t stay in hotels all that often, but I think that from now on I’ll trade them books. I’ll take their Book of Mormon and Gideon Bible and leave a copy of Sam Harris’ Letter to a Christian Nation in their place.

I wonder if Sam has a bulk discount.
Trouble

This is so typical of the extreme Right! And then they laugh when they’re labeled fascist.

By the way folks, Ben Stein will be on Larry King Live tomorrow (4/15) and I’m sure he’ll be speaking about the “Expelled” movie. I think we should all call in and see if he gets hammered with probing questions to expose him as the hack that he is!
richard

You’re saying Larry King is capable of probing questions and not just fawning incompetence?
julie marie

just before I left church, there was an increasing emphasis on the problem of “porn addiction.” there was even a ministry created to address it, with accountability partners and everything. so maybe this is an expansion of those programs.
Kevin

This reminds me, I didn’t get my daily dose of porn.

On a side note, I love Marriots. They have the only beds that are more comfortable than my own.
Buffy

They don’t want people to have options outside of the few they approve. They want to control everything and everyone. Such is their nature.
Richard Wade

None of that’s good enough, though. Apparently, these Christian Right groups don’t believe you have any self-control or willpower.

They just want to control your personal decisions.

Why?

Because they base their opinions of people in general by using themselves as an example. They base their expectations of people in general by using themselves as a model. Fundies think people are no damn good. That’s because they’re using themselves as a reference.
michael

maybe it’s a covert op by tom cruise and his followers to take some revenue back for the “real film” sect.

is porn a legitimate form of entertainment; maybe anything is if people are wiling to waste their resources on it.
cipher

Fundies think people are no damn good. That’s because they’re using themselves as a reference.

I agree with this, and I think it’s extremely important; it’s the key to understanding them. The history of Christianity has been shaped, largely, by personalities afflicted with pathologically low self-esteem – Augustine, Luther, Calvin, etc. – and it remains a haven for them. Their self-loathing is so profound that the idea that they are born inherently deserving of eternal damnation makes perfect sense to them – to the extent that, when we say we don’t believe it, they insist that we’re denying the obvious; we simply don’t want to believe it. It’s the only rationalization they have. And, of course, they project it onto everyone else – if I’m no damn good, then you’re no damn good, either.

I think there is a kind of “moral imbecility” in evidence. When they ask us, in all sincerity, “If there is no hell, what’s to prevent people from behaving immorally?”, it’s because they fear that, without the threat of damnation, they would behave immorally. (Of course, this is the point at which a Christian chimes in, “Without God, who defines morality?”)

I’ve heard televangelists say, a number of times, that the single greatest obstacle they encounter in “bringing people to Christ” is their conviction that they are so bad that God could never forgive them. And how many times have we heard fundie ministers say, “In your heart, you know you’re a sinner.”? I think this is deeply significant.
Derek

And, of course, they project it onto everyone else – if I’m no damn good, then you’re no damn good, either.

I believe this psychological projection is quite telling. Ever wonder why many churches condemn mainstream therapy and offer their own “Christian” counseling? For free?

(Incidentally, the only reason I’m not getting premarital counseling with my fiancée is because I live in Tennessee and cheap/free nonreligious premarital counseling just doesn’t exist here. This really pisses me off, too, because the state gives you $50 off your marriage license if you complete counseling.)
cipher

Derek,

I just looked it up here:

http://marriage.about.com/cs/marriagelicenses/p/tennessee.htm

It says you can actually save $60 with counseling. There’s a form you have to have the therapist complete. He/she can be a licensed therapist or an “official representative of a religious institution”. Surely there must be a liberal Christian somewhere in Tennessee!

$100 – damn. The most it costs up here in Mass is $50, and that’s in Boston. I think if you go out to the rural parts of the state, it’s still only a few bucks.
Derek

@cipher

It’s been a month since I looked it up, so I was off a by $10. Yeah, maybe we’ll check out a United Methodist church or something. I just really don’t feel like sitting through a few hours of how we have to pray together, attend church, and trust Jesus to avoid a divorce, just to save $60.
cipher

You’re right. Probably isn’t worth it.

I don’t suppose there are any Unitarians in Tenn? We’re loaded with them up here.
Karen

just before I left church, there was an increasing emphasis on the problem of “porn addiction.” there was even a ministry created to address it, with accountability partners and everything. so maybe this is an expansion of those programs.

Yeah, probably so. There was a big emphasis on “porn addiction” in my church also. They called it something like, “Every Man’s Burden.” (I guess they haven’t figured out that there’s a growing industry marketing porn directly to women …)

Dave Dickerson, a former evangelical and a storyteller, did a great segment on This American Life a few years ago (episode 332). As a young man, he took seriously the evangelical teaching that Christians should not entertain any lustful thoughts, or masturbate. As a result, the poor guy was absolutely tormented by lustful thoughts and resulting guilt 24/7 during all his college years.

Finally, he went to a sensible Christian minister who told him to get a couple of magazines and “take care of the situation” whenever necessary. Which of course completely alleviated his fixation. It’s really a wonderful story – both hilarious and poignant, as are all of his tales of his Christian past.
cipher

As a young man, he took seriously the evangelical teaching that Christians should not entertain any lustful thoughts, or masturbate. As a result, the poor guy was absolutely tormented by lustful thoughts and resulting guilt 24/7 during all his college years.

It’s a problem in the Jewish world as well, among the ultra-Orthodox (the black hat and coat crowd). They’re militant about gender segregation, so they’re never properly socialized, and, as a result, they become obsessed with sex – their rabbis are always enacting some new rule or restriction concerning it. A few weeks ago, in New York, they banned a concert that was going to feature an Orthodox singer – nothing salacious; think “Christian rock” – because there was going to be “mixed seating”! It goes on all the time.

Fortunately, our fundies are much smaller in number and don’t, for the most part, get involved in legislation or the political process (outside of Israel), so they’re easier to ignore than their Christian counterparts.
Derek

he took seriously the evangelical teaching that Christians should not entertain any lustful thoughts, or masturbate. As a result, the poor guy was absolutely tormented by lustful thoughts and resulting guilt 24/7 during all his college years.

Finally, he went to a sensible Christian minister who told him to get a couple of magazines and “take care of the situation” whenever necessary. Which of course completely alleviated his fixation.

Oh god, does that sound familiar.

‘Course, I eventually got someone to help me “alleviate” my “fixation”, which is one reason I hang around here nowadays…
Maria

Perhaps they are the ones without self-control or willpower and really want the choice taken away from them before they set foot in the hotel.

I agree. this is so juvenille what they are doing