Musings: Covering up the bottom line
Modest bathing suits seen at Jones Beach last summer. Credit: Jeff Bachner
The unofficial start of summer is upon us. As a citizen, father and pastor, I am concerned that our communities are being exposed to an indecent and unhealthy environment by allowing certain bathing attire on our beaches and in our parks that allows the public display of rear nudity.
Besides the breach of decency and morality, this behavior flouts local community standards and ordinances designed to maintain decorum in our public areas.
By not enforcing these local laws, we feed into our hyper-sexualized culture which continues to hurt lives by contributing to our pornographic influences. They ultimately degrade societal values and contribute to far more serious issues.
Isn't it time we firmly enforce or strengthen local ordinances that prohibit those individuals from fully displaying their buttocks to the public, which includes children?
As criminologists James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling introduced in their 1982 Atlantic Monthly article "Broken Windows," minor violations of decency and order in a society often lead to greater violations and crimes if left unchecked. This "broken windows" effect of neighborhood degradation shows that letting small issues slide can lead to far bigger problems.
After all, if human sexuality is not sacred, then the life that is created by it will not be treated as sacred either.
Bruce Bennett, Centereach
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