Contact: Robert Peters, President, Morality in Media, 212-870-3210

NEW YORK, April 14 /Christian Newswire/ -- On April 4, the NY Times ran adjacent front-page articles on the Iowa Supreme Court decision legalizing 'gay marriage' and the gunman who murdered 13 people in New York. That day, the Times also ran an anti-gun article on its op ed page.

In an MIM Release dated April 9, Morality in Media President Bob Peters commented on the above stating, among other things, that the push for "gay marriage" and the epidemic of mass murders had a common root -- namely, that "increasingly we live in a 'post-Christian' society, where Judeo-Christian faith and values have less and less influence." Mr. Peters' comments generated a number of negative responses from gays and others, which prompted the following additional comments:

"In retrospect, I should have included the other lead story that appeared on the front page of the NY Times on April 4. That story reported on our nation's rapidly growing unemployment problem, which can also be explained in good measure by the precipitous decline in morality. Among other things, the current economic crisis is a result of arrogance, blind ambition, deceit, dishonesty, envy, foolishness, greed, irresponsibility, lack of integrity, recklessness, etc.

"In retrospect, I should have also included quotations from gay activists, including these:

"'In the end, the gay alternative means a departure not just from heterosexuality, but from social orthodoxy...In its most moderate politics -- the enactment of civil rights legislation -- it has radical potential, because civil rights opens the way to acceptance, and acceptance opens the way to dissolution of the norm. No one, for example, would claim that the net effect of enforcing such legislation in regard to race would merely be to end segregation in public places...’ [Richard Goldstein, Village Voice, "The Politics of Liberation," 6/23/80]

"'The gay rights movement does not exist...even to pass the gay rights bill. These are at best steps to a much larger process, namely, the creation of genuine acceptance of homosexuality...in society at large...In the long run, the sort of changes that are needed to make genuine equality possible require a change in the underlying values and attitudes of society toward sexuality...To create such changes in social attitudes requires action at all levels of society. We need to contend with that vast collection of institutions and apparatus that determine ideology in a society such as the United States, including media...educational institutions and so forth...[W]e are essentially a radical movement...[I]n so far as we are successful we do indeed breakdown the hegemony of certain traditional values about sex and relationships...' [Dennis Altman, "Gay Money, Gay Votes," NY Native, 1/3/83]

"To put it another way, the success of the 'gay rights movement' is inversely proportional to the degree of influence that the historic Christian faith and morality have on American society. This is not to say that the 'gay rights movement' is the primary cause of our nation's moral decline. But if Christianity has been integral to the success of this nation, then the success of the 'gay rights movement' is not a good sign. I will add that it is not just me who thinks that Christianity's influence in the U.S. has declined. The cover story for the April 13 issue of Newsweek is entitled, 'The End of Christian America.'

"I will close with these comments. First, I am not among those who think that the United States was ever or is now a 'Christian nation.' But I do think that without the positive influence of Christianity we would not have become a great nation, and common sense ought to inform us that we will not remain the same nation without that influence. In saying this, I do not mean to disparage other religions but rather to recognize the unique role that Christianity has played throughout this nation's history. I would also add that Nazi Germany was not a great nation because it was in no way good.

Second, a basic level of morality is necessary for the good of any people, and it is religion that has under girded morality. Religion doesn't just teach right from wrong. It also provides carrot and stick.

"Third, on April 10, ABC News' 20/20 program aired a special entitled, "If Only I Had a Gun." Apart from a brief comment by a police officer about the influence of video games and movies that glorify gun violence, the role that popular culture plays in our nation's 'gun culture' was ignored.

"There are two explanations for the news media's reluctance to point a finger at popular culture when discussing the problem of gun violence. First, to a significant extent the news media are owned by companies that profit from the depiction of gun violence as entertainment. Second, the news media are afraid that if the people knew the truth about the negative impact of media violence they would insist that something be done about it; and that, the news media say, would threaten the First Amendment.

"But in a leading case, the U.S. Supreme Court said that the 'main purpose' of freedom of speech and press is to prevent all 'previous restraints upon publications,' not to prevent 'subsequent punishment of such as may be deemed contrary to the public welfare.' To put it another way, the First Amendment was not intended to absolve the media from all responsibility for all the harm it causes."