Censorship?!

A very good argument Leah, but personally I'm a bit of a Darwinian, if I can't handle something, it's my responsibility to keep away from it. If I can't do that, then tough cookies. I know it may be considered a tough standpoint by some people, but I don't believe that anyone has the "right" to be protected from anything. In my opinion if I can't protect myself, then it's a privilidge extended to me by a third party, and the protection can be removed at any time, without my consent.

Given the choice between a society where even the very worst elements are visible, and one where only what a select group of moral crusaders see as appropriate is available, I'd choose the former. At least the first example is honest. It is too easy for censorship to be used to shape a society's collective conciousness, and it's all but impossible to keep the ranks of regulatory agents clean of people who would use that power for self-interest. I would rather be confronted with terrible thoughts and ideas, surrounded by other people who admit that they exist and can help me form an opinion on them.

I believe that people are not wonderful beings, created in God's image, but gone slightly astray... many of us are terrible creatures, full of self-interest, one step away from sociopathy. These people do not follow rules. Personally I don't like the idea of a video of a 10 year old girl getting gang-raped, but it happens. I believe that a part of the reason it happens is because we close our eyes to the idea that it could, most people spend most of the time pretending that things like this don't happen, that people like that don't exist. They do exist. Let's stop closing our minds to it, and do something about it.

Do we censor information on the Holocaust? It isn't the record of an event that is bad, it is the event itself. A video of a young girl or boy being raped is not a pleasant thing, but as far as I'm concerned it can win an Oscar for all I care if there isn't any more rape. If the film was recorded 10 years ago, but there's been no rape at all for 5 years, then that means we've grown as a society. By censoring that material you allow the "proles" to ignore it's existance, which allows the minority that do these things to grow and continue their actions unhindered. Let's not make these things acceptable, but it's important not to turn a blind eye to their existence. About 3 weeks ago there was an article in the West Australian newspaper about a 64 year old man being jailed for 7 years for the sexual abuse of an 11 year old boy. He made the plea of guilty to two counts of sexually penetrating and six counts of indecently assaulting a boy under 13, as well as one count of possessing child pornography. He will be eligible for parole. Hundreds of people would have read that article, and most of them would have been disgusted, waxing lyrical about the indecency of it all. I would bet my last dollar that 90% of these people don't care any more. They've forgotten about it.

Sorry, I've rambled, I've ranted. I've probably been taken totally out of context. It's a topic that can invoke a lot of emotion, and that tends to make people defensive. I don't pretend to like the things that happen in this world, but I would prefer to have as much information available on the topic as possible, that I may attempt to form an objective opinion. If you are so sure that your idea is right, then let me gather the facts myself, and I'm sure I'll realise this sooner or later.