"Freedom of Speech" (Chapter 10, Kottak)

Throughout chapter ten of Mirror of Humanity, Kottak discusses the many religions and beliefs that exist today. While a particular belief or philosophy may be deemed as the norm for some, it is looked as a taboo by others with an etic perspective. Regardless of the fact that many religions are somewhat similar, (the belief in an afterlife, nirvana, a creator, etc.,) people mainly concentrate on the differences between these faiths. These differences are what people use as a basis for starting controversy, conflict, and most ludicrous of all, censorship in a country that attempts to be renowned for liberty, the freedoms of expression, and many other things that our actions contradict.

This brings us to the subject of censorship. People are constantly complaining about something that offended them on television, on the subway, something in writing, and how can we forget, on the radio. In our country this is happening all the time; people get overly offended when someone expresses a dissenting or offensive opinion. If a person does not share the same opinions as the majority then he will either never be heard or publicly denounced.

When an offended person wants to censor any type of material and sparks a controversy about a topic, he must understand that by doing so he is placing more attention on the subject and is working conversely with his primary objective.

Recently an artist made improvements of his chocolate sculpture of Jesus. Many people of the Catholic Church protested and strongly opposed the chocolate figure being presented in an art museum. People remarked, (taken from amNY newspaper 10/17/07) "the timing was appalling. That wan an upfront assault on Christian sensibilities during Holy week" and "Obviously this guy has an agenda. He's targeting very revered religious figures." So what if he has an agenda? It is not against the law to be offensive. If people truly believed in their faith why should they care about what others say about their religion or ideologies?

More information at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI5Mqn4Fr5w

In South Park's (a show aired on Comedy Central) eighth season, the creators Tracy Parker and Matt Stone made an episode about Tom Cruise's belief in Scientology. After the show aired and was scheduled for a re-run, Cruise threatened to not consent to the debut of one of his films if Comedy Central aired it again. Comedy Central, which is owned by the company responsible for the debut, took the episode off the air. Perhaps Cruise did not realize this at first but after this controversy more people streamed it on youtube and various other sites. It is one of the most viewed episodes for some sites exclusively for streaming South Park material. If people just left issues such as these alone, they will disappear eventually. By showing contempt and going as far as to censoring something, you will make people curious and the attempt will work against you.

Here is a great example, this is the episode: http://www.southparkzone.com/episodes/912/Trapped-in-the-Closet.html

…and more people spreading the news:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMcl0BElTjo&mode=related&search=

There is nothing more un-American than imposing one's beliefs on others and believing that one's opinions should be considered superior.

Please…if you dislike something, please do everyone a favor and just censor yourself.

The question of the day: Can someone PLEASE honestly say exactly why people are so eager to not ONLY censor material from their children but from other people as well? There so far has been no logical explanation.

"Freedom of Speech" (Chapter 10, Kottak)

Throughout chapter ten of Mirror of Humanity, Kottak discusses the many religions and beliefs that exist today. While a particular belief or philosophy may be deemed as the norm for some, it is looked as a taboo by others with an etic perspective. Regardless of the fact that many religions are somewhat similar, (the belief in an afterlife, nirvana, a creator, etc.,) people mainly concentrate on the differences between these faiths. These differences are what people use as a basis for starting controversy, conflict, and most ludicrous of all, censorship in a country that attempts to be renowned for liberty, the freedoms of expression, and many other things that our actions contradict.

This brings us to the subject of censorship. People are constantly complaining about something that offended them on television, on the subway, something in writing, and how can we forget, on the radio. In our country this is happening all the time; people get overly offended when someone expresses a dissenting or offensive opinion. If a person does not share the same opinions as the majority then he will either never be heard or publicly denounced.

When an offended person wants to censor any type of material and sparks a controversy about a topic, he must understand that by doing so he is placing more attention on the subject and is working conversely with his primary objective.

Recently an artist made improvements of his chocolate sculpture of Jesus. Many people of the Catholic Church protested and strongly opposed the chocolate figure being presented in an art museum. People remarked, (taken from amNY newspaper 10/17/07) "the timing was appalling. That wan an upfront assault on Christian sensibilities during Holy week" and "Obviously this guy has an agenda. He's targeting very revered religious figures." So what if he has an agenda? It is not against the law to be offensive. If people truly believed in their faith why should they care about what others say about their religion or ideologies?

More information at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI5Mqn4Fr5w

In South Park's (a show aired on Comedy Central) eighth season, the creators Tracy Parker and Matt Stone made an episode about Tom Cruise's belief in Scientology. After the show aired and was scheduled for a re-run, Cruise threatened to not consent to the debut of one of his films if Comedy Central aired it again. Comedy Central, which is owned by the company responsible for the debut, took the episode off the air. Perhaps Cruise did not realize this at first but after this controversy more people streamed it on youtube and various other sites. It is one of the most viewed episodes for some sites exclusively for streaming South Park material. If people just left issues such as these alone, they will disappear eventually. By showing contempt and going as far as to censoring something, you will make people curious and the attempt will work against you.

Here is a great example, this is the episode: http://www.southparkzone.com/episodes/912/Trapped-in-the-Closet.html

…and more people spreading the news:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMcl0BElTjo&mode=related&search=

There is nothing more un-American than imposing one's beliefs on others and believing that one's opinions should be considered superior.

Please…if you dislike something, please do everyone a favor and just censor yourself.

The question of the day: Can someone PLEASE honestly say exactly why people are so eager to not ONLY censor material from their children but from other people as well? There so far has been no logical explanation.