THE WAR ON TITALATION

Recently, Micheal Ocello the president of the Association of Club Executives, an organization that
defends the adult nightclub industry, sent a letter to its membership urging them to register voters at their
clubs, in an effort to prevent George Bush from being reelected as President of the United States. It seems
that Mr. Ocello is concerned that the Christian right may try to use its considerable influence to convince
the Bush Administration to severely limit or even destroy the adult club industry.

I think his fears are justified. George Bush is a self proclaimed born again Christian who has a record of fighting for
fundamentalist causes, such as, the "Faith Based Initiative", and the removal of abortion rights. The Attorney General, John
Ashcroft, holds prayer meetings in the Justice Department and recently, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wrote a
dissenting opinion on the landmark case allowing gay marriage, in which he lamented that allowing gay marriage could
undermine the laws against masturbation and fornication. He doesn't even want you to masturbate in the privacy of your own
home! I can see it now. An FBI S.W.A.T. team breaks down the door of a college dorm room to find a 19 year old engaged
in the act. They got their evidence from John Ashcroft's newly increased authority to monitor hand lotion sales. "Book him
Danno"! Yes they really are that out of touch with reality. Let's not forget the Meese Commission on "pornography" during
the Reagan administration and Jerry Falwell's boycott of 7-11 stores for selling adult magazines.

For decades, the Republican Party has courted Christian fundamentalists for their votes and rewarded them with legislative
action. We must act now to limit the huge influence that this tiny minority has on national political policy. The irony of the
fundamentalist movement is that they present themselves as representing the majority of Americans when in fact they do not.
According to a USA Today article, the strip club business is a $15 billion industry employing between 500,000 and 750,000
people and these figures do not include sales of adult videos, magazines, toys and all the employees of that industry. Now
obviously it isn't just us few non-theists in the country that are using these products and services. It must be that Christians are
buying them as well. So either vast numbers of Americans are just really bad Christians (which means that they aren't really
Christian and therefore Christians are not a majority) or they just simply have a different view of their faith than this extreme
but vocal minority. In either case, it shouldn't matter because Christianity is not the law of the land in the United States, and in
fact, we fought a war with England to ensure that it wasn't. Then, our founding fathers, just to make the point clear, added an
amendment to our Constitution stating that the government shall not establish a national religion. Here is what Thomas
Jefferson had to say on the matter:  "Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any more than our
opinions in physics or geometry." -Statute for Religious Freedom, 1779.  

Finally, let me add a concrete example to prove my point. The Ten Commandments state that you cannot work on the
Sabbath. This means that every police officer, emergency room doctor, nurse, firefighter, and paramedic that works on the
holy day to save our lives will have their immortal souls sentenced to eternal damnation in a lake of fire. Obviously religious
belief is not a practical means of organizing a modern society.  In reality, this should just be a matter of personal choice. If
your religion forbids you from seeing naked people or having sexual thoughts, then don't go to strip bars or buy erotic
movies. However, you must accepted that there are opposing view points that demand equal protection under the law, for
example, the philosophy of Humanism.  

Humanism is not a single unitary philosophy but there are many like myself who believe that the human mind and the human
body are things of beauty to be cherished and exalted. Our intellect, emotions and sensations are the product of 65 million
years of evolution. These innately human qualities are our birthright and sexuality is certainly part of that.  For me, sexuality is
not "dirty" or shameful. It is glorious and uplifting. It is the very core of our existence. For without sex none of us would even
be here. This view is based on reason and informed by the fields of Biology, Psychology, Anthropology, and 2000 years of
philosophical advancement. Yet this small group of fundamentalist Christians would claim that my views and the views of the
millions of people who support the adult entertainment industry are irrelevant. They behave as though the rest of us are not
citizens with equal protection under the law. Only their beliefs are important and they will do whatever it takes to make their
religion the law of the land. The United States is supposed to be a melting pot of people and ideas spanning the entire globe.
Our democracy is based on the principle of majority rule with minority rights, not minority rule with no rights. We must act
now while we still have the right to speak our minds.  So what can we do? Here are the three keys to fighting back:

1)  PRIDE: Take pride in your sexual beliefs. Hold your head high when you purchase adult products and services. If we
bring our beliefs out into the open our majority status will be apparent.

2)  CAPITALISM: Vote with your dollar. Continue to support the adult entertainment industry.
As the industry grows so will their power to fight for your rights.

3)  DEMOCRACY: VOTE VOTE VOTE! Vote out politicians
from any party that bows to the pressure of the religious right.
Become active, write editorials, talk to your friends and
encourage candidates that openly defend your civil rights.

If we don't act now, the only sexy stories you'll be
able to read are the ones in the Bible!

Thank you,

Eric Gustavson aka The Elegant Rebel

Email The Elegant Rebel HERE