NEXTnin The Rockford PapersnMoral Majoritarians have put togetherna persuasive brief. Onlynthe deaf, dumb, blind and ignorantncould deny that America has been inundatednwith pornographic provocationnin the last two decades. On stagenand screen and in books and magazinesnwe have been treated to a displaynof moral degradation that almostnexceeds the powers of the humannimagination. Here I agree with thenfeminists: this material degrades womenninto objects of the most perversenmale lusts. To argue that this affectsnonly mature adults is to delude oneselfninto believing that children live innsplendid isolation from the rest ofnsociety. If the amount and nature ofnpornography that exists at a givenntime serves as a fair index of a society’snmoral health, then this is, asnMoral Majoritarians contend, a verynsick land.nHow can health be restored? Donnothing, answer the civil libertarians;nact with alacrity for the day is short,nrespond the Moral Majoritarians.nClearly the civil libertarians’ fastidiousnconcern for the free expression of filthnmerchants will not do. But the programnof the Moral Majority is fraughtnwith danger. Freedom of expression isna fragile liberty; twirl a globe in yournhands and count the countries where itnexists. The People’s Republic of Chinanhas no problem with pornography becausenits form of puritanical totalitarianismnsimply prohibits it. Thendilemma comes down to this: how cannwe stamp out pornography withoutnsetting dangerous precedents? DonMoral Majoritarians possess the sensitivitynand powers of discriminationnto draw the sometimes fine line betweennpornography and that whichnmay offend their moral sensibilitiesnbut deserves to be protected? Onenneeds a rapier in this situation, butnMoral Majoritarians have drawn anbroadsword. I remember well a buddingnyoung Moral Majoritarian whonexpressed to me his disgust with GrahamnGreene’s The Quiet Americannbecause of a minor sex scene it con-nTllLKOCKFnR’Ji’Al’LB:nThe Rockford PapersnRecipient of The George WashingtonnHonor Medal for Nonprofit Publicationsnawarded by Freedoms Foundation at ValleynForge.nTo subscribe to The Rockford Papers, fill out and mLill the attnthed business reply card.nnntains. Recently a group of citizens ofnthis mentality raised an uproar innNorfolk, Virginia, over a nude statuenin front of the Chrysler Art Museum.nSuch sallies into the realm of aestheticncriticism do not encourage me.nIfor one do not wish to allow thenMoral Majority to define pornographynand then to act authoritativelynon that definition. Yet freedom doesneasily degenerate into license. Civilnlibertarians frequently forget that ansociety has the right and necessity tonprotect itself. Total freedom of expressionncan gut a society from within,nleaving only a tottering shell waitingnfor the surging wave of barbarians tontopple it. Moral Majoritarians havendetermined not to allow this to happen.nI applaud their willingness to befriendnand shelter the homeless waif ofnmoral decency. But I wince at the ideanof a Moral Majority free to work itsnwill in this matter. Moral Majoritariansnbring vigor, energy and moral rectimdento the fight against pornography,nbut they lack the intellectual acumennand discriminating artistic taste tonguide them in this campaign. Only annolder and wiser conservatism — onenwell schooled in the knowledge of thenfragile balance between free expressionnand license — can save them fromnfolly.n—^James J. Thompson, Jr.n”The Moral Majority”nThe Rockford Papers,nMay 1981n