Case for restraint?

This afternoon a church outing for kids of all ages, to the pantomime - Robin Hood in the New Theatre, starring Torchwood's John Barrowman. Our party filled the whole of the front row of the 'gods', and were aged from five to ninety, one of the really speciall occasions in our annual calendar of events.

We we treated to a spectacular of superb song and dance routines, ice skating on stage and several illusionist's tricks, as well as the usual romps and silliness associated with this kind of stage craft. The only disappointment was the invasion of a certain degree of far from innocent adult humour, accompanied by the uncomfortable sense that many youngish children in the audience were all too aware of the kind of sexual innuendo emanating from the stage.

There are some serious issues implied here, about the robbery of innocence from childhood, one of Archbishop Rowan's favourite themes of discourse. We don't need a return to Victorian prudery, but we do need some sense of reticence and restraint when it comes to talking publicly about all kinds of intimacy and affection. Just because it can be shown or spoken about is not an adequate reason for insisting that it must be shown or spoken about.