Sex, Lust, Lies and Videotape. Shocking on Campus!

The title of this contribution evokes something doesn’t it? Should this be the first time you have clicked on a link to one of my contributions then this may apply to you, which in truth is probably most of us. What is it about the illicit that evokes so much interest and base passions that can often lead to broken homes and broken hearts and a broken society? 

In an age where the illicit fuels consumerism thus creating an environment in which to satisfy base passions with little regard to the consequence of our actions students are submersed into an arena where there are ample opportunities to fall prey to charming words and charming looks. The status of our population’s mental health as well as its sexual health is of considerable concern to policy makers and me.

When the environment is as saturated as it is with provocative sexual images often at the expense of women – though ironically using women on anything from bill boards to attracting guests at night clubs – are we seriously not undermining the value of a woman? Are women themselves agent-provocateur to their own sexualised commodification for the sake of wanton glamour and attention?

The recent scandals surrounding Tiger Woods and John Terry are just two of the most recent with many other public figures including political figures such as Paddy Ashdown, Boris Johnson, David Mellor, John Major, the list could go on and on.

In the case of John Terry however, there was something worryingly different. It was the public sympathies for John Terry and their support for his position as England Captain on the argument that his personal life should not interfere with his professional career. This attitude should be discomforting considering his iconic status among the youth receiving the message that it is ok to cheat on your wife, and women can be temporary objects of passion. From another angle they’d also learn that it is ok to have a relationship with a married person especially if you’re going to be rich and famous afterwards. During this episode there seemed to be little sympathy for his wife, and I ask myself what on earth can inject some fundamental values back into our social and human consciousness?

There are simply too many sex-related crimes in the UK which shockingly are ever more being committed by adolescents and us as a community seriously need to address the causal factors behind them for the sake of our all our futures.

Often are Muslims criticised for not integrating. Muslim students themselves find it difficult to venture into those social environments which they feel may encourage a certain type of behaviour they would be uncomfortable with. They don’t criticise those who do, though like all of us, we can appreciate and respect the logic as it is down to protecting their morality and even understanding their own human weaknesses. This is also very similar to any woman who chooses to dress modestly, choosing to cover her hair or even her face and behaving in a modest fashion through which she is making a statement indirectly but strongly to anyone in the manner they approach her, raising her own as well as forcing us to raise our own moral character in our conduct with her.

Can religiously observant Muslim students teach the society a few things about moral values?