The New York Times today offers more evidence that when we complain about sex and violence in the media we are really just upset about the sex. The evidence? Christian churches using the violent video game Halo as a way to draw teens into church. One youth director explains: “We have to find something that these kids are interested in doing that doesn’t involve drugs or alcohol or premarital sex.” It is interesting to note that the violence in Halo gets it a "M" rating (for "mature" audiences only) which means that for the most part the young people playing the game in their church basements wouldn't be able to buy it legally on their own. Does this make youth pastors pushers of "adult material"?

Also from the Times (yesterday): Bulgaria, which was on its way to legalizing prostitution, has reversed course. The New York Times article uses the US State Department's speculative 800,000 figure to represent the scale of the trafficking problem, presumes that legalization of prostitution is always connected to increased trafficking, and quotes a representative of Coalition Against Trafficking In Women - International as an authority on prostitution policy, but does also include quotes from a few sex workers, one of whom says she worked in Germany for a while where prostitution is legal, and liked Bulgaria better because condom use was much more widespread. Several unnamed sex workers also said they made use of the free health checkups offered by the state. I imagine that will stop if prostitution is criminalized.

...because public space really matters!

Elizabeth