Session Six

Tying in the Draft Statement to the Youth Study

 

Lines 1296-1301: “In this society, the acquisition and growth of personal and corporate wealth particularly are valued and affect all aspects of sexual life. When the love of wealth becomes public idolatry and social mistrust, the sexual body soon is reduced to being an object for commercial purposes. This church therefore notes with grave concern the public commoditization47 of the body as an economic asset.”

Footnote 47: The transformation of anything into a commodity to be bought and sold.

Lines 1303-1306: “This includes sex work as a form of employment and the sale and purchase of pornography.48 It includes the sale of sperm and ova. It also includes commercialization, where sexual images are used extensively in advertising and the mass media, to promote the sale of products.”

Lines 1308-1312: “Children and the poor are especially vulnerable to sexual exploitation for profit. In the midst of such rampant commoditization, which affects both the exploited and their consumers, this church is challenged to promote justice and trust. All are complicit in the greedy misuse and abuse of people for pleasure and profit. This church must confess its own complicity and find its voice to oppose all forms of exploitation.”

Lines 1313-1319: “This church should challenge and confront all those who legally profit from the commoditization of sexuality. These include:

· Web sites that display and sell a wide variety of pornographic materials;

· television networks that portray married sexuality as burdensome and promiscuous sexual activity as normal and consequence-free; and

· corporations, whenever and wherever they trade healthy sexuality and respectful treatment of the human body for profit.”