Mega-orgy in Tel Aviv cancelled due to public pressure
The event in question, which was scheduled to take place on "International Orgasm Day," aimed to bring together some 250 participants seeking to promote world peace through multiple orgasms reached by masturbation or sex. The orgy was organized by the Raelian movement, a UFO religion whose followers believe humankind was created by aliens.... Several years ago an Iraqi boy whose limbs were amputated was shown on TV and everybody treated this as if it was okay, but when Janet Jackson exposed her breast during the Superbowl the American nation was appalled.
I know next to nothing about Raëlism, and I have no real ambition to change that. Then again, this isn't about Raëlism or UFOs or any of the other assorted craziness indulged in by Raëlians. While International Orgasm Day may seem like a gimmick or just one big naked mess (sorry for that mental picture), I find the reasoning behind it surprisingly sound. If you think about it, we live in a culture in which it's OK to blow up, stab, or shoot a naked breast, but caressing it is cause for all manner of righteous indignation (WHAT ABOUT THE POOR, IMPRESSIONABLE CHILDREN???). It's as if violence is considered the norm, but any sort of sexual expression is verboten. It's far more acceptable to engage in depictions of the taking of human life, but God help those who engage in doing the same thing with the act of creating life.
Puritanism, the idea that someone somewhere is having fun AND IT MUST BE STOPPED, has always driven this country's conflicted relationship with sex. Americans, though, have never had any problem with violence, both as a means of solving problems and of enforcing our political will upon miscreant nations. "Killing" is a word that carries little negative baggage in American culture, but try using any word with a sexual connotation and stand back to avoid the immediate eruption of righteous indignation sure to follow close behind.
I wish I could claim credit for this one, but it's still true: our world won't change until the power of love overcomes the love of power. While International Orgasm Day may or may not be a step in that direction, really, what's the harm? Or would you really feel better if these folks were shooting at one another?
