Trouble with Roommate

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Thoughtfulone said:
This is uncalled for and absolutely untrue! I just don’t want to live in a theocracy. Do you understand how dangerous this is? What if all of our laws were based around the Muslim religion and we had to follow Sharia law? Or is that different because it’s not YOUR religion of choice?
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Based on the words that you have used, it is a reasonable conclusion.

When do the laws of Man trump the laws of God?

How does living under ‘Sharia law’ change your faith?
 
JM3 said:
Based on the words that you have used, it is a reasonable conclusion.

When do the laws of Man trump the laws of God?

How does living under ‘Sharia law’ change your faith?
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So if I understand you correctly, what you want is to live under a Catholic theocracy where everyone, regardless of personal beliefs or convictions, is forced to follow strict Catholic rules?
 
Thoughtfulone said:
So if I understand you correctly, what you want is to live under a Catholic theocracy where everyone, regardless of personal beliefs or convictions, is forced to follow strict Catholic rules?
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It is clear, you do not understand correctly. How did you arrive at this conclusion? Your reasoning, again, eludes me.

Consider, Thoughtfulone: Every second of your life, you are given a choice. God or yourself. When you choose yourself because someone may take offense, or someone may hate you, or someone may seek to harm you, where is faith?
 
JM3 said:
It is clear, you do not understand correctly. How did you arrive at this conclusion? Your reasoning, again, eludes me.

Consider, Thoughtfulone: Every second of your life, you are given a choice. God or yourself. When you choose yourself because someone may take offense, or someone may hate you, or someone may seek to harm you, where is faith?
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Um, he already asked the roommate to remove it. The roommate clearly is not going to do that. Do you think that “choosing God” in this scenario is to tattle to the authorities and try to convince them that a girl in a bikini is pornography, thereby causing irreparable damage to his relationship with his roommate (who seems like a decent guy)? Or would “choosing God” be a matter of just trying to ignore the picture at this point and use it as an opportunity to edify himself against such things?

Did Jesus go around trying to FORCE everyone to submit to his way of thinking, turning prostitutes and thieves into the authorities if they didn’t see things His way? Or did He try to win them over with love, understanding that people must make their own choices and that we must all try to live in this world together, regardless of our personal beliefs and choices?

When his friend shows up at a Catholic Church and starts posting these pictures on the wall, then it’s time to start flipping tables, but until then, he really needs to just let this one go.
 
those women choose to take those pictures, they did not have to.
in the ideal world yes men would not look at those. however, would you want them undressing your daughter instead because they wanted to see naked women.
GraceDK said:
Its sad that you as a Catholic finds soft porn images to be okay. Wonder if you wouldn’t feel sick to your stomach if it was your mother, girl friend, or daughter on those pictures… why, because it represents a reductionist and utilitarian view of women. These women are reduced to sexual objects, and the images are made to create lust.
Hard core porn is not the only kind of porn. You have bought into a wrong kind of thinking.

You say to the OP: choose your battles. But he, not you, have chosen well.
I am proud to see that a Catholic man is standing up for the right not to see images that really discriminate women.
A few years ago I needed a job desperately in a vacation. Then the perfect job offered it self and I was picked out for job interview. I was going to be a cleaning lady at a hospital. But when I came to the job interview they told me I might have to take out the “trash” after abortion procedures. I said there was no way I could cooperate in that, and I declined the job. The two people at the interview had never met such a strange person like me, their eyes nearly popped out of their heads, and one of them even got angry at me. But when I drove away I felt jobless but free and happy, because I had done mine, and stood up for the rights of the unborn.

As a woman I am proud and happy about the OP. Because of people like him the world is a better place. Jesus says: if I can’t trust you in small things, why should I trust you in big things. Think about that.
I could neither befriend nor date a man who would tolerate degration of women in his own living quarters without a battle. There are enough coward men outthere…
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On the one hand, I highly commend the OP for being idealistic, having strong convictions, and furthermore acting on those convictions. He is a good man, a role-model, a leader. Just look at what is happening in our government right now. Our representatives have abandoned all principle, and sit idly by as the status quo takes our country into economic and moral ruin. Someone mentioned this is a small issue. I disagree. There are no small battles. Every battle is important, and the man who will not fight for the small victories will be completely lost when confronted with far greater evils. Its great that the OP is willing to challenge evil in what seems to be a small matter, as this where true holiness begins.

On the other hand, however, let’s get real! Guys like to look at beautiful women. I know I differ from many here and from Catholic teaching, but I see nothing wrong with this whatsoever, especially given that we are not even talking about naked women or hardcore porn pictures. We are I believe talking about images which are acceptable in most public places, even on billboards, tv, movies, etc. I’m curious how big the computer screen is, and if the roommates leaves the screen on when he is not working on the computer. Perhaps he also plays inappropriate music to accompany the pictures? I really don’t see it as a big deal.

Overall, I can see both sides to this issue. I say a fair resolution may be for the roommate to have the pictures up one some days, and down on other days. I am sure there are programs which automatically change the wallpaper depending on the day.
 
rmpbklyn said:
those women choose to take those pictures, they did not have to.
in the ideal world yes men would not look at those. however, would you want them undressing your daughter instead because they wanted to see naked women.
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Interesting… you know some people say that come priests molested boys because they are not allowed to marry.
Nonsense.

You can’t fight the devil with the devil.
It’s like those societies that say: “let’s kill the unborn, because otherwise we will have unhappy parents and then the children would be unhappy anyway,.”

or societies that say: let’s allow prostitution because otherwise men might turn into predators because they need to have release from their drives.
Ever wonder why the need for such release seems to grow with the same rate as the porn-industry?
Like C. S. Lewis said, impurity is definately a vice that become bigger and bigger the more its indulged in… Like with sugar and cigarettes… the more impure people become, the more hard core stuff they try throu promiscuity and porn. It takes more and more things to satisfy them until they don’t even recognise what limits they used to stay away from.

You logic is so flawed that I cannot even comprehend if you are not embarrased to post it on a Catholic board.

As for the women choosing to have those pictures taken.
Do you know how many women in the porn industry have been molested as children? Do you? Do you know how many of them were screwed by their fathers or uncles or some friends of their single mom’s?
That’s why I find people who help make the continuation of their abuse possible - because of their own perverse need of sexual gratification - so bad and so selfish. Do you know how many of these women are stoned when pictures and movie are made? Do you know how many of them catch incurable sexual diseases in that industry?
Do you know how many relationships. families and children that are destroyed because of this filthy industry? No, because you don’t wanna deal with that… you just wanna lock yourself in to your little room and get a nice little orgasm where you dont have to look a REAL and WHOLE woman in the face and respect her as a human PERSON.

Sure, you might still, as a man have some distorted attraction to this stuff because you have a fallen nature, but don’t go excusing porn in any form like its nothing, or like it should be tolerated because men are nothing but beasts.

Why dont you defend the OP’s FREEDOM not to see images of prostitutes in his own home?? That’s sooo sick.

Anyway. I get off here, the egocentricity of people who excuses these thing make my blood boil.

to the OP: I am proud of you brother. You will be rewarded for doing the right thing. Let people see it, Truth is on your side. You are a real man in a world of emasculated males.
 
It’s his computer. If it makes you uncomfortable, don’t look. When females enter the room, I highly doubt they assume it’s your wallpaper or that you had any say in setting it because it’s not your computer.
 
Hey Midshipman,

You have entered the profession of arms. You are going to be leading men in combat in very near future. The sad fact is that the Sailors or Marines who will fall under your command like the very same images. This is a personal problem, not a roomate problem. You need to decide how you are going to let these images effect YOU. I would concentrate more on learning how to deal with these images yourself, then trying to rid the Naval Academy of these images. Many people have given good advice on how to deal with them…mine is the Prayer to St. Michael, after a while you will find that the benign “suggestive pose” pictures will not bother you one bit. When you get into a position when you can enforce regulations, then you can enforce them. I am going to assume you are a plebe, if you are, you are in the wrong position to be reporting on your classmates…except for honor violations.

It is unfortunante but this is the smallest moral dilema that you are going to face while in the military. Shortly, you are going to have to make choices that are really life and death. You may have to send your men to a place where you know they may die…and sending them to that place is going to cause others to die. As a member of the US Armed Forces you are in a group that is currently involved in 3 armed conflicts, much tougher situations with greater outcomes are on the horizon for you then the one that involves a roomate with porn on his computer.

As an Academy grad (USMA) and former Army officer I can tell you that your 4 years in Annapolis are nothing more than a series of tests and challenges designed to give you a tool box of skills that allow you to make the right decision in battle. In the same respect the 4 years in Annapolis is also meant to test your class on who really wants to be an offcier and who doesn’t. I hate to be dramatic, but you need to get over this, and get over it quick if you want to be an officer in today’s military…unfortunately you are going to see far worse post graduation in the Navy/Marines.
 
You are lucky. If pictures of women in bikinis on my roommate’s computer was the only problem I ever had with my college roommates, we’d probably be great friends now. Is it immoral for him to put impure pictures there? Yes. Considering how depraved our society can be though- and how worse your situation could be, it’s not worth making a fuss over.
 
patrick127 said:
Hey Midshipman,

You have entered the profession of arms. You are going to be leading men in combat in very near future. The sad fact is that the Sailors or Marines who will fall under your command like the very same images. This is a personal problem, not a roomate problem. You need to decide how you are going to let these images effect YOU. I would concentrate more on learning how to deal with these images yourself, then trying to rid the Naval Academy of these images. Many people have given good advice on how to deal with them…mine is the Prayer to St. Michael, after a while you will find that the benign “suggestive pose” pictures will not bother you one bit. When you get into a position when you can enforce regulations, then you can enforce them. I am going to assume you are a plebe, if you are, you are in the wrong position to be reporting on your classmates…except for honor violations.

It is unfortunante but this is the smallest moral dilema that you are going to face while in the military. Shortly, you are going to have to make choices that are really life and death. You may have to send your men to a place where you know they may die…and sending them to that place is going to cause others to die. As a member of the US Armed Forces you are in a group that is currently involved in 3 armed conflicts, much tougher situations with greater outcomes are on the horizon for you then the one that involves a roomate with porn on his computer.

As an Academy grad (USMA) and former Army officer I can tell you that your 4 years in Annapolis are nothing more than a series of tests and challenges designed to give you a tool box of skills that allow you to make the right decision in battle. In the same respect the 4 years in Annapolis is also meant to test your class on who really wants to be an offcier and who doesn’t. I hate to be dramatic, but you need to get over this, and get over it quick if you want to be an officer in today’s military…unfortunately you are going to see far worse post graduation in the Navy/Marines.
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Sir, this scenario is all about peer leadership (something which many midshipmen and officers lack entirely). You can talk about the profession of arms all day, but being an officer requires honor, both on the battlefield and in the home and workplace. If I won’t stand up to my roommate’s disrespect now, I definitely won’t stand up during those dire ethical dilemmas of which you speak.

For the record, I’m a third class midshipman. The truth is that today’s officers are expected to uphold the highest professional standards, especially when it comes to pornography and sexual misconduct. Last summer I worked with the IT sailors aboard USS Stout. We ran weekly checks on computer activity and reported those sailors who had been viewing pornography. This is standard operating procedure. Further, personal lockers in the Navy cannot have pornography as today’s Navy is over 15% female and pornography has been shown to have an adverse operational impact.

Those officers who turn a blind eye to these issues set themselves and their units up for failure. Case in point: Captain Honors and the USS Enterprise.

I don’t believe I’m being idealistic or impractical–I’m upholding the expectation as a midshipman and my honor as a Catholic man.
 
fencetennis said:
Sir, this scenario is all about peer leadership (something which many midshipmen and officers lack entirely). You can talk about the profession of arms all day, but being an officer requires honor, both on the battlefield and in the home and workplace. If I won’t stand up to my roommate’s disrespect now, I definitely won’t stand up during those dire ethical dilemmas of which you speak.

For the record, I’m a third class midshipman. The truth is that today’s officers are expected to uphold the highest professional standards, especially when it comes to pornography and sexual misconduct. Last summer I worked with the IT sailors aboard USS Stout. We ran weekly checks on computer activity and reported those sailors who had been viewing pornography. This is standard operating procedure. Further, personal lockers in the Navy cannot have pornography as today’s Navy is over 15% female and pornography has been shown to have an adverse operational impact.

Those officers who turn a blind eye to these issues set themselves and their units up for failure. Case in point: Captain Honors and the USS Enterprise.

I don’t believe I’m being idealistic or impractical–I’m upholding the expectation as a midshipman and my honor as a Catholic man.
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I am sorry to call you a plebe, I know that you worked hard to put that year in your past. The tone of previous message was meant as a “tough love” message, nothing more. You posted a dilema that few have faced because of the unique constraints of the academy environment on a generic Catholic website. As someone who not too long ago was in your shoes, I was just trying to offer you some advice from a Catholic Man who also lived in the Academy environment and was an officer. Take it for what it is worth. I know that after 3 semester at USNA you think you have it figured out, just know this, you still have a lot to learn and you will, you are going to recieve a great education. God bless, good luck in the future and thank you for your service.
 
You know what? Screw it. Go tattle on your roommate and report back to us. I want to see what happens…🍿
 
After talking seriously again with him yesterday, he has now removed the picture from his main monitor and I haven’t seen it since. At the end of the day, the Lord seems to have taken care of it.

Thanks to all who reminded me to pray, I know that’s what did the work!
 
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