Question

Has common-sense morality died?

Answer

I wonder how many people were struck, as I was, by the irony of two news stories that made national headlines on the same day last fall.

In one case, an eight-member jury in Cincinnati ruled that some graphic photographs of deviant sexual activity were not obscene. The seven photographs, taken by the late homosexual photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, were on display at Cincinnati's Contemporary Art Center.

In the other case, the Cincinnati Bengals' head football coach, Sam Wyche, was fined more than $23,000 for refusing to allow a female reporter access to the team locker room while players were getting dressed.

Those two stories speak volumes about the disintegration of our society's sense of morality.

I'm familiar with feminists' arguments about the rights of female reporters to do their jobs. And I have heard all the rhetoric about artistic freedom and the evils of censorship. But the fact remains that not long ago, our society subscribed to a common sense of morality that was diametrically opposed to the decisions rendered in both those cases.

Other issues aside, the two stories reflect a dramatic shift in the moral code that guides our society. It is a tragic and dangerous new direction.

The Mapplethorpe photos depicted sadomasochistic homosexual activities and nude children in explicit poses. The full truth is so hideously immoral that even to suggest what the photos portray would be offensive and inappropriate for a magazine like Masterpiece. In fact, the pictures were so horribly debauched that the major network newscasts could not describe them even with euphemism and vague terms. I read brief descriptions in the newspaper. It is hard to believe that human beings would engage in such unimaginable acts, much less that anyone would take photographs of them and deem it art. Yet, according to an article in Newsweek, "an array of art experts testified that, content aside, the photos were the work of a serious, even brilliant artist." The jurors took only two hours to render their verdict.

That same day the football commissioner fined Wyche for his defiance of league policy, which has allowed women in locker rooms for the past few years.

Charles Krauthammer expressed this opinion on the Los Angeles Times opinion page: "It is common sense and ordinary practice that in public places naked men and women are segregated. Barring women from the locker room of male athletes is thus entirely consistent with American norms of privacy."

But evidently obscenity and decency can no longer be judged by common sense. What's next? Will "snuff films"—the kind of pornography that actually shows people being killed—also gain status as art?

Romans 1 contains a description of mankind's moral decline. It perfectly describes the course our culture has taken in this generation.

The apostle Paul writes of those who, "professing to be wise ... became fools" (v. 22)—like many today who presume that careful lighting and composition turn pornography into art, or those who believe sexual equality is a higher moral principle than common decency. Unregenerate man lives under the illusion that all wisdom and knowledge reside within him. But he is self-deceived. When man refuses to accept truth, he destroys his power to discriminate in even the most obvious moral questions.

Once man rejects God, believes he is wise, and in his perverted "wisdom" creates his own objects of worship (Rom. 1:21-23), God gives him up to his own wickedness. Three times (vv. 24, 26, 28) Paul says that God turns such men and women over to the consequences of their sinfulness.

The Essence of Sin. Romans 1:24 says, "God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them." Here Paul refers primarily to sexual perversion. Certainly that is prevalent today in contemporary music, books, movies, and art.

Jeremiah 17:9 reveals the source of this impurity: "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?" Man on his own does what his heart tells him to do. He has no norms, standards, or principles other than his own desires, which come out of a corrupt heart.

The Expression of Sin. Romans 1:26-27 says, "God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error." That describes homosexuality. The final phrase of that verse seems especially pertinent as the spread of AIDS accelerates.

Meanwhile, homosexuality is gaining acceptance as an alternative lifestyle by many church denominations. Some have even ordained practicing homosexuals to the ministry.

The Extent of Sin. Romans 1:28 says, "God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper." Common-sense morality is gone; God Himself gives them over to the very things they love, although their corrupt desires are the opposite of what God intends for them.

Paul concludes, "Although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them" (v. 32). Our society now gives hearty approval to depravity. Our culture has bottomed out, reaching the low point in the apostle Paul's chronicle of moral decline.

After writing about the deeds of darkness, Paul says, "It is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret" (Eph. 5:12, emphasis added). That's common sense. This is hardly a complex moral issue. But our society has become so permissive and decadent that now an art gallery can display the sickest imaginable photographs and be protected by the courts!

Another recent obscenity case in Florida examined the lyrics of songs sung during a live performance by the rap group 2 Live Crew. A federal judge had ruled the group's songs obscene, because of their graphic and violent lyrics describing and extolling rape and brutality against women.

But a six-person jury contradicted the judge's ruling, saying the lyrics they heard were not really obscene. "I took the whole thing as comedy," one juror said.

Arguing the other side, Florida assistant state attorney Pedro Dijols said to the jurors, "It's common sense, ladies and gentlemen. it's openly offensive."

Unfortunately, however, it doesn't seem to be common sense anymore.