"Film Censors to Let Teenagers See More Sex." "Why Nice Girls Like to Strip [for charity]." "Come On, Own Up, We All Like a Bit of Sex on the Telly." "TV Ads for Escort Girls." "Judge Clears Real-Life Sex Videos for Sale in Britain." "Porn Sellers Are Setting the Standards." "A Good Reason to Stop Being Hypocritical About Porn."

Moral values and standards aren't getting any better in Britain as judged by the above recent article titles from respected national newspapers. Perhaps most jarring is that the surprising advocacy for immoral behavior reflected in these headlines emanates from opinion shapers long thought to be proponents of traditional moral values.

An Independent on Sunday opinion piece is typical: "The net [Internet] is making adult entertainment one of the world's biggest businesses. Britain should get real." The astonishing feature then went on to say: "The international adult entertainment industry has never had it so good. Pornography is becoming part of popular culture, and it is still the only business that can consistently turn a profit on the net."

Blatant greed for money is viewed as the basis for so-called moral standards in Britain. This feature continued: "When it comes to the business of web-based adult entertainment, the British are frozen in a kind of moral dark age by a government that refuses to consider an overhaul of ambiguous and outdated obscenity laws ... Britain stands alone in Europe in outlawing [hard core] pornography ... The size and revenues of adult entertainment companies on the continent and in the U.S. are often understated."

We can be thankful a few voices in Britain still lament this abominable situation. We could not express it better than a recent Daily Mail editorial: "Welcome to a brave new Britain where the rights of a few pornographers are considered more important than the protection of childhood innocence. With the blessing of the High Court, videos showing explicit ... sex [previously prevented by law] are to be made readily available to the public ... The most profound human experiences of love and commitment are being systematically demeaned. And what is even more depressing is that nobody in politics, the law or the liberal establishment seems to have the wisdom, conviction or courage to call a halt" (Sources: The Independent on Sunday, The Daily Mail [all London].)