The recent presidential election and debates between George Bush and John Kerry were embattled on the moral fiber of America. Now amidst midterm elections of Mr. Bush’s second term, morality and ethics are now front page news with the Sen. Foley scandal. Impropriety of all forms has diseased the congress raising concerns amongst the ordinary citizens. Unethical and immoral practices from senators and congressmen to law enforcement, to homeland security, to the military today are blindly being allowed by society. This infection has not been quarantined and has stemmed within and allowed to exist with the ordinary citizen. Has the moral fiber of society progressed so rapidly that the consequence of exponential expansion to social norms has caused a regression to basic animal desires?
Dateline NBC, a news program on National Broadcast Company Television (NBC), over the course of two years has run a special story entitled “To Catch a Predator” exposing immorality within America especially focusing on online predators. As this prevalence of immoral conduct and unethical behavior becomes more exposed, one should also consider the methods employed by these purveyors of news in exposing, preventing, capturing and rehabilitating the offenders.
Though I applaud the efforts employed by NBC Dateline in making America aware, further analysis into the methodologies of the partners of this program, Perverted Justice, still need further examination. When undergoing undercover work especially in the field of child pedophilia and exploitation “police officers, who are engaged in LAWFUL pursuit of child predators, undergo a psychiatric evaluation first to see if they can hold up to the very vileness. If a police officer start faltering, they are reassigned, and work with mental health professionals” (Dorf). In the case of perverted justice it, “recruit volunteer contributors who pose as underage children in chat rooms. Posing from a variety of ages (standard ages are 10-15), these contributors simply go into chat rooms with fake online screen names and wait for predators to instigate conversation with them” (Von Erck). The group Perverted-justice works under the guise as watchdog group. Some have claimed that the tactics used to capture these predators border on vigilantly as is the claim by Corrupted-Justice.com about Xavier Von Erck who runs the “cyber-vigilante website perverted-justice.com. The ethics of those participating in perverted-justice activities are a direct reflection of the ethics of Von Erck” (Unknown). In order to begin the process to realigning the ethical and moral code there must be vigilance in the communities and cooperation between law enforcement and community watch dog groups. For eradication of this disease to begin, there also needs to be vigilance, cognitive parenting and continual involvement in order for the American family to return to a moral center.
The individuals who are targeted and caught by the “investigative reporting,” have failed themselves and society and deserved their fates. I hold neither sympathy nor empathy for a failed morality or ethical judgment by an individual who has a degradation of the mind. The decision made by these individuals to corrupt the children within society is a cognitive one with the assistance of a very explicit and graphic society. With failures within the family to commit to providing a good moral and ethical foundation, there has been a sexual injection into society through film, advertising, literature and music. What was once taboo has now become the mainstream norm.
The contrary argument to a sympathetic ear would state that these individuals suffer an illness similar to any other mental health illness or addiction. Assuming this was true, just as with any illness, the majority chooses to seek help or avoid assistance; however, they all leave signs that their disease is progressing and producing a degraded mental state resulting in withdrawal from society. Thus we return to the revolving argument that those individuals closest to these mentally ill should be made aware to recognize the signs as with those who suffer from depression. Awareness is brought about by programs of awareness dissemination and disease recognition.
Given the facts that most of these predators are of aware of the consequences, some are indeed truly ill while, in the sense of addiction and if left untreated are and will be menace to society. As proven by the series by Dateline NBC, no one is immune; no level of society or position in the community is impregnable. This perversion exploited by lack of religious guidance and cohesive family values has made society immune to the signs of help. America and society in general has bred this disease and allowed it to fester. It is a time to return to morality and sound ethical judgment by committing to indoctrinate society at all levels from the individual, to the family, to the community and society.
Works Cited
Dorf, Carl Adolph. Pervert-Justice is back in the news again. 14 October 2004. 15 October 2006 <http://english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/98/396/14438_Pedophile.html>.
Unknown. Xavier Von Erck – “An ethical young man with a vision”. 9 July 2006. 15 October 2006 <http://corrupted-justice.com/>.
Von Erck, Xavier. The PeeJ Guide: For Parents and First-Time Visitors to Perverted-Justice.com. 15 October 2006 <http://www.perverted-justice.com/guide/>.
Grayson Photography 