By C.K. Garabed
Notable libertine John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertine#/media/File:Jacob_Huysmans_-_Portrait_of_John_Wilmot,_2nd_Earl_of_Rochester_1.jpg
Some things are so self-evident that when one finds oneself explaining or arguing for a basic position, one feels like a jack-ass. So it is with morality. I don’t mean hi-falutin philosophical morality, but just basic goodness-type morality.
If I want to shield tender eyes from dirty pictures, do I have to get all involved in a legalistic argument over the definition of what is obscene? Or freedom of speech and the Constitution? If I want to protect young ones from sexual predators, do I have to first distinguish between homo and hetero before I go on to the question of “sexual preference” and the rights of individuals to be whatever they wish to be?
How do I protect that which has proven to be of value for centuries, the basic goodness of traditional family life? Parenthood bestows a moralizing force upon adults by virtue of their positions in relations to their children. That which runs counter to this pattern is demoralizing in its effect on the family. Everyone knows this and I’m sure everyone accepts it as a fact of life.
Add to this the fact that there is a distinction between “humans” and “animals” and that the distinction is again based on “morality” and you once more perceive that obscenity, however defined, is a perception of humanness. After all, to a dog, nothing is obscene. In certain languages, sexual promiscuity is referred to as “dogness.” If one wishes to live the life of a gay dog, let him not plead for constitutional rights granted to him on account of his humanness.
It even gripes me that I have to put a pen to paper to say wat I have said up to this point. And yet, I feel it is necessary to state such prosaic things in order to set the record straight. There is so much distortion going on under cover of smoke-screens that I sometimes think I will suffocate from lack of air.
I think I know, too, the reason for much of this. When the few are given a voice over the many, and that voice is unduly sustained, the prevailing sentiments are out of proportion to the total population and the face of the nation takes on a false hue. To this is added the humiliation of being designated a member of the “silent majority.” Why? Because the majority of Americans are possessed of sensitivity and taste. This is what makes them keep their own counsel and prevents them from becoming coarse loudmouths. But there is a limit even to their endurance, and when they have had their bellies full of the so-called liberals beating them over the head while the liberals themselves are doing all the crying, there’ll be some changes made.
Incidentally, when we say liberalism, do we not really mean libertinism? The liberals’ approach to solving the problem of increased teen-age pregnancies by furnishing more “sex education,” which translates into “contraception,” reminds me of the story told by John Steinbeck about an endangered species of bird. The authorities discovered that a certain hawk preyed on this bird, so they established a bounty on the hawk. As hunters brought in the dead hawks, the endangered birds began to vanish at a greater rate. Finally, an astute observer discovered that this bird was prone to contract a disease which made it sluggish, and slowed it down, making it prey to the hawks. In fact, the hawks helped retard the spread of the disease by picking off the slower birds. With the diminishing of the hawks by the hunters, the disease became a raging epidemic among the birds, reducing their number drastically.
So it is with teenage pregnancy. It was always a problem. But in attempting to solve the problem, the liberals have come up with a cure that is worse than the disease.
Has morality such as “conservative”become a dirty word? I thought that to liberals, there is no such thing as a dirty word, only dirty minds that make you think words are dirty. What’s wrong with the old-fashioned virtues? They enhanced the quality of life. They enabled a poor generation to feel the excitement of living. Going to church was a family affair and the churches were filled with young people with their shining innocence. What have we permitted the liberals to do to us? Subvert our moral values? Foist upon us ungodliness in the name of neutrality?
Where are the voices of conscience? The leaders of our spiritual communities? Why are they silent? Are they afraid of the liberals? Have they no outlet for their convictions, or have they turned cynical? “A cynic is one who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.”
I fear that the current methods of so-called sex education” in the public schools may engender cynicism in our children who will have been taught the price of folly but not the value of a wholesome attitude.
G.I. Gurdjieff, the Caucasian mystic, describes his “sex education” as imparted by his first tutor, Father Borsh, dean of the Kars Military Cathedral, in the following terms:
“In his conversations with me he often spoke about the question of sex. Concerning sexual desire, he once told me the following: ‘If a youth but once gratifies this lust before reaching adulthood, then the same would happen to him as happened to the historical Esau, who for a single mess of pottage sold his birthright, that is, the welfare of his whole life; because if a youth yields to this temptation even once, he will lose for the rest of his life the possibility of being a man of real worth. The gratification of lust before adulthood is like pouring alcohol into Mollavallian MADJAR.* Just as from MADJAR into which a single drop of alcohol has been poured, only vinegar is obtained and never wine, so the gratification of lust before adulthood leads to a youth’s becoming a monstrosity. But when the youth is grown up, then he can do whatever he likes, just as with MADJAR – when it is already wine, you can put as much alcohol in it as you like; not only will it not be spoiled, but you can obtain whatever strength you please…”
*According to Gurdjieff, Mollavalli was a small place in the south of the Kars region of what was once part of the Armenian Kingdom. MADJAR is a very new, not yet fermented wine (must).
About the author C.K. Garabed was born and raised in Union City, N.J., also known as “Little Dikranagerd.” Garabed has been a regular contributor to “The Armenian Reporter” and the A.G.B.U. Literary Quarterly, “ARARAT.” For the last 30 years, Garabed has been a regular contributor to “The Armenian Weekly” where he produces an ongoing column called “Uncle Garabed’s Notebook.” Garabed is also the author of “The Dictionary of Armenian Surnames”; “The Dikranagerd Vernacular Handbook”; “The Dikranagerd Mystique Armenian Cookbook”; and “An Unusual Look at Biblical Subjects.” Visit him at: http://www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/C.K._Garabed