Sanctimonious bullshit

(Greensboro, NC) Joe Guarino continues to wag his scolding finger at people who do not bow to his moralizing. His new gig is to accuse people who dare to think about internet access at the public library with any depth or complexity as "relativists." This time his target is City Council representative Zack Matheny.

In typical Guarino fashion, he impugns Matheny's character through innuendo then levels his indictment:

"Matheny's posited insistence that proposing filters at public libraries is not a 'black and white issue' is a statement that smacks of relativism."

It is condemnable "relativism," according to Joe, because Matheny's proposals would fail to completely stop people from viewing porn at the library. But here's the thing, Joe's preferred solution of mandatory "porn" filters on all computers would also fail to completely stop people from viewing porn. Both options are "relativistic." 

"Porn" filters are imperfect and defeatable and, as such, would still allow people to engage in the practices Joe wants to stop. The difference between porn filters and other options is the answer to the question of to whom do we give responsibility for imperfect options? Joe would bestow responsibility on the imperfect policing of a corporation that also blocks legitimate content, others would give responsibility to users of the library and library staff. 

The only "absolute" means of prohibiting anybody from ever viewing sexually explicit content on a library computer is to remove the computers. By not advocating for the absolute solution, Joe places himself among the "relativists" -- which makes his self-righteous moralizing accusations a pile of sanctimonious bullshit.