Obscenity Is ...
Stories
THE FALL OF A SPARROW
AND OTHER EXTENDED ILLUSTRATIONS FOR PROCLAIMERS OF THE WORD
WHAT IS OBSCENITY?
In a televised debate some years ago between a Charlotte, N.C. minister and a lawyer representing a "topless" club, the lawyer posed the above question to the minister. The lawyer then proceeded to answer his own question by using the minister's background as a racecar driver, asserting that violence was more obscene than nudity and that those who paid to watch the races, as well as those who participated in them, were more guilty of obscenity than those who watched or participated in topless nightclub entertainment.
While it is doubtful if such night-club entertainment can be morally justified by such logic, the lawyer certainly raised an important question concerning the definition of obscenity.
Obviously, and in spite of our foolish attempts to clothe everything and everyone with coverings of religious piousness, obscenity is not merely gazing in awe and admiration at the female form - whether clothed or otherwise, although obscenity may well involve nudity, depending on the emphasis given to it.
There are, however, greater obscenities which we often perpetuate with enthusiasm.
Obscenity is - a child living in a crime and rat-infested ghetto.
Obscenity is - a continual quest for increased nuclear power which threatens to destroy the world.
Obscenity is - a system of law which favors the rich and convicts the poor.
Obscenity is - a destructive disease which could be conquered if research funds were available, but which is allowed to continue while millions are wasted on less important ventures.
Obscenity is - the wanton and willful destruction of animal life for reasons of "sport," "luxury," or "convenience."
Obscenity is - pollution of the environment by nuclear wastes, pesticides, chemicals, and tobacco smoke.
Obscenity is - meaningless, destructive wars which are allowed to continue year after year.
Obscenity is - a judge or jury which will give a bank robber twenty years in prison while a child abuser, child pornographer, or drug dealer gets a slap on the wrist.
Obscenity is - poverty, unemployment, hunger, hatred, discrimination, etc., etc., etc.
Obviously the list is endless, but the greatest obscenity of all is our lack of concern for the above obscenities.
For Discussion
1. DO YOU AGREE WITH THE AUTHOR'S DEFINITIONS OF OBSCENITY?
2. ARE THERE OTHER "OBSCENITIES" WHICH YOU MIGHT ADD TO THE LIST?
3. IS YOUR CHURCH INVOLVED IN ANY EFFORTS TO OPPOSE/ELIMINATE ANY OF THE OBSCENITIES MENTIONED BY THE AUTHOR?
4. WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE SOME OF THE ROOT CAUSES OF THE ABOVE OBSCENITIES?
SCRIPTURES FOR CONSIDERATION AND DISCUSSION:
MATTHEW 18:1-18
MATTHEW 19:16-26
MATTHEW 23:1-13
MATTHEW 25:31-46
OH, YES -
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESUS
IT WAS a long time ago. World War II was over and the Korean War was still in the future. When Christmas carolers sang "Peace On Earth," you almost believed it.
Rob and I had been in an Army hospital for many months. We were discharged the same day, and since we were going in the same direction, we decided to travel together. I was driving, and we hadn't gone far when the weakness caused by the many months of inertia caused me to black out, and the car ended up in a ditch. Although the car was badly damaged, we were only shaken up a little and we had the car towed to a garage where we were forced to spend a couple of days awaiting repairs.
Those two days turned into a long nightmare. Rob and I were driven out of restaurants and hotels with taunts, threats, and a few "gentle" admonitions. We spent those days and nights, frustrated and shivering, in the damaged car eating cheese and crackers purchased from a small grocery. There was no room in the restaurants or in the inns for Rob and me - because I was Anglo-Indian, Rob was black - and we were friends.
Today's paper told of a white mob trying to force black couples out of a "white" neighborhood in Philadelphia, and of blacks and whites fighting in South Africa; of fighting in Lebanon and South America; and of continuing battles in Northern Ireland between Catholics and Protestants.
Merry Christmas, Rob. I heard that your son still suffers from the wounds he received in Vietnam. I wish him a Merry Christmas, too.
It was a few years ago, on a Christmas Day. The Kentucky highway was snow-covered and slippery. Suddenly the car in front of me skidded out of control and overturned in a ditch, pinning a young man under the wreckage.
The bank was soon lined with the curious, who stood and watched as the youngster screamed in pain. Many watched - but only a few offered to assist in lifting the car off the boy. And it took those few a long time.
The boy died, but he might have lived - if only others had helped.
Merry Christmas, Kentucky mother. It may not help, but remember that three people helped lift that car - and that may be progress - because only one person helped Christ carry his cross - and he was compelled to do so ...
It was on Christmas Eve. I received a call from a hospital almost a hundred miles distant. The husband of a church member had become ill while driving through the city some days before and was now close to death. The family asked if I could be there.
As I drove, the snow-covered ground glistened with its blanket of white, and carols of cheer came from the car radio. In the hospital, however, there was no cheer. The father and husband died that evening, and the doctor told me: "He could have lived if he and this hospital could have afforded a kidney machine."
I read the other day about a sixteen-year-old who died because his parents could not afford the necessary treatment. The boy needed to be on a kidney machine until a transplant could be arranged, but ...
Today's paper also told of a forty-million dollar rocket on its journey to outer space, and of 144-million dollars spent by U.S. Senators on junk mailings ...
Merry Christmas, widows, grieving mothers, orphans, and hungry people everywhere. But don't cry. After all, don't the politicians promise you a better life tomorrow; and don't the preachers say that Heaven is better than Earth? And while you're here, you can be consoled by welfare, medicare, and Sunday morning promises of the better life to come.
Oh yes, before I forget - a Happy Birthday to you, Jesus. I'm sure you must be getting impatient with us. It's been so long since Bethlehem and Calvary.
And we still have so very far to go ...
For Discussion
1. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT KINDNESS BETWEEN HUMANS IS INCREASING OR DECREASING? GIVE EXAMPLES.
2. THINK ABOUT YOUR OWN KINDNESS/UNKINDNESS. How DO YOU RATE?
3. IN RELATION TO QUESTION 2, WOULD YOU: (A) STOP TO HELP A STRANGER CHANGE A TIRE IF YOU WERE ON YOUR WAY TO A FORMAL DINNER PARTY DRESSED IN A WHITE TUXEDO/EVENING DRESS? (B) TRY TO PULL SOMEONE FROM A BURNING CAR EVEN THOUGH YOU KNEW THERE WAS DANGER OF AN EXPLOSION? (C) ANSWER A PERSONAL CALL FOR HELP FROM A NEIGHBOR WHOM YOU KNEW WAS SERIOUSLY ILL OF AIDS? (D) ACCEPT A DINNER INVITATION FROM A NEW NEIGHBOR WHO HAPPENED TO BE OF ANOTHER RACE/FAITH? (E) STOP YOUR CAR TO HELP AN INJURED ANIMAL WHICH YOU HAD JUST HIT? WHICH THE AUTOMOBILE IN FRONT OF YOU HAD JUST HIT? (F) TAKE THE TIME TO HELP A LITTLE GIRL GET HER CAT OUT OF A TREE, EVEN THOUGH YOU WERE LATE FOR WORK?
SCRIPTURES FOR CONSIDERATION AND DISCUSSION:
LUKE 10:30-37
SQUEAKING WHEELS
ALL OF US complain occasionally. Most of us complain frequently. And some of us complain constantly. We complain about the weather, about politics, about football, about religion, about fundamentalism and liberalism, about the price of everything, and we certainly complain about taxes.
Whatever our complaint, however, justified or not, it is rarely removed by our complaining. The weather keeps changing; the political parties remain unchanging; football teams still win and lose; the fundamentalists still preach about "godless humanism," and the liberal preachers still write newspaper columns. And, taxes remain an annual pain.
Still, the act of complaining seems to alleviate some of our discomforts, whether real or imagined, and it often provides a vent for our mental and physical frustrations. And, for some people, it provides a method of obtaining a little comfort from a sympathetic listener. As the wise old proverbalist, Josh Billings, once said, "The wheel that squeaks the loudest is the one that gets the grease."
Well, I was squeaking pretty loudly the other day. A light rain was falling; my sinuses were acting up; my head was aching; and I thought about the clear, blue skies of New Mexico with a great deal of longing.
And so I grumbled to myself as I entered a university library building and began the climb to the fourth floor. As I reached that floor, a young man on crutches was starting down the stairs.
Twenty minutes later, I went back down the stairs and passed the young man again, just off the first floor landing. It had taken him all that time to descend almost four flights of stairs. His face was flushed and his breathing labored, but he smiled and spoke to me cheerfully.
It was still raining when I got outside. My sinuses were still acting up, and my head still ached. But, for the rest of the day, at least, I didn't grumble about them.
Whether one feels good or bad, a popular song expresses it well:
"Isn't it great just to be feeling?"
For Discussion
1. SHOULD CHRISTIANS COMPLAIN ABOUT MINOR ILLNESSES, ACCIDENTS, DISAPPOINTMENTS, ETC.?
2. DO YOU THINK PEOPLE COMPLAIN TOO MUCH ABOUT TOO LITTLE?
3. DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF A CHRONIC COMPLAINER?
4. DO WE, AS AMERICANS, TAKE OUR FREEDOM FOR GRANTED? HOW?
5. DO WE, AS CHRISTIANS, TAKE OUR FAITH FOR GRANTED? HOW?
6. WHY DO YOU THINK SOME INDIVIDUALS HAVE TO SUFFER MORE THAN OTHERS?
SCRIPTURES FOR CONSIDERATION AND DISCUSSION:
JOHN 9:1-3
2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-7
2 CORINTHIANS 12:10
IT IS EASTER
IT IS EASTER.
It is spring.
It is time to begin the outdoor work: painting, planting, and planning for vacation.
It is Easter. It is time for new Spring outfits.
It is Easter. It is time to get the folding chairs out of the church basement in preparation for the annual nod to God.
It is Easter. It is time to try out some of those new colorful fabrics on the Sunday crowd.
It is Easter. Oh, Lord, it's time for another one of those early morning sunrise services. At six a.m. yet!
It is Easter. Time for the egg hunts, painted chickens, and phony green grass strewn all over the house.
It is Easter. The time when rabbits become abnormal and begin laying eggs - complete with names, fancy designs, and technicolor.
It is Easter. Time to pick up a few flowers for the church and a box of candy with cellophane Easter greetings on it for the wife.
It is Easter. Time for another one of those "services" from the ministerial association on the seven last words of Christ.
Christ. That reminds me. It is Easter. It is the day of the Resurrection. It is the day of the triumph over death and the grave. It is the day of hope.
It is the day of Life.
It is EASTER.
And I almost forgot.
For Discussion
1. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE "NEW CLOTHES" EMPHASIS ON EASTER?
2. DO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY BUY NEW CLOTHES FOR EASTER SUNDAY?
3. DO YOU THINK WE HAVE GONE TOO FAR IN PROMOTING BUNNIES, EGGS, ETC. IN OUR CELEBRATION OF EASTER?
4. IDEALLY, HOW SHOULD EASTER BE CELEBRATED? REALISTICALLY, HOW CAN WE CELEBRATE EASTER?
SCRIPTURES FOR CONSIDERATION AND DISCUSSION:
JOHN, CHAPTERS 19 & 20
In a televised debate some years ago between a Charlotte, N.C. minister and a lawyer representing a "topless" club, the lawyer posed the above question to the minister. The lawyer then proceeded to answer his own question by using the minister's background as a racecar driver, asserting that violence was more obscene than nudity and that those who paid to watch the races, as well as those who participated in them, were more guilty of obscenity than those who watched or participated in topless nightclub entertainment.
While it is doubtful if such night-club entertainment can be morally justified by such logic, the lawyer certainly raised an important question concerning the definition of obscenity.
Obviously, and in spite of our foolish attempts to clothe everything and everyone with coverings of religious piousness, obscenity is not merely gazing in awe and admiration at the female form - whether clothed or otherwise, although obscenity may well involve nudity, depending on the emphasis given to it.
There are, however, greater obscenities which we often perpetuate with enthusiasm.
Obscenity is - a child living in a crime and rat-infested ghetto.
Obscenity is - a continual quest for increased nuclear power which threatens to destroy the world.
Obscenity is - a system of law which favors the rich and convicts the poor.
Obscenity is - a destructive disease which could be conquered if research funds were available, but which is allowed to continue while millions are wasted on less important ventures.
Obscenity is - the wanton and willful destruction of animal life for reasons of "sport," "luxury," or "convenience."
Obscenity is - pollution of the environment by nuclear wastes, pesticides, chemicals, and tobacco smoke.
Obscenity is - meaningless, destructive wars which are allowed to continue year after year.
Obscenity is - a judge or jury which will give a bank robber twenty years in prison while a child abuser, child pornographer, or drug dealer gets a slap on the wrist.
Obscenity is - poverty, unemployment, hunger, hatred, discrimination, etc., etc., etc.
Obviously the list is endless, but the greatest obscenity of all is our lack of concern for the above obscenities.
For Discussion
1. DO YOU AGREE WITH THE AUTHOR'S DEFINITIONS OF OBSCENITY?
2. ARE THERE OTHER "OBSCENITIES" WHICH YOU MIGHT ADD TO THE LIST?
3. IS YOUR CHURCH INVOLVED IN ANY EFFORTS TO OPPOSE/ELIMINATE ANY OF THE OBSCENITIES MENTIONED BY THE AUTHOR?
4. WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE SOME OF THE ROOT CAUSES OF THE ABOVE OBSCENITIES?
SCRIPTURES FOR CONSIDERATION AND DISCUSSION:
MATTHEW 18:1-18
MATTHEW 19:16-26
MATTHEW 23:1-13
MATTHEW 25:31-46
OH, YES -
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESUS
IT WAS a long time ago. World War II was over and the Korean War was still in the future. When Christmas carolers sang "Peace On Earth," you almost believed it.
Rob and I had been in an Army hospital for many months. We were discharged the same day, and since we were going in the same direction, we decided to travel together. I was driving, and we hadn't gone far when the weakness caused by the many months of inertia caused me to black out, and the car ended up in a ditch. Although the car was badly damaged, we were only shaken up a little and we had the car towed to a garage where we were forced to spend a couple of days awaiting repairs.
Those two days turned into a long nightmare. Rob and I were driven out of restaurants and hotels with taunts, threats, and a few "gentle" admonitions. We spent those days and nights, frustrated and shivering, in the damaged car eating cheese and crackers purchased from a small grocery. There was no room in the restaurants or in the inns for Rob and me - because I was Anglo-Indian, Rob was black - and we were friends.
Today's paper told of a white mob trying to force black couples out of a "white" neighborhood in Philadelphia, and of blacks and whites fighting in South Africa; of fighting in Lebanon and South America; and of continuing battles in Northern Ireland between Catholics and Protestants.
Merry Christmas, Rob. I heard that your son still suffers from the wounds he received in Vietnam. I wish him a Merry Christmas, too.
It was a few years ago, on a Christmas Day. The Kentucky highway was snow-covered and slippery. Suddenly the car in front of me skidded out of control and overturned in a ditch, pinning a young man under the wreckage.
The bank was soon lined with the curious, who stood and watched as the youngster screamed in pain. Many watched - but only a few offered to assist in lifting the car off the boy. And it took those few a long time.
The boy died, but he might have lived - if only others had helped.
Merry Christmas, Kentucky mother. It may not help, but remember that three people helped lift that car - and that may be progress - because only one person helped Christ carry his cross - and he was compelled to do so ...
It was on Christmas Eve. I received a call from a hospital almost a hundred miles distant. The husband of a church member had become ill while driving through the city some days before and was now close to death. The family asked if I could be there.
As I drove, the snow-covered ground glistened with its blanket of white, and carols of cheer came from the car radio. In the hospital, however, there was no cheer. The father and husband died that evening, and the doctor told me: "He could have lived if he and this hospital could have afforded a kidney machine."
I read the other day about a sixteen-year-old who died because his parents could not afford the necessary treatment. The boy needed to be on a kidney machine until a transplant could be arranged, but ...
Today's paper also told of a forty-million dollar rocket on its journey to outer space, and of 144-million dollars spent by U.S. Senators on junk mailings ...
Merry Christmas, widows, grieving mothers, orphans, and hungry people everywhere. But don't cry. After all, don't the politicians promise you a better life tomorrow; and don't the preachers say that Heaven is better than Earth? And while you're here, you can be consoled by welfare, medicare, and Sunday morning promises of the better life to come.
Oh yes, before I forget - a Happy Birthday to you, Jesus. I'm sure you must be getting impatient with us. It's been so long since Bethlehem and Calvary.
And we still have so very far to go ...
For Discussion
1. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT KINDNESS BETWEEN HUMANS IS INCREASING OR DECREASING? GIVE EXAMPLES.
2. THINK ABOUT YOUR OWN KINDNESS/UNKINDNESS. How DO YOU RATE?
3. IN RELATION TO QUESTION 2, WOULD YOU: (A) STOP TO HELP A STRANGER CHANGE A TIRE IF YOU WERE ON YOUR WAY TO A FORMAL DINNER PARTY DRESSED IN A WHITE TUXEDO/EVENING DRESS? (B) TRY TO PULL SOMEONE FROM A BURNING CAR EVEN THOUGH YOU KNEW THERE WAS DANGER OF AN EXPLOSION? (C) ANSWER A PERSONAL CALL FOR HELP FROM A NEIGHBOR WHOM YOU KNEW WAS SERIOUSLY ILL OF AIDS? (D) ACCEPT A DINNER INVITATION FROM A NEW NEIGHBOR WHO HAPPENED TO BE OF ANOTHER RACE/FAITH? (E) STOP YOUR CAR TO HELP AN INJURED ANIMAL WHICH YOU HAD JUST HIT? WHICH THE AUTOMOBILE IN FRONT OF YOU HAD JUST HIT? (F) TAKE THE TIME TO HELP A LITTLE GIRL GET HER CAT OUT OF A TREE, EVEN THOUGH YOU WERE LATE FOR WORK?
SCRIPTURES FOR CONSIDERATION AND DISCUSSION:
LUKE 10:30-37
SQUEAKING WHEELS
ALL OF US complain occasionally. Most of us complain frequently. And some of us complain constantly. We complain about the weather, about politics, about football, about religion, about fundamentalism and liberalism, about the price of everything, and we certainly complain about taxes.
Whatever our complaint, however, justified or not, it is rarely removed by our complaining. The weather keeps changing; the political parties remain unchanging; football teams still win and lose; the fundamentalists still preach about "godless humanism," and the liberal preachers still write newspaper columns. And, taxes remain an annual pain.
Still, the act of complaining seems to alleviate some of our discomforts, whether real or imagined, and it often provides a vent for our mental and physical frustrations. And, for some people, it provides a method of obtaining a little comfort from a sympathetic listener. As the wise old proverbalist, Josh Billings, once said, "The wheel that squeaks the loudest is the one that gets the grease."
Well, I was squeaking pretty loudly the other day. A light rain was falling; my sinuses were acting up; my head was aching; and I thought about the clear, blue skies of New Mexico with a great deal of longing.
And so I grumbled to myself as I entered a university library building and began the climb to the fourth floor. As I reached that floor, a young man on crutches was starting down the stairs.
Twenty minutes later, I went back down the stairs and passed the young man again, just off the first floor landing. It had taken him all that time to descend almost four flights of stairs. His face was flushed and his breathing labored, but he smiled and spoke to me cheerfully.
It was still raining when I got outside. My sinuses were still acting up, and my head still ached. But, for the rest of the day, at least, I didn't grumble about them.
Whether one feels good or bad, a popular song expresses it well:
"Isn't it great just to be feeling?"
For Discussion
1. SHOULD CHRISTIANS COMPLAIN ABOUT MINOR ILLNESSES, ACCIDENTS, DISAPPOINTMENTS, ETC.?
2. DO YOU THINK PEOPLE COMPLAIN TOO MUCH ABOUT TOO LITTLE?
3. DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF A CHRONIC COMPLAINER?
4. DO WE, AS AMERICANS, TAKE OUR FREEDOM FOR GRANTED? HOW?
5. DO WE, AS CHRISTIANS, TAKE OUR FAITH FOR GRANTED? HOW?
6. WHY DO YOU THINK SOME INDIVIDUALS HAVE TO SUFFER MORE THAN OTHERS?
SCRIPTURES FOR CONSIDERATION AND DISCUSSION:
JOHN 9:1-3
2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-7
2 CORINTHIANS 12:10
IT IS EASTER
IT IS EASTER.
It is spring.
It is time to begin the outdoor work: painting, planting, and planning for vacation.
It is Easter. It is time for new Spring outfits.
It is Easter. It is time to get the folding chairs out of the church basement in preparation for the annual nod to God.
It is Easter. It is time to try out some of those new colorful fabrics on the Sunday crowd.
It is Easter. Oh, Lord, it's time for another one of those early morning sunrise services. At six a.m. yet!
It is Easter. Time for the egg hunts, painted chickens, and phony green grass strewn all over the house.
It is Easter. The time when rabbits become abnormal and begin laying eggs - complete with names, fancy designs, and technicolor.
It is Easter. Time to pick up a few flowers for the church and a box of candy with cellophane Easter greetings on it for the wife.
It is Easter. Time for another one of those "services" from the ministerial association on the seven last words of Christ.
Christ. That reminds me. It is Easter. It is the day of the Resurrection. It is the day of the triumph over death and the grave. It is the day of hope.
It is the day of Life.
It is EASTER.
And I almost forgot.
For Discussion
1. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE "NEW CLOTHES" EMPHASIS ON EASTER?
2. DO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY BUY NEW CLOTHES FOR EASTER SUNDAY?
3. DO YOU THINK WE HAVE GONE TOO FAR IN PROMOTING BUNNIES, EGGS, ETC. IN OUR CELEBRATION OF EASTER?
4. IDEALLY, HOW SHOULD EASTER BE CELEBRATED? REALISTICALLY, HOW CAN WE CELEBRATE EASTER?
SCRIPTURES FOR CONSIDERATION AND DISCUSSION:
JOHN, CHAPTERS 19 & 20
