This has got to be a joke...

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You won't believe what I saw on FoxNews when I was at the gym today working out?  You know now that I've become (at least on this blog) a pundit of ridiculous government bailout stories, but this one takes the cake:

The PORN industry has gone to Washington asking for a bailout!  Seriously.  I couldn't believe it at first either:

http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2009/01/08/flynt_porn_bailout.html
(in case you need proof for yourself)

Okay, let's assume that these guys are actually serious... my question is:  So what?  

I can see it now...  the economic disaster of thousands of strippers on the street having to work for a living...  the national debacle of not having nude bodies in magazines to lust over... the horror of men not having access to material to visually cheat on their wives... the devastation of being deprived of sexually-explicit reading material at the bookstores!  This is a CRISIS people!   

Okay, seriously.  This is one of those industries that if it went burning in flames we would be exponentially better off as a country.  I say, let that industry burn.  Burn, baby burn. 

What does that Jeff Foxworthy joke go:  You may be a trash industry if the recession takes you down and creates $5 Billion worth of improvements.  That would be the case here.  
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Something like this happened 2,000 years ago in a city named Ephesus too... I'm not sure if it was caused by a housing meltdown and credit crisis... but it was an industry with questionable morals going into a recession... and then seeking a little "stimulus" in a way.  

You see, this guy named Paul came by and started talking about this guy named Jesus who could make a difference in our lives, give us meaning and purpose, and make things right between us and God our creator... people started to listen to what he had to say and started to accept this message of grace and forgiveness.  Then Paul hung out for a while and taught them what it looked like to live out this new relationship with God through Jesus.  

And a funny thing happened...  you see the Temple of Diana was a booming industry there in Ephesus.  I won't say what went on in there, but it would be of at least the rated R (or NC17) variety.  There were also gold and silver smiths that made and sold these idols of Diana (or Artemis) to people who came and "worshipped" there.  But when this Paul dude came around and these people started to embrace Jesus... the rsvp list for "worship" activities at the temple now had a lot of open slots when before there was a waiting list...  same store sales of silver Artemis idols took a nosedive.  Consumer confidence in the pagan worship and sex trade industry was not good... and the leaders of industry wanted a stimulus package.  

So they didn't get a government bailout check... but they did get a riot started and got Paul kicked out of town.  They blamed him for this economic downturn they were seeing.  And at the urging of his new friends and believers in Jesus, Paul quietly left town to find others to tell about Jesus.  

I suppose, they thought that demand would go back up when he left... don't think it did.  The temple of Artemis still stands in the ancient city as a relic... but no one goes in there to worship anymore.  
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And now it looks like another industry is asking for a handout... I can only wish it's because more hearts are turning to Jesus and reducing demand for Larry Flynt's services.  That would in fact be pretty cool.   


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