How much can you learn from the "fringe"?

You probably don't need to attend a conference to know that society is becoming more and more sex-obsessed, with the content of prime-time television shows now saturated and dripping with innuendo and blatant jokes that trivialize what used to be considered private and, to many people, sacred.
But these are the more benign forms of a huge problem — the fringes poking through the mainstream culture. What's hidden below the surface is far worse and far more prevalent than many people believe. You don't have to dig hard to find it. Often, you don't have to dig at all. It will reach up and confront you or, more likely, your children. (Deseret News April 23, 2009)

I want to focus on the idea of the fringe and how it is evidence of the deeper rooted issues. I have known many people, as I am sure so have many of you, that will joke about sexual things openly and insist that they're "just joking." Even as an older teenager I recognized that there was much more to their jokes than they claimed. And of course it wasn't too much longer before I discovered that there were long histories of pornographic addiction and disloyal behavior.
So, here is what I think... my dad was right. There is ALWAYS truth in jest, always. If suggestive or flat out crude joking is a customary practice that is only the "fringe" that you're seeing.