Thursday, December 19, 2013

My two cents on censorship, religion and the like:

American civilization and our media greet most things out-of-the-norm with a wide-eyed fawning veracity these days.  They fall all over themselves to find common ground for mainstream America with people flogging their Islamic/Buddhist/whatever beliefs. They give unblinking respect to the yoga-plex for all the meditative mantras etc that would have been labeled utter kookville a handful of years ago. At the very least, these things would have been presented with a raised eyebrow, but now they are well-enough regarded to the point that they are brought under the big tent of political correctness.  Even the new religion of Environmentalism is cited in newscasts with awe and reverence. I don't agree with all these things, but I do agree with respecting people who want a peaceful life that does not encroach upon the freedoms of others.  They get to believe what they want, as do I.

Given the above statements, why is it then a problem if a man publicly states his religious, political and social views?  Why would a production company filming his daily life for a television show edit out "Jesus Christ" and "God" from the recording when these things come up in the course of this person's normal day, whether or not the cameras are rolling? Why would that production company presume to predicate their continued work with this man on him keeping his mouth shut about what he believes?

Of course, any production company can (and usually does) engineer cuts of what goes on in these "reality" shows to portray the subjects in a particular light, but the folks on Duck Dynasty have been completely transparent about their views and beliefs, and for one of the people in that show to be thrown out of the production for expressing his views is patently wrong.  Why should he cork his views for the sake of the opinions/lifestyles of people wholly unrelated to him or his family? THEY were guests in his home, at his sufferance, and not vice-versa.

As far as homosexuality, this discussion will not lead to anyone changing their minds about which side of that fence they plant their flag. What this should lead us to is a resolution that we all do have to get along, and free Americans have the right to say and believe as they choose.  We are none of us guaranteed a right to not be offended.  Maybe Duck Dynasty guy was offended by decades of media and culture that fly in the face of his most sacred and profound beliefs?  Maybe he got fed up and decided to exercise his God-given right (or his right as an American, if you don't believe in God) to say whatever he wants. 

Let me be clear: I'm not speaking about any particular thing he said, but simply about his right to say it. I'm not saying he didn't say outrageous things, but again: free speech.

Freedom of speech is something we should treasure and fiercely protect. If this man can be shut up, so can you.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

AMEN!

gfa

Evyl Robot Michael said...

Amen and well said. I've been brewing a post about this exactly.

charlotte g said...

I believe the second amendment is a backbone to free speech. Both are imperative. I've never seen Duck Dynasty and fervently hope that will continue. I am fairly horrified with what he said.
Entertainment is artiface, pretense, fiction. He broke all the rules. I wonder: do rules of entertainment now overcome freedom of speech? Conundrum.

Old NFO said...

Concur!

burkdoggy said...

You're right as rain. Lots of real problems out there but all that gets press is what offends or what someone thinks someone else might be offended by.