Challenging the Conventional Wisdom

Steve Chapman has an interesting column on the rise in internet pornography as a possible explanation for the drop in rapes. The conventional wisdom circa the 80's takes a hit. Well, that is good news overall. He also notes the rise of another technology, DNA testing, as a deterrent. One other point on the anti-pornography campaign back in the 80's, where feminists and conservatives briefly joined together. (This was a bit before my time, my kids were just babies then):

The campaign fizzled when the courts said the ordinance was an unconstitutional form of "thought control."

This raises another issue for today--hate crime legislation. I happen to think that is also a form of thought control, and should be reversed, something the feminists and the Left should reconsider.

The feminists have reconsidered pornography. They're now allied with pornographers Larry Flynt and Christie Hefner, and the elderly bunch at NOW these days are trying to persuade our kids feminists are hot--how's that for challenging the conventional wisdom. Come on feminists, you can do better than that. Well, probably not.

Do you remember the 90's? A time when obscene internet spam was inescapable and oral sex was a household word, courtesy of our president. Innocence was under assault. When I thought about it, I think I was angry that entire decade.

I do think conservatives' campaign in the 90's for internet filters (feminists and the American Library Association were on the other side, and still are) was appropriate in schools, then and now, and at least in some areas of the public library, given the rise in online sexual predators after kids--and apparently worse:

Among the concerns about blocking explicit material that arose a decade ago was that the technology was too primitive to effectively filter out obscene material while allowing legitimate research on subjects such as breast cancer.

Constant said today's technology is more sophisticated. What's more, the Children's Internet Protection Act enacted by Congress in 2000 requires any school or library that receives federal funding under a program for Internet access or internal connections to have technology to block children from seeing pornographic images.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 2003 rejected a challenge to that law by the American Library Association, which contended it violated First Amendment free-speech rights.

About a year ago, a KGO-TV news crew examining access to pornographic images at Bay Area libraries found evidence of obscene behavior in San Jose's main Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library. The program cited "several arrests for child porn at the library, at least 10 cases of child molestation or other sex crimes involving kids, and several cases of men viewing porn and performing a lewd act, right at the terminal."

Police Sgt. Nick Muyo said Friday that the department "supports any proposal or resolution that makes for a safer and more enjoyable experience for families and children at San Jose city facilities."

And while Chapman cites the stats that rapes are thankfully down here, victimized illegal immigrants are turned into sex slaves in this country and trafficking in women is up around the world. One of the factors contributing to an increase in sex crimes? Abortion, the feminists' preeminent issue.

In Vietnam, 110 boys are born to 100 girls. Even the UN has taken note. Tribune, Bias for boys troubling:

"The consequences are already happening in neighboring countries like China, South Korea and Taiwan. They have to import brides," said Tran Thi Van, assistant country representative of the Population Fund in Hanoi, adding that many brides are coming from Vietnam. "I don't know where Vietnam could import brides from if that situation happened here in the next 10 or 15 years." The report, which looked at China, India, Vietnam and Nepal, warned that tinkering with nature's probabilities could cause increased violence against women, trafficking and social tensions. It predicted a "marriage squeeze," with the poorest men being forced to live as bachelors. Gender imbalance among births has been rising in parts of Asia since the 1980s, after ultrasound and amniocentesis provided a way to determine a fetus' sex early in pregnancy. Despite laws in several countries banning doctors from revealing the baby's sex, many women still find out and choose to abort girls.

Is this what the feminists wanted? More dead girls?

Of course, this also reflects poorer prospects for girls brought up in poorer countries, (but wealthy enough to engage in sex selection) not only in Asia, but in Africa. The Middle East is in a class by itself, routinely brutalizing and murdering women, as well as engaging in sex trafficking. Feminists have contributed to the problem, enabling and exacerbating the mistreatment of women by exporting abortion as an acceptable choice, and cheapening life, especially the life of a girl or woman.

We won't expect feminists to express regret, but we can always hope. We can always hope a few might challenge the conventional wisdom of the regnant liberal elites and give moral wisdom its due.

Playing God in matters of life and death is a risky business with unintended consequences. A certain humility is wise when taking others' lives in your hands, and when in doubt, err on the side of life. Give those girls (and boys) in the womb a chance. Make a real difference and act to save lives. And maybe you could partner with the ALA to put a book in a girl's hands.