Cardinal George Pell
I emailed the cardinal after I read his Easter message in March
-----Original Message-----
> From: Hans Stephens [mailto:stephens1510@optusnet.com.au]
> Sent: Monday, 24 March 2008 11:14 PM
> To: Chancery Mailbox
> Subject: Archdiocesan Query from CAOS website
>
> Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by Hans
> Stephens (stephens1510@optusnet.com.au) on Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at
> 01:13:39 Referring page:
> http://www.sydney.catholic.org.au/contact/archenquiries.shtml
>
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> ---
>
message: Dear Cardinal Pell,
I read yours and other church leaders Easter messages in the Sunday
Telegraph, and in the article there is talk of the "ultimate triumph
of good over evil" and "to build communities that are hope-filled and
life giving"
All I see is a gradual but hastening decline of the moral fabric of
our society.
Road rage, buses and cars being stoned, people assaulted, stabbed,
killed and the crimes committed becoming more callous and horrific.
There are now cooking shows allowed on TV with language that a few
years ago would cost the station it's license.
Language aside, the verbal abuse in the show would be against all
employer/staff relation regulations and this is entertainment?
Radio advertisements during the day asking "Men do you want longer
lasting sex?"
Mothers or grandparents picking up children from school have to fend
off the youngsters questions about "premature ejaculation" or why men need to " last longer in the bedroom"
Where are the good people standing up and saying that this is not
good, enough
Imagine
if the Minister of Communications received 20,000 emails from concerned
citizens asking that there should be a revision of regulations.
Unless people complain nothing will happen.
I emailed all our federal ministers (both sides of the house) to
state my concerns about the men's sex radio ads, and had replies which
varied
from "it's not the ministers portfolio", no reply at all, to this email
which explains why I complained directly to our elected leaders.
...........................................
Hello
Hans I understand the various advertising techniques by this
company have previously been through the official complaints processes
and survived.
With the recent change of Minister it might be
opportune for us to write and suggest a revision of the advertising
standard that applies to
this type of product.
Thanks for bringing this example to our attention - do you happen to
know what radio station it was on?
Julie
.............................................
That reply came the day after I sent my first email so it proves that
minister's staff can get information quickly if they want to.
Where does the Catholic church stand, on matters like this, is there
some sort of outrage about what is accepted today, as in the case of
swearing, it's now regarded as "common place" and Police can be sworn
at with no redress.?
Maybe an article in the Catholic weekly paper asking what parishioners
feel about the matters I've raised, and the email address of the
communication minister if they have a concern about what they, and
their children have to put up with now.
It will only get worse.
The Minister for broadband, communication and the digital economy can
be reached on senator.conroy@aph.gov.au
Thank you for your time.
Yours Faithfully
Hans Stephens
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Casey" <mcasey@ado.syd.catholic.org.au>
To: <stephens1510@optusnet.com.au>
Cc: "Josephine Tesoriero" <josie@ado.syd.catholic.org.au>
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2008 4:30 PM
Subject: FW: Archdiocesan Query from CAOS website
Dear Mr Stephens,
Thank you for your email to Cardinal Pell. I will pass your message on
to His Eminence.
with good wishes,
Dr Michael Casey
PRIVATE SECRETARY TO CARDINAL PELL
-----Original Message-----
From: stephens1510 [mailto:stephens1510@optusnet.com.au]
Sent: Monday, 31 March 2008 7:55 AM
To: Michael Casey
Subject: Re: Archdiocesan Query from CAOS website
Dear Mr Casey,
Thank you for your reply on the matter I have raised concerning
inappropriate advertising on daytime radio and of the decreasing
standard in TV programs.
The usual answer, is "If you don't like what's on, change the channel"
It shouldn't be on any channel.
I feel in this case, that if enough decent people stood up and showed a
bit of "righteous anger" the regulators would listen and take note and
make change.
I would be grateful for a reply from his Eminence as I'm setting up a
website on this whole censorship issue with replies(and no replies)
from all our elected government leaders and other prominent people that
I have emailed on this subject.
The replies I have received from various government ministers have been
interesting, for it seems that although many have plenty of time (before
an election ) for their youngest constituents and for them to used as
"props " in photo opportunities, I receive replies such as
"It's not in the ministers portfolio" or " Do you live in the ministers
electorate"
I am not complaining about a pothole in the street outside my house,
it's about the welfare of young children and what they are exposed to in
the media.
This should not only be in every ministers, but in every responsible
adult's portfolio.
Thank you for your time
Yours Faithfully
Hans Stephens
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Meney" <Chris.meney@sydney.catholic.org.au>
To: <stephens1510@optusnet.com.au>
Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 3:19 PM
Subject: FW: Archdiocesan Query from CAOS website
Dear Mr Stephens,
Thank you for you recent correspondence on the issue of standards in the
electronic media. Please be assured of our strong encouragement for
those
like yourself, who are willing to speak out against the deteriorating
standards of advertising on daytime radio and television.
We share your deep concern about the impact of sexually explicit
advertising on children, families and society.
It is a part of the nature of community life that we are all exposed to
those influences which can be found within our culture. As such, what
is broadcast by the media affects all of us as individuals and as a
community. We are very supportive of those initiatives which encourage
the Advertising Standards Bureau and executives in the radio and
television industry to be socially responsible and to take action
against
explicit and inappropriate advertising. Children must be
protected from premature sexualisation and exposure to explicit content,
and
all advertisements should meet minimum standards of decency and
responsibility. The distorted ideas about love and sex that we
all too
often find portrayed within the electronic and print media do us
significant harm as a society.
You may quote these comments and attribute them to this office if you
feel it would be of use.
Yours sincerely,
Chris Meney
Director
Life, Marriage and Family Centre
Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney
In the Sunday telegraph Cardinal Pell wrote in his regular column
By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
1/6/2008
The
human body can make for beautiful works of art, and physical beauty has
always fascinated artists. This is partly because it is not given to
everyone and passes quickly with age.
Physical beauty also takes
us to the sacred fire of sex. Perhaps because we are surrounded with
sexual images, we seem to find it difficult to draw the line between
art and pornography.
Police in Sydney recently seized a series of photographs of children, produced by artist Bill Henson.
I
don’t know Henson’s work, and I have not seen the photos in question.
It is always difficult to talk about a particular incident when it
might end up in the courts. But it is possible to offer a few
generalised thoughts.
The sexualisation of children is currently
the subject of a Senate inquiry. It is part of what some critics call
“the pornification of culture”. It’s impossible to miss. It’s on
billboards and posters in main streets advertising everything from
clothes and underwear to brothels, condoms, and treatments for
impotence.
Supermarkets now stock soft-porn magazines, and some
variety stores, incredibly, sell sex toys along with toys for kids.
Magazines aimed at girls as young as 12 provide instructions on how to
perform different sexual acts. And on the internet, children can easily
end up at porn sites searching for their favourite cartoon characters.
All
this is bad for children. It robs them of their childhood and brings
the dark side of the adult world into their lives well before they are
able to deal with it. It can lead to a first experience of sex at a
very early age, and can lock children into bad and destructive habits
before they are adult enough to make their own choices.
We have
got used to treating too many things as “normal” in the area of
sexuality. Thankfully the public revulsion at sexual activity between
adults and children is still strong, but it is also under pressure from
some quarters.
Like all of us, artists have to work within the
law. Artists think their job is to continually push the boundaries, and
expect to be rewarded and celebrated for doing so. In the nineteenth
century, when pushing the boundaries was a new idea, artists didn’t
have it so easy.
But society needs boundaries. Without them it is
very easy to return to a world like ancient Rome’s, where nothing was
prohibited sexually and the strong dominated the weak.
The
Director of the Art Gallery of NSW says that Henson’s photos “are
veritable symphonies of decadence and beauty, of squalor and opulence,
of mysterious darkness and ominous light”.
I don’t know if he
means this as a criticism, but if it is an accurate description of what
the photos are about naked 12 year old children should not be a part of
it.
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What the Cardinal writes about is just plain commonsense decency, of what is plainly right and wrong.
