Soldiers: Magazine ban could hurt morale
By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, May 4, 2008
GRAFENWÖHR, Germany – Legislation that would restrict the sale of certain men’s magazines on U.S. military bases around the world would be bad for morale, according to soldiers at Grafenwöhr.
U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., has introduced legislation that would close a loophole in the current law that allows the sale of some sexually explicit material on military bases by lowering the threshold required to deem material “sexually explicit.”
A Department of Defense committee that reviews materials sold on bases ruled last year that magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse are not pornographic. But Broun’s Military Honor and Decency Act includes language that could make those magazines eligible for the ban.
The prospect of missing out on men’s magazines was not welcomed by soldiers at Grafenwöhr.
“We all read ’em,” said Pfc. Paul Rubio, 31, of Bakersfield, Calif. “There are times we just read ’em for the technological parts like the new gadgets that come out. They have good stories sometimes too.”
Sgt. Simon Brown, 34, of Daytona Beach, Fla., said men’s magazines build morale. “It’s not all about the pictures, although 80 percent of it is,” he said.
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Time to chime in here. Considering what they see on a daily basis, especially in combat, I doubt very much looking at Playboy or Penthouse would be such a bad thing. Yes I'm a Chaplain but I'm still a human. I can understand the "value" of these magazines to some people. The military has a much bigger issue they need to confront instead of taking away these magazines. That is the rape and abuse of women in the military. Seems to me that would be a much bigger issue when it comes to morality and enforcing the law than some magazines are.
