Morality for an Internet Age

A timely article from John Starke:

“Yes, there is a lack of dignity in what has happened to [Congressman Anthony] Weiner—but only because what was meant to be private became public.” That’s from Andrew Sullivan, the Daily Dish, who is attempting to curb our reaction against online activity that many of us, not only Christians, would call sin. Sullivan wants to us to believe such behavior is actually “a vital part of the human experience that we call ‘play.’”

As I finished Sullivan’s article, I sat stunned. This is how he concludes:

From Angry Birds to anonymous chat rooms to World of Warcraft to Chatroulette or Grindr or OKCupid, this is a safe zone for unsafe things by virtual people. That’s why we call it play. It is often a balance to work or lack of work. It is not the end of civilization. It is, in fact, the mark of one.

It’s not that Sullivan thinks adultery and illegitimacy is perfectly acceptable. He just doesn’t think pornography, sex chat rooms, and online flirting by married men falls in that category. He argues, “[I]f a married man [masturbates] to porn, I don’t think we should consider him an adulterer.” He goes on to say, “Ditto if someone ‘kills’ real-people-acting-as-avatars on World of Warcraft.”

Read the rest.