A news story from Indiana tells of two adults fornicating in a public pool in front of children. I can practically hear a multitude of modern minds asking themselves, "what's the harm?" I can also imagine large numbers of moderns taking it a step further and into the realm of Brave New World by congratulating this couple for exhibiting behavior that is "natural," "healthy," and even "beautiful" for children to see and perhaps emulate.
For a modern ethos that conceives of humans in general and "harm" in particular as merely physical -- i.e., if nobody gets hurt, there's no cause for concern -- these questions make sense.
But for the ethos that has informed civilization ever since it began, the harm here is worse than physical because it degrades. It degrades a uniquely human experience of intimacy and makes it into an animalistic spectacle worthy of a zoo. We clothe ourselves; we defecate in private; we use utensils; we create art; we show mercy; we seek justice; and we exercise self-restraint, all because we are more than animals. Every hole in the dike that separates humans from animals is cause for concern, for without it you welcome the law of the jungle (which is not beautiful or harmonious, but ferocious and pitiless).
I am sure many disagree and hold, against the evidence of all recorded history, that humans are animals as well. But I guarantee you that these same people ardently believe in "protecting the environment" against human influence, betraying their understanding that humans indeed are unique (although erroneously placing humans beneath animals, but I will post on that later).
For a modern ethos that conceives of humans in general and "harm" in particular as merely physical -- i.e., if nobody gets hurt, there's no cause for concern -- these questions make sense.
But for the ethos that has informed civilization ever since it began, the harm here is worse than physical because it degrades. It degrades a uniquely human experience of intimacy and makes it into an animalistic spectacle worthy of a zoo. We clothe ourselves; we defecate in private; we use utensils; we create art; we show mercy; we seek justice; and we exercise self-restraint, all because we are more than animals. Every hole in the dike that separates humans from animals is cause for concern, for without it you welcome the law of the jungle (which is not beautiful or harmonious, but ferocious and pitiless).
I am sure many disagree and hold, against the evidence of all recorded history, that humans are animals as well. But I guarantee you that these same people ardently believe in "protecting the environment" against human influence, betraying their understanding that humans indeed are unique (although erroneously placing humans beneath animals, but I will post on that later).
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