Secret Service Sex SNAFU: My Take

Most arguments over a hotel bill don't turn into diplomatic incidents. This one did:

"Obama: Reported details of prostitution scandal fall short of Secret Service standards"
FoxNews.com (April 15, 2012)

"President Obama, in his first public remarks on the prostitution scandal involving members of the Secret Service, said Sunday that he will be 'angry' if the reported allegations against the agents turn out to be true. He said Secret Service personnel, like the rest of any U.S. delegation abroad, must 'observe the highest standards.'..."

"...Details are still emerging, but the behavior of the agents initially attracted attention during a dispute at the Hotel Caribe over payment for an extra 'guest.'

"According to a senior law enforcement official, an employee approached at least one Secret Service agent and demanded that he pay extra money for having an additional overnight guest in his room.

"The agent balked, which eventually resulted in a confrontation and forced diplomatic intervention.

"The official said the guest involved apparently was a prostitute...."

Ethics and Foolishness

Prostitution is a bad idea, and I'll get back to that. My first reaction to the story, though, was a sort of astonished disgust: that someone with the Secret Service would invite an "extra guest," and then refuse to pay!

Hiring a prostitute is one thing: expecting a free ride from service providers is just plain stupid. Particularly when the service is a hotel room, where you're a registered guest.

When the you're a registered guest, who's there because he's employed by a national government? That sort of world-class foolishness is the sort of thing I've come to expect from elected officials: not professionals who are paid to use their brains. And that's another topic. Topics.

Getting food, lodging or other accommodations at a hotel without paying is illegal in Minnesota. It's also wrong.

The Catholic Church and Rules

Like I've said before, the Church has a reputation for having rules about everything. We're not as hidebound as all that, and I've posted about being καθολικός before.

Some of the rules I have to live by, if I'm going to be a practicing Catholic, involve money and property. For example:

• It's okay for me to have private property
  (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2403)
• I must use what I own ethically
  (Catechism, 2402-2405)

Use of private property is part of discussion of the Seventh Commandment: "you shall not steal." The Church says that forbidding theft includes legally taking property - by unethical means. (Catechism, 2408)

Contracts, Ethics, and Prostitutes

More to the point, in the context of this SNAFU¹ over a hotel bill, we've got someone who apparently wanted to violate the terms of a contract. That's generally not a good idea:

"Promises must be kept and contracts strictly observed to the extent that the commitments made in them are morally just. A significant part of economic and social life depends on the honoring of contracts between physical or moral persons-commercial contracts of purchase or sale, rental or labor contracts. All contracts must be agreed to and executed in good faith." (Catechism, 2410)

I suppose I could argue that the secret service agent didn't have to pay the hotel for an additional guest, since his contract to the hotel was valid "to the extent that the commitments made in them are morally just" - - - and she didn't count, since she's 'just a prostitute.'

My Lord's attitude toward people who 'don't count' is, I think, fairly obvious in Luke 7:36-50: particularly this part:

"Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, 'Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

"You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered.

"You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment.

"So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. ¹³ But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.'

"He said to her, 'Your sins are forgiven.' "
(Luke 7:47-48)

Forgiveness, Not Denial

Before getting back to hotel bills and common sense, I think there's something about forgiveness that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. Forgiveness is important. And forgiveness of sin isn't denial that sin exists. We get a look at that in John 8:3-11, where a woman got caught in the sin of adultery. It ends with these lines:

"Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, '"Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?'

"She replied, 'No one, sir.' Then Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you. Go, (and) from now on do not sin any more.' "
(John 8:10-11)

Forgiveness is important. But Jesus also said "...from now on do not sin any more." Pretty good advice, I think.

Another point: given the nature of adultery, she had to be committing it with someone. That's led to speculation about just what Jesus was writing on the ground, and that's another topic.

A "Really Bad Idea"

"Report: Secret Service involved in second prostitution scandal"
CNN (April 26, 2012)

"A day after U.S. lawmakers were briefed on an alleged prostitution scandal in Colombia involving Secret Service members, a report emerged Thursday of similar allegations, this time in El Salvador..."

"...The men drank heavily at the club, and most of them paid extra for access to a VIP section where they were provided sexual favors in return for cash, the source told the station....

"...The owner said his club routinely takes care of high-ranking employees of the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador as well as visiting agents from the FBI and U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, KIRO said. The owner said his reputation for 'security' and 'privacy' makes his strip club popular with 'those who want to be discreet.'

"The government contractor source said he told the agents it was a 'really bad idea' to take the strippers back to their hotel rooms, but several agents bragged that they 'did this all the time' and 'not to worry about it,' KIRO reported...."

I put a longer excerpt at the end of this post.²

I'm inclined to agree with the contractor: taking strippers back to the hotel was a "really bad idea." I think just being there was a bad idea, and that has to do with natural law.

Natural Law

Natural law is the idea that cause and effect exist: and that there's a moral order built into the universe, just as there is a set of rules that determines how physical processes happen. There's more to it, of course. (Catechism, 1954-1960)

"Morality," in this sense, is much more than the sort of zipper issues that seem to plague public officials and government employees. Acting morally means acting ethically - in all aspects of life. I've been over this before. (June 3, 2011)

I think part of the reason that more folks don't feel like natural law exists is that consequences tend to take longer when ethical standards are violated. For example, Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme made him a wealthy man: for a while. That's hardly the sort of 'write a bad check and get hit by lightning' sort of 'divine retribution' that some folks may expect.

I don't have to pay attention to natural law. I've got free will, like anybody else. I don't have to pay attention to rules built into the visible world, either. I could, in principle, decide that gravity doesn't exist: and step off the roof of a building. I'd enjoy wild, exhilarating sensations while rushing through the air: for a while. If the building was high enough, there might be quite a mess for someone to clean up, which is part of why I won't do that.

Rules, Assumptions, and Sex

I've read that rules about government employees and illicit sexual activity are there to prevent blackmail. I'm inclined to believe that.

Assuming that a government employee might be forced to work against the government is wrong - is an assumption. But I think it's a valid one. Starting with that assumption, it seem reasonable to reduce or eliminate opportunities for blackmail. That's where existing rules about doing stupid things come in.

Another approach to reducing or eliminating opportunities for blackmail would be to decide that existing rules about sexual conduct shouldn't exist. That sounded pretty good to quite a few folks, a half-century ago. I agree that many Americans have enjoyed wild, exhilarating sensations for the last half-century. But I think quite a few of us have hit the sidewalk, too: and the mess is getting increasingly hard to ignore.

That's not the same as thinking that sex is bad. Sex is build into humanity. It's part of what and who we are. (Genesis 1:27, Catechism, 355, for starters) God designed sex, and I don't think God makes bad things.

What we do with a basically good creation? That's been a mixed bag.

Porn, Prostitution: What's the Big Deal?

"I'm a feminist, and I'm for prostitution" may have joined "although personally opposed" as a dubiously-effective slogan. The idea that porn and prostitution is good for women makes sense: provided that someone pretends making money is all that matters, and that natural law doesn't exist.

I'm a practicing Catholic, so I'm not allowed to think that way:

"Pornography consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parties...."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2354)

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"Prostitution does injury to the dignity of the person who engages in it, reducing the person to an instrument of sexual pleasure...."
(Catechism, 2355)

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Bottom line? The Church won't let me see women as sex objects.

I'm not allowed to think of women as being inferior beings, either:

"The equality of men rests essentially on their dignity as persons and the rights that flow from it:

"Every form of social or cultural discrimination in fundamental personal rights on the grounds of sex, race, color, social conditions, language, or religion must be curbed and eradicated as incompatible with God's design.40"

(Catechism, 1935)

Lanugage, Regional Culture, and a Universal Church

"The equality of men..." should, by politically-correct standards read something like "The equality of non-gender-specific persons of any sexual orientation...." "Men" is shorter, and means "people" in English. As I've said before, the Catechism is a translation into my native language. The original document is written for an organization that's καθολικός. (April 10, 2012)

I very sincerely do not want to get back to the 'good old days' when 'she's smart as a man' was supposed to be a compliment, and that's another topic.

Sex, Tourism, and the Pope

As for the unraveling story of government employees pretending that natural law doesn't apply to them? I think their behavior is very regrettable; and has been hurting them, their employers, and the people involved at the service-provider end of the situation. Maybe there will be a serious re-evaluation of the way Federal agencies and their employees behave. Then again, maybe not. There's an election coming up in November: just a thought.

I also hope that Catholics, at least, pay attention to what the Benedict XVI said about responsible tourism:

"Tourism Must Be Enlightened by the Word of God, Says Pope"
ZENIT (April 23, 2012)
"Calls for End to Human Trafficking"

"With a message from Benedict XVI, the 7th World Congress on the Pastoral Care of Tourism opened today in Cancun, Mexico, on the topic 'Tourism That Makes a Difference.'...

"...The Pope points out three areas on which the pastoral care of tourism must focus its attention.

"In the first place, 'we need shed light on this reality using the social teaching of the Church and promote a culture of ethical and responsible tourism, in such a way that it will respect the dignity of persons and of peoples, be open to all, be just, sustainable and ecological....'

"In the second place, 'our pastoral action should never lose sight of the via pulchritudinis, "the way of beauty." Many of the manifestations of the historical and cultural religious patrimony are "authentic ways to God, Supreme Beauty; indeed they help us to grow in our relationship with him, in prayer. These are works that arise from faith and express faith"...'

"And, in the third place, 'pastoral activity in the area of tourism should care for Christians as they enjoy their vacations and free time in such a way that these will contribute to their human and spiritual growth. Truly this is "an appropriate moment to let the body relax and to nourish the spirit with more time for prayer and meditation, in order to grow in personal relationship with Christ and become ever more conformed to his teachings"....'..."

Full text of Benedict XVI's message at Cancun:

• "Papal Message to Tourism Conference"
  (Release date April 23, 2012) (from the Vatican (April 18th 2012) via ZENIT)

Related posts:

• Sex
  • "Caritas in Veritate: Progress, Ethics, and Sex"
    (January 23, 2012)
  • "Mephistopheles and an - Ersatz Hot Babe?!"
    (October 24, 2011)
  • "Hippies, Prudes, Catholics, and Sex"
    (August 30, 2011)
  • "Sex Isn't a Product for Consumption?"
    (June 8, 2011)
  • "Rape isn't Nice, and We Shouldn't Do It"
    (May 17, 2011)
• Ethics
  • "Obedience, Yes: Blind Obedience, No"
    (March 12, 2012)
  • "The Spirit of Resistance"
    (February 26, 2012)
    Particularly
    • 'Legal' Isn't Always 'Right'
  • "Lie and Hype for a Good Cause?!"
    (November 28, 2011)
  • "Morality, Wisdom, and Getting a Grip"
    (June 3, 2011)
    Particularly
    • Morality isn't Just About "Morality"
  • "Public Officials with Ethical Standards: A Radical Idea For Today's America"
    (June 29, 2010)
• Natural law
  • "My Take on the News: The San Jose Articles, Natural Law, International Law, and Getting a Grip"
    (December 2, 2011)
  • "Natural Moral Law, Catholicism, Karma, and the Tea Party"
    (October 16, 2010)
  • "Archbishop of Minnesota, About Proposition 8"
    (August 8, 2010)
    Particularly
    • Assumptions and Objective Reality
  • "Social Media Guidelines from American Bishops"
    (July 21, 2010)
  • "Demonic Deception? Or What You Get When We Play God?"
    (May 5, 2010)
    Particularly
    • Natural Law

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¹ Normally, I link directly to the Princeton WordNet definition for a term, or to another resource. My standards for this blog require me to note that the definition for SNAFU involves a term which is somewhat indelicate.

I include 'definition' links partly because I'm a recovering English teacher: partly because I think some folks who read this blog understand English very well: as a second language. Sometimes a native speaker uses unfamiliar words: or uses familiar words in an unusual way.

² Longer excerpt from the news:

"Report: Secret Service involved in second prostitution scandal"
CNN (April 26, 2012)

"A day after U.S. lawmakers were briefed on an alleged prostitution scandal in Colombia involving Secret Service members, a report emerged Thursday of similar allegations, this time in El Salvador...."

"Seattle TV station KIRO, a CNN affiliate, cited an unnamed U.S. government contractor who worked extensively with the Secret Service advance team in San Salvador prior to President Barack Obama's trip there in March, 2011.

"The source said he was with about a dozen Secret Service agents and a few U.S. military specialists at a strip club in the city a few days before Obama arrived, KIRO reported.

"The men drank heavily at the club, and most of them paid extra for access to a VIP section where they were provided sexual favors in return for cash, the source told the station.

"KIRO said the owner of the strip club corroborated the allegations. The owner confirmed that a large number of Secret Service agents, and some military escorts, 'descended on his club' that week and were there at least three nights in a row, KIRO reported.

"The owner said his club routinely takes care of high-ranking employees of the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador as well as visiting agents from the FBI and U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, KIRO said. The owner said his reputation for 'security' and 'privacy' makes his strip club popular with 'those who want to be discreet.'

"The government contractor source said he told the agents it was a 'really bad idea' to take the strippers back to their hotel rooms, but several agents bragged that they 'did this all the time' and 'not to worry about it,' KIRO reported...."