CBS promotes open marriage and open sex

By: Steve Huston

My heart is heavy over what once again aired last night on CBS’ new summer program, “Swingtownâ€Â. Repugnant, repulsive, depraved, destructive. My thesaurus doesn’t have the words to describe.In case you missed our earlier analysis of “Swingtownâ€Â, this is a show where the entire premise is bent on legitimizing ‘open marriage’ and group sex. The message propagated over and over is that ‘everyone’ has an open marriage – it isn’t adultery – it will improve one’s marriage. The show revolves around a couple, Susan and Bruce, who have recently been drawn into group sex by their new ‘swinging’ neighbors. The wife of this couple seems to have some remorse and drags her family to church for the first time in ages. However, by the end of the episode she is telling her husband, who is very interested in their now “open marriageâ€Â, that she is open for anything he wants to do, ending with them video recording their own sex tape. The ‘swinging’ neighbors, seeing Susan’s reluctance and Bruce’s interest, decide to, as they say, give them “ a little friendly nudge back in the right direction.â€Â Notice the message here – in the “rightâ€Â direction. This is the theme throughout the show. An open marriage is ‘right’. It’s exciting and good – there’s nothing wrong with it. In fact, another couple on the show, portrayed as strict, straight-laced Christians, finds it appalling what their friends have become involved with. Yet, they, the faithful, monogamous ones, are the ones portrayed very negatively – judgmental, boring. When this Christian husband, Roger, catches his friend Bruce kissing another woman, Bruce explains it by saying he and his wife have been “experimentingâ€Â. Roger states: “You mean, you’ve been cheating?â€Â Bruce adamantly denies it was cheating since he and his wife were together – just having sex with someone else. Other themes in this episode include a kissing game at a house-warming party where women have to kiss someone other than their husband. A teenage daughter kissing her high school teacher. This storyline also is portrayed positively and romantically, as if to suggest that sex between adults and minors is okay. Pornography is once again dismissed as harmless. A young boy, approximately 13 years old, has found his father’s huge stash of porn magazines and is selling them to his friends. The mother has no problem with her husband’s porn collection, telling her friend there’s “nothing wrongâ€Â. “Men are just different animals.â€Â It grieves me to think of these sickening themes being legitimized. What ideas are being planted in the minds of impressionable viewers, young and old? How many marriages will be destroyed by a spouse buying into the lie that there’s nothing wrong with “open marriageâ€Â, group sex? Please stand with me in opposition to these lies. It’s not enough to simply look away, to hide our heads, when others around us are being damaged. We can start by contacting the sponsors whose advertisements make this show possible. Your letters do make a difference! Numbers of advertisers, who advertised in the last couple of episodes, did not advertise last night. Some have written stating they’ll no longer advertise, others have just gone quietly in the night. The Bayer Corporation (Aleve) and Volkwagen have advertised on every episode of “Swingtownâ€Â, so far. They especially need to hear from us. For a complete advertiser list see: https://americandecency.org/main.php?f=updates_new/2008/June/06.19a.08 [Sample letter included] Dannon yogurt has recently written, seemingly acknowledging “Swingtownâ€Â does not meet their standards, stating: “we work diligently through our advertising agency to avoid inappropriate programming, on occasion our safeguards are inadequate. For us, that is an indication that we must redouble our efforts in this regard, and we will.â€Â However, Dannon ads appeared twice in last night’s episode! Is this an oversight on their part? It is unthinkable that they would say one thing and then do another. Yet, that is what they have done. I urge you to write seeking their clarification. Do they not find group sex “inappropriateâ€Â? Please let The Dannon Company hear from you! ****** Here was the email from just a few short days ago. They had ample time to pull their ad but they didn't. June 16, 2008 Dear …, Thank you for contacting The Dannon Company regarding the television program "Swingtown" in which our advertising appeared recently. I can assure you we share your concerns about the quality and appropriateness of programming. We do all that we can to ensure that it meets Dannon standards. As you may know, companies like Dannon typically purchase advertising "rotations" throughout a network's or station's scheduled programming. And although we work diligently through our advertising agency to avoid inappropriate programming, on occasion our safeguards are inadequate. For us, that is an indication that we must redouble our efforts in this regard, and we will. We are committed to participating in programs that reflect the high quality of our products. That is our directive to our advertising agency, and it is not negotiable. Once again, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us on this important matter. You can be sure we value your comments and we hope in the future that we can count you as a consumer of Dannon products. Sincerely, Lisa Moore Consumer Response Representative Ref#:1010002N ———————————- Thank you for helping us to stay in the battle for Truth and decency. https://americandecency.org/folder.php?f=donate Bill Johnson, president

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