The Promotion of Chastity

22. The promotion of Chastity
This passage dealt with the idea of chastity and condemning indecency in order to safeguard moral law. I didn’t like the way this article passage was phrased at all there were two parts that particularly bothered me. I understand that there should be a certain degree of censorship the public and fully agree with that; but condemning all forms of indecency from the stage and screen seems unrealistic. I think that people will always feel desire no matter what it is channeled through, some forms just be more easily accessed then others. As a Christian I feel that in order to show faith one has to overcome challenges such as not exposing oneself to indecent images not banking others to make them impossible to see. It isn’t hard to avoid many forms of indecency and it isn’t a battle that I personally feel is worthwhile for the Catholic Church to fight since indecency can come in so many forms it would almost call for a complete cultural rethink in order to remove all indecency from the screen and stage. The second issue I had with this article is how this passage addressed the issue “Everything therefore in the modern means of social communication which arouses men's baser passions and encourages low moral standards,” the issue of indecency is by no means just an issue men deal with. Male modeling is currently at its peak in popularity; nearly nude men can be found on the cover of many common magazines which leads me to feel that this issue is one for both males and females.
In relation to current events the Catholic Church in Kumasi has slapped a ban on indecent dressing. Church goers who break the dress code will not be allowed to worship at the church. It isn’t just an in church dress code; rather it is in effect over the duration of the weekends. I feel that this ban is nonsense, how will they determine what is considered indecent? I think Susan Bordo would agree; both men and women should be able to portray themselves as they want to be seen. If someone wants to be seen as indecent I feel they should be allowed, and a church that is dedicated to saving people shouldn’t turn anyone away. The idea of turning someone away because they didn’t dress to another’s standards seems very unpractical to me when the church is trying to grow, convert more to believers, and bring in more revenue. It seems very counter intuitive on many levels.
One of the main things I have pulled out of this class is the wide variety of individuals, views, and circumstances which create these views. I feel that by the Catholic Church placing a dress code on its members it is creating a less diverse group of people. I think that diversity is very important, in our class there are many different points of view and I feel that these create much deeper and more interesting conversations. I feel that it would be in the Pope’s best interest to remove restrictions like this in order to gather a more diverse and culturally realistic group.