Censorship and Discrimination
Today in my American Government class we discussed the topic of censorship. I have to say that i have strong feelings about this topic. This is a topic where i would probably veer away from my party. I believe that everyone should have the right to say, write, and publish anything we want. If that includes porn, so be it. I don't think the government should have any business in determining what is right and wrong. They should not be in the position to make a value judgment. Who is to say what is right or wrong. Christians contend that porn is not right and a sin. Some other religions might say its ok. Who's to say that Christianity is the only correct view. If we start imposing our morals and values on everything, it could potentially get out of hand. What if, down the road, some extremist group somehow came to power and started saying that we couldn't wear certain things because it was immoral. You can't just look at what is wrong now and make a law against it. You have to look at everything in context.
That probably came out completely wrong due to the fact that its 12am and i'm dead tired. But my mind won't quit running until i write this down. lol.
Lets say for example that Mrs. Jones believes porn is wrong. She uses her religion, the bible, to back up her claim that it is wrong. On the other hand, Mr. Smith thinks its perfectly fine. He see's no problem with it. He doesn't believe in the bible or Christianity. If we rule in favor of Mrs. Jones we are saying that everyone should follow the ways of Christianity. Now... I'm not saying Christianity is wrong at all. I am a Christian. However, i don't think religion has any business in our government. Why you ask? What if Christianity wasn't the major religion? What if it was say... the Islamic faith? Would you want those morals and values imposed on you? Would you want the government forcing you to wear cloths, women, that cover your entire body? Would you, men, want to be forced to grow beards? No. Of course not. If we let religion play a role in government, that is what will happen. We will start imposing our morals and values on everyone. We will be no different than the government of
I also oppose prayer in school for the same reason. Most people support prayer in school as long as its CHRISTIAN prayer. What if the teacher was Muslim? Would you want your child to be subjected to and/or forced to pray to the east 7 times a day? I don't think so. People think that as long as the established religion agrees with them, they don't have anything to worry about. That's one of the things that pisses me off about these groups that push for prayer in school. They don't just want prayer, they want Christian prayer. What about the other religions? Do they not get a say? These people seem to be so narrow minded about the issue.
Another topic that was brought up today in one of my classes was that of private organizations and their ability to reject members based on sexual orientation, race, gender, or anything else. This is a hard topic to deal with. On the one hand we have the rights of the organization to choose who can be a member. If this were not their right, it wouldn't be private would it? It would be public. The Boy Scouts, for example, would have to admit girls. It wouldn't be the boy scouts anymore now would it? However, you have a problem when it comes to things like sexual orientation. Why should you be left out just because you are gay? Its the same thing with race. Why should you be left out just because you are black? Those two things are the same thing.
I heard a funny quote the other day. It was something along the lines of "Homosexuals are the new black people." Basically saying that gays and lesbians are the current group of people being oppressed. I hate that everyone always talks so badly about discrimination and how it was so terrible that we had a segregated society based on race, and yet we turn around and do the VERY SAME THING to homosexuals. Its the same thing. Period. End of question. You might as well discriminate based on race. If you're going to do one, just do them all. It makes no difference. People like focus on the family who talk so badly about gays and lesbians and about how they shouldn't have any rights and should all be "dealt with" piss me off. Its sad actually. In 50 years, hopefully, when gays and lesbians have equal rights and equal treatment, those organizations such as focus on the family and other extremist groups will looked upon as they do the KKK and Nazi's. They will be frowned upon as extremist. And i say that with confidence.
I think the solution to the problem is to take it one step at a time. I think race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation should be protected. I don't think you should be able to discriminate against someone based on those. Items such as age and gender are a bit different. I don't think employers should be able to discriminate against age and gender, but admittance to private organizations shouldn't have to allow EVERYONE in. If they did, then there would be no private organizations. The other option would be to just keep it how it is. I don't know why anyone would want to be part of an organization that wants to discriminate against you. Honestly. Why would you want to be somewhere you are not accepted? It doesn't make sense. The problem with this is when you leave it how it is, and people start seeing how terrible you are and such, these organizations start complaining about being discriminated against themselves. How ironic? They complain that communities won't allow them to participate. They complain that they aren't allowed to use government facilities because they discriminate against sexual orientation. My opinion is that if you want to do these things, that’s fine. But you get what you pay for. If you want to do these terrible things, don't expect to be treated like a king.
Bah! The topic is so broad. I could talk forever on it. I guess my thinking has turned more liberal over the years. However, that is only on certain issues. Issues such as homosexuality and religion are two important topics to me. Maybe that’s why i have different views on them. As i said before. Some people like to call me moderate. However... i am not. I am a conservative who has some liberal beliefs. lol. I still think welfare is stupid. I don't think healthcare should be free. I think guns should be legal. heh. I could go on. When you are born, you are not guaranteed success. You are simply allowed the chance for it. You shouldn't have things handed to you. Tis not the American way. Some people have forgotten the famous slogan. "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." Now days, it seems like everyone is asking the opposite.
As I said, I don’t know if what I’m thinking in my head came out very well on here. Hopefully it made sense. I’ll try to clarify some of the stuff soon. But now i must sleep. I hope you all have a great week!
Sincerely,
Matt Keller
