OXFORD, March 1, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Oxford Union justifiably bills itself as the most famous debating society in the world. Its past is luminous with the names of many of the greatest thinkers, leaders, reformers, and political giants of the last 180 years. That does not mean, however, that its reputation could be considered ‘respectable.’ In our time, some observers are saying that the invitation of one of Europe’s most prolific pornographic movie stars, Ron Jeremy, shows the Union – and its reputation – has outlived its purpose. Jeremy is the star of over 1700 hard-core porn films and claims to have had relations with 4000 women.
The Union’s librarian, Vladimir Bermant, commented, “Ron is the biggest and apparently the best in the business, so I’m sure he’ll have some fascinating stories to tell.”
The Union’s pacifist, leftist leanings infuriated Prime Minister Winston Churchill when the Union passed a motion in 1933 that “This House will under no circumstances fight for King and Country.” The Union, which is not an official body of Oxford University, was nevertheless considered so influential that some historians maintain the motion encouraged Hitler’s decision to invade Europe.
Founded in 1823, in an age when academia could more easily be taken seriously, former presidents of the Union have included Hilaire Belloc, Benazir Bhutto, William Gladstone and four other British Prime Ministers. Its members compete internationally against other top debating societies, and Oxford regularly fields one of the most successful teams at the World Universities Debating Championships. Union speakers have made up a list of the most famous and influential names of the twentieth century and include Mother Teresa, Ronald Reagan, Churchill, Malcolm X, Robert Kennedy and the Dalai Lama.
In recent decades, however, the mandate to debate important issues of the day has given way to subject matter more suitable to Fleet Street’s sleaziest tabloids and puerile undergraduate pranks. The Union’s recent list of speakers have included another porn ‘artist’ Jenna Jameson, pop singer Jon Bon Jovi, OJ Simpson, discredited magician Uri Gellar, TV muckraker Jerry Springer, model Jerry Hall, and Kermit the Frog.