I found this over on RfM. Below is a link to a 2007 article in the Boston Globe. Here is a quote from the article attributed to current LDS Area Seventy Bill Marriott:
In June 2000, J.W. "Bill" Marriott Jr., the son of Marriott's founder, defended the distribution of pornographic movies, saying they were inseparable from the rest of the chain's TV offerings.
"The in-room entertainment operators who provide our systems rely upon a certain volume of movie types in order to be economically viable," Bill Marriott wrote to Bill Johnson, executive director of the Michigan-based American Decency Association. "If we were to eliminate the 'R' and non-rated offerings, the systems would not be economic."
Of course this is no surprise, but this is the only time I've heard Bill Marriott personally explain why Marriott hotels offer porn. And in light of the ex'ing of Chad Hardy for a harmless calendar, it is very ironic that a major purveyor of porn remains a high LDS authority.
"Moving beyond apologist persuasion, LDS polemicists furiously (and often fraudulently) attack any non-traditional view of Mormonism. They don't mince words -- they mince the truth."
-- Mike Quinn, writing of the FARMSboys, in "Early Mormonism and the Magic World View," p. x (Rev. ed. 1998)
He sort of shoots down the defenses I have heard: He does not control what is put out, this is more a lower management decision, Marriott only operated the hotels and does not own them.
I know other chains have dropped the porn offerings. I think it was a few years ago that Omni did....? Not sure.
Surely the porn could be cut out and other movies offered. I think this is a poor excuse. And so what if he lost money on it? So can I open up a porn shop for the profits and remain in good standing. This is disturbing to me.
If you call down to the front desk of a hotel, they can block the adult content. So all of these systems already have the technology to block adult content while allowing access to the other offerings. So it is not as if they are inseparable. Like Marriott says, they are money makers.
Jason Bourne wrote:So can I open up a porn shop for the profits and remain in good standing. This is disturbing to me.
Would you please give it a try and get back to us on that?
“I was hooked from the start,” Snoop Dogg said. “We talked about the purpose of life, played Mousetrap, and ate brownies. The kids thought it was off the hook, for real.”
Jason Bourne wrote:Surely the porn could be cut out and other movies offered. I think this is a poor excuse. And so what if he lost money on it? So can I open up a porn shop for the profits and remain in good standing. This is disturbing to me.
What would Bill Marriott say if I confessed to him that I have watched porn in one of his hotel rooms?
"I'm sorry but I cannot comment on your repentance process, as it would be a conflict of interest."
"And yet another little spot is smoothed out of the echo chamber wall..." Bond
Jason Bourne wrote:Surely the porn could be cut out and other movies offered. I think this is a poor excuse. And so what if he lost money on it? So can I open up a porn shop for the profits and remain in good standing. This is disturbing to me.
What would Bill Marriott say if I confessed to him that I have watched porn in one of his hotel rooms?
"I'm sorry but I cannot comment on your repentance process, as it would be a conflict of interest."
That's the thing though, he wouldn't have any problem at all taking action.
Morality = sex.
Money has nothing to do with morality, ergo selling porn is okay while watching or filming it is wrong.
He sort of shoots down the defenses I have heard: He does not control what is put out, this is more a lower management decision, Marriott only operated the hotels and does not own them.
For the Marriott and other hotels, the battle over porn is largely symbolic, too. While it costs the company nothing to offer adult movies to their guests, it doesn't make much from them either. Third parties like LodgeNet provide all the necessary equipment and perform all the maintenance, and simply give the hotels 10 to 15 percent of the revenues they collect. To put it another way, most hotels appear to be making around $1.65 per room per month in movie rental fees — which means it's possible some hotels are actually making more money from the loose change guests leave behind than they are from porn.
Thus, while Marriott made no concessions in its first meeting with the decency advocate dream team, except to have a second meeting a month and a half from now, who knows? In time, perhaps, Marriott may simply decide that the minimal revenue they derive from porn is just not worth having to sit through repeated meetings with Focus on the Family.