Important News Stories: December 2004 Archives

I was flipping channels last night before going to bed, because lately I tend to cling to my awake time like a little kid. I flipped past PAX and then quickly flipped back. Is that Hugh Hefner? Being interviewed? By that guy?
What a trainwreck. I only saw the last couple minutes of it (whether there was much more to it, I do not know). The interviewer, who was Mr. Christian (Sister Christian) -- nothing could sully his cheer, dammit -- after having credited Hugh with a large part in the sexual revolution said something like, "That was all good. But now, every year millions of people die of AIDS, millions of teenagers get pregnant, sexual crimes are on the rise, millions of abortions... Do you at all feel responsible for that?"
To which Hugh slightly leered and said, "You convinced me. Sex is the enemy. Murder, rape, genocide -- it's nothing compared to sex."
The interviewer smiled benignly and said, "Well, I can't agree with you on that." (He could not have been that naive.)
Eventually Hugh went off on how religion is just Man's way of answering questions which cannot be answered. He also said that he considers himself more fortunate because he can look at everything from a distant and more enlightened place.
At the end of the interview, the show cut to the interviewer in the studio, where he said, "I want to thank Hugh Hefner for his candor in coming to talk to me about his faith. Though we don't agree on all things, I can appreciate his forthrightness and willingness to discuss these matters."

Oh, man. I'm all for respecting other's opinions, in theory and not always in practice, and exposing one's self to differing points of view. I'm also all for letting go of one's anger, in theory and not always in practice. But, in this case, I don't know -- I don't feel particularly guilty or intolerant calling Hugh a shriveled old pimp. But I do respect his enlightening views on faith.