The very fact that you can censor movies in the cinema, on video and on TV
only shows how flawed these old media are.
TV is simply far too easy to control.
Around the world, every dictatorship and oppressor uses state control of TV
to spread government lies and suppress the news.
Across the
unfree world,
state TV is the voice of the oppressor, and the spreader of lies,
just as
Orwell
imagined it would be.
In the disturbing new world of the Internet,
governments everywhere must be longing for the return of TV.
Whether
enemy media
can be attacked during war is a difficult question.
I think we should
hear what the enemy has to say.
But it must be admitted that as the war escalates,
this may have to change.
Don't Bomb Us,
say Al Jazeera.
Like all those Serbs with their
"TARGET?"
t-shirts,
they have no idea what they have done.
They have no idea why they are so hated.
I don't support bombing Al Jazeera,
I think.
But I could see a case for it if this became a
war for survival.
Article 40.6.1(i) of the Constitution
is basically a green light to all forms of censorship.
It states that we have free speech, and yet:
"The publication or utterance of blasphemous,
seditious,
or indecent
matter is an offence which shall be punishable in accordance with law."
We really do have a crap constitution.
Thank heavens it isn't enforced.
The uselessness of this Article was highlighted again recently
by the ability to make a law banning
ads for religion on TV and radio.
The "Power to Change" group was banned from the airwaves,
but their material can be read
here.
The pisspoor
Natural Born Killers (1994)
was also banned.
Although I think this film is painful rubbish,
being anti-censorship does not mean you're only against censorship of things you like.
Otherwise it is a meaningless term.
In fact, a lot of so-called liberals who claim to be anti-censorship
turn out only to be against censorship of things that have
artistic or intellectual merit.
Whether a film has any artistic merit or not is irrelevant
- the worst you should be able to do with anything is simply classify it for adults-only.
Actually banning any film or book for adult consumption is an outrageous abuse of law.
Abortion
I find a difficult question.
I have no problem with the destruction of sperm, eggs, or a newly fertilised egg,
or very early embryos in research.
I do have a problem with the destruction of a viable fetus.
I do have a problem with the destruction of a fetus
that feels pain.
This is about the definition of what life we protect.
Why do we not protect chimpanzee life?
Would we protect Homo erectus life if they had survived?
Would we protect Homo erectus unborn life?
If all living things that ever existed were alive today,
which would we protect?
This
is the same basic question as
animal rights
and vegetarianism.
What right do we have to kill any living thing?
In Ireland, despite the
1992 amendment
to the Constitution,
freedom of information is not guaranteed.
Under the Regulation of Information (Services Outside the State for Termination of Pregnancies) Act
of 1995,
abortion information (in particular UK phone numbers) can only
be supplied to pregnant women in certain circumstances
(after they have been counselled on the other available options).
This makes the following sites, any of which can be found easily
with a search engine, illegal in Ireland:
An interesting question is this:
If religious people really believe life begins at conception,
why do they not give names and funerals to miscarriages?
Why does the church not demand funerals and burials for miscarriages?
Hope for Healing: Miscarriage and the Dignity of the Human Body
by Andrew J. Sodergren,
discusses the strange treatment by the Catholic church of miscarriage.
It
quotes a critic:
"Look at how you pro-lifers deal with miscarriage. If you really maintain that the unborn are human persons, you would not be so careless and nonchalant about miscarriages. When a woman miscarries, why is the body not retained? Why is the mother not allowed to mourn? Why is there no funeral or burial? These omissions prove the unreasonableness and inconsistency of the pro-life position."
In the UK, the
ProLife Alliance
party political broadcast was banned on TV in 1997 and 2001.
It used to be available on their website,
but I can't find it now.
As I say, I'm not really sure what I believe.
I think if abortion is legal,
the limit should be reduced to maybe
10 weeks,
and
it should be done with an anaesthetic for the fetus.
was banned in Ireland for blasphemy.
Here is the script.
Since 1995.
