By quoting from the Bill of Rights, the blogger says that he cannot find any reference to a "right not to be offended", meaning that there seems to be in America a "prevailing notion" that people have the right to live free and unfettered by offensive things, and that sex and nudity seem to be the sole offenders.
This is not even close to being true. Society has ruled against many, many things that have been deemed to be offensive, such as dog poop, smoking, excessive noise, speeding, creating a disturbance, fireworks, and so on ad infinitum.
There is a fine line in this society over what is decent and what is indecent, and it will always be so. As society changes so do public perceptions. It was once perfectly acceptable for people to swim naked, but in Victorian times the bathing suit was invented and it became the norm to be covered on the beach. It was once thought scandalous for a woman to show a bare ankle, and today there is no problem with women showing much, much more. Laws and ordinances are enacted by public demand - proposals are made, bills are voted, laws are created. In a representative republic such as we have today, it is generally the majority will of the people that decides what is offensive and what is not.
Concerning nudity, the overwhelming opinion of the American people has determined that it is indecent in public places. This opinion has been shaped by many years of societal give and take, and when you consider the fact that we are largely a religious society, it's no surprise. And don't tell me that we are a secular society today. Yes, we generally believe in the separation of church and state, but with most Americans believing in God and belonging to some organized religion, there is no way to completely separate the egg from the yolk.
And you know what? I like having a right to offend, and I don't mind being offended in turn. If you're able to censor your environment such that you never come across anything that offends you, be it sex, nudity, Sean Hannity or the religious right, you're not living in a free society.
This is essentially a non sequitur. I have no difficulty coming across sex, nudity, Sean Hannity or the religious right; all of these are ubiquitous.
When I come across things I'm offended by (and there are many), I simply ignore them. I change the channel, I tune them out, I walk away. Frankly, they're not worth the time and energy it takes to get upset over them. I'd only ask that anyone who's offended by nudity and nudism to do the same: support the spirit of the bill of rights and look away rather than try to censor us. Being offended once in a while is a small price to pay for freedom.
I'm offended by something every day, and this is true for every American. Society cannot and will not eliminate all things deemed to be offensive, but it will attempt to curb and control activity determined to be offensive by the majority. The Bill of Rights does not guarantee the right to do or say anything you please (shouting "fire" in a crowded theatre is the classic example), the wording was designed to allow open dissent without fear of reprisal from the government. It's unreasonable and naive to think that thousands of years of developing public perceptions of decency and indecency can be simply passed off with the phrase "look away" - it's much more complicated than that.
So don't expect public sex and nudity anytime soon. In the meantime, don't break your TV next time you throw something at the screen during Hannity and Colmes.
2 comments:
By quoting from the Bill of Rights, the blogger says that he cannot find any reference to a "right not to be offended", meaning that there seems to be in America a "prevailing notion" that people have the right to live free and unfettered by offensive things, and that sex and nudity seem to be the sole offenders.
This is not even close to being true. Society has ruled against many, many things that have been deemed to be offensive, such as dog poop, smoking, excessive noise, speeding, creating a disturbance, fireworks, and so on ad infinitum.
That's not quite what I meant. Sex and nudity aren't the sole things society regards as offensive, but they do hold a unique place in law for being the only offensive things that must be completely stricken from the public view on the basis that some find them offensive. While all that stuff you list is also regarded as offensive, most of it is legal and the rest is only prohibited for health and safety reasons.
My point is that this total prohibition is hypocritical given counterexamples of non-prohibited offensive things (which could include the list above) and wrong by any reasonable interpretation of the constitution.
I agree with you that no reasonable person can really expect things to change anytime soon. It's simply my opinion that individual rights ought to trump majority will (as they're supposed to; that's why we acknowledge and protect individual rights from "tyrrany of the majority" in the first place), and that society is flat out wrong for supporting censorship on this basis.
Good post though.
That's not quite what I meant. Sex and nudity aren't the sole things society regards as offensive, but they do hold a unique place in law for being the only offensive things that must be completely stricken from the public view on the basis that some find them offensive. While all that stuff you list is also regarded as offensive, most of it is legal and the rest is only prohibited for health and safety reasons.
Murder is also prohibited for health and safety reasons, too. Most laws are written to protect the individual in society. I agree that American society is hung up on sex and nudity, but we have Puritanical and Victorian influences that have been very hard to shake. In the overall picture great strides have been made in the last 50 years regarding sexual matters, such as legal abortions, contraception, mixed-race marriages, greater acceptance of gay people (despite the current efforts of the religious right), etc. Also, the Sixties cultural revolution helped to break down barriers in film and music, the Seventies were very liberated sexually, and if not for SIDs and AIDS it is likely that spirit would have continued unabated through today. In addition, the nudism/naturism movement is booming.
These steps forward have taken place over decades as society and culture matured. It's a constant struggle for common sense and reason to stay a step ahead. The Falwells and Dobsons have a lot of followers and a lot of money and are always looking for a cause to mobilize their supporters. Sometimes it seems like the right is winning the culture war, but they are losing, slowly but surely, all you have to do is look at the overall progress that has been made since WWII.
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