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The FCC 0wns me

I don't always believe everything I read on the internet or agree with an exact viewpoint but Rory has a major point in his post about Howard Stern's recent removal from the airwaves here.

I agree for the most part but as a Christian I don't like how we somehow get dragged into this fight for censorship and freedom of speech. Christ came to this world for one thing: freedom. Christ's mission was to free the human race from the effects of sin yet some 'Christians' tend to think this means that we are to be freed so that we can point out other peoples faults and show how its a sin. Do sinners know they sin? Of course they do even if they don't realize it so why would they need you to point out their faults when you yourself have some that are more sinful in the eyes of God? Our place is not to judge yet I can see why the whole of Christianity is lumped into something like this. It's simply because the moral majority are apparently trying to make rules for everyone to follow.

News flash: Christ didn't come here to make more rules. Christ gave us one commandment: To love one another as he loved us. If I love you, I will not put any restrictions on you. I will let you do whatever you choose loving you the whole time. Will I agree with it? No. Is there a chance what you're doing is wrong? You bet but it's not my place to make even one comment about it because I myself am not perfect.

I do think that we have laws in this country for a reason, so that there is not total anarchy. People often need protection even from themselves so I do believe you can't do anything you want. I believe our laws are sufficient enough for humanity as a whole as the majority of them are actually valid. A lot of laws in this country and my state are completely obsurd yet we ellected the very officials that made them. If they can be made, we can elect people that can unmake them as has been proven by numerous courts.

I guess the main reason this even happened is because people were sitting down with church groups and their entire family watching the superbowl. They wanted to watch a 'friendly' 'sporting' 'event' where the objective was to knock the crap out of the person who happens to hold a part of a pig. They weren't expecting some scantaly clad people wearing barely anything during the halftime show and most definately weren't expecting a boob to pop out.

At least when you watch or listen to Stern you can usually tell within the first 10 seconds whether or not it will offend you. You have to wait for literally a 10 second snapshot in the middle of a 4-6 hour event before you can get grossly offended and expect the heads of someone. I guess the main problem was it wasn't expected yet I suppose seeing someone brutally hurt was? Whatever.

I think this is a complete waste of time and energy on everyone's part. I shouldn't have to fight for something the founding fathers of this country fought and died for already. People died to give us the freedom of speech yet people apparently want to throw that sacrifice away because of a boob popping up in prime time television. People died so that we may live freely in this world. Who am I to crap on their grave because I feel that Howard Stern should be off the air? I don't have that right especially if he has the money needed to be on the air. Air time does cost money and if he can afford the cost, he should have the right to say whatever he wants to, period.

Luckily the internet is one place where anyone can freely express anything they want. Does that mean the majority of the information on the internet is valid or correct for me? No I read something and decide for myself whether or not its right for me. I'm glad I have somewhat of a choice between programs on TV or the music I listen to but apparently that choice won't be with me for long. I thought this was the land of the free? I guess we were duped.

Print | posted on Tuesday, March 09, 2004 12:05 AM | Filed Under [ Living on planet Earth ]

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# re: The FCC 0wns me

It's been a while since I've been to Sunday School, but I think I remember *10* commandments...

Did you ever listen to Howard Stern? I'm trying to decide how making fun of retarded people and treating women like whores fits in with "to love one another as he loved us"?

You can still have free speech without it being vulgar or indecent.



3/9/2004 5:28 AM | GuyIncognito
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# re: The FCC 0wns me

Guy -

"You can still have free speech without it being vulgar or indecent."

But some people *like* the vulgarity and indecency.

That's the point.

At the same time, you can have a radio without listening to Howard Stern.
3/9/2004 5:53 AM | Rory
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# re: The FCC 0wns me

Guy -

"I'm trying to decide how making fun of retarded people and treating women like whores fits in with "to love on another as he loves us"

The point is that a person has complete freedom to make fun of retarded people if they want. As a christian, we don't have the rights to restrict that person's freedom. Remember stones and glass houses.

Because that person is talking about whores and retarded people, does it mean that we, as christians, should love them any less? NO! We should have the same love for him as we do anyone else. We are all sinners, no exceptions. Even Jesus loved whores. Even in the Bible, Jesus showed care for whores, and lepers, and all sorts of other humans. We should treat everyone with the same kind of respect and love that Jesus would.
3/9/2004 7:41 AM | Jason Olson
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# re: The FCC 0wns me

Radio and Television are two separate mediums anyways.

TV has a rating system like movies which does a pretty good job of accurately depicting the content of the shows. A TV-14 rating is usually meant for most teens but not all because some kids may learn the same ideals at an early age. One can take that rating before even seeing any of the content and make a very accurate assumption on what the show or event is about.

I wonder what the superbowl TV rating was. I highly doubt it's something for the whole family even though it's a sporting event. Why? One of the main objects of the game is to hurt the other team. I love football, don't get me wrong but I like playing it more than watching it. I can control my temper and realize that it's only a game where many of today's atheletes only consider it a paycheck. These athletes shouldn't be teaching my children about sportsmanship because many of them have none, period.

I'll take an example from my life. At the age of 9 I pretty much had an avid vocabulary of every swear word in the book. I learned this from friends though, not from TV or movies. I will use the rating systems for my own children so that I can try to prevent them from going down the same path. Will they go around my back? Probably. I will however teach them the difference between reality and fantasy and hold them accountable for everything they do.


Jason is right entirely. The one commandment Jesus gave actually covers the entire 5 books of the Old Testament called the Pentateuch. If I love you I will not cheat you, I will not kill you, I will not steal or covet your wife. I will not do anything harmful to you because of Love and the freedom I have in Jesus.

Does it mean what you're doing is right? It could be or could not be. I don't have the right to judge it any more because God is the ultimate judge here. I am only given one commandment now: to love you. I'm not commanded to throw stones or point out your sin because we all deal with it, period.


I think the answer here is to not restrict anything, but to open things up to more variety. There should be more variety so that I can choose what I wish to watch or subject my family to. I don't want to be held down to just one Christian station, thats why there are others out there now like Daystar or the Word network. That way if one of them decides to be in it for just the money, I can simply change the station to one I feel is more open and has programming that I can agree with. I also don't want to be held to just one news organization because all of them are bias to some degree which really annoys the crap out of me. Can't you just give me the facts? No they want to give me what they think I should be learning, not what I think I should be learning.

I'd rather simply change the station than have some group go through every station taking out what they feel we shouldn't be subject to. Who are they to decide what we like? Some of them are just as messed up as we are yet they want to play God and try to restrict what is covered on television or the radio. If I really want to know something, I'll find my way to learn it regardless of your restrictions. The romans tried this with Christianity and you see how that turned out. The FCC should learn from history and stop making the same mistakes.
3/9/2004 1:48 PM | Jeremy Brayton
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# re: The FCC 0wns me

G'day Jeremy -

Down Under we don't have the FCC so I guess I can't really comment on exactly what is going on with Howard Stern. I was prompted to give you some encouragement (we'd say "good on you, mate!") as you mentioned you were a Christian. Not many people publicly declare this for whatever reasons.

I couldn't agree more with your basic premise - Christians should not be the biggest group of rule maker/criticizers on the earth. There's clearly room for social action and the need to impact on society - with some recent elections down here, I heard a slogan "You get the government you pray for". You make a good point about not being overly censor-iffic, which applies to Christians or other groups making the "rules".
3/9/2004 5:05 PM | Thomas Williams
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# re: The FCC 0wns me

I do believe in laws but I believe in laws that promote the health of society as a whole. A bunch of laws in my state simply don't promote this and I should elect officials to change them. If they won't change it guess what? I'll elect someone who will. If I go through a ton of candidates that won't I'm left with only one option: running for office myself.


I won't deny my connection to Christ, ever. I have before but that was before I was changed. I thought I was a Christian but there is something about being born again that is very real. I can honestly say my entire life has completely changed even if I still sin or am bound by sin. If it wasn't for Christ I simply wouldn't be here now either in my conception or through my life. I don't care if people consider it a crutch or whatever negative spin they put on Christ but I realized a long time ago that I can't live this life alone. I've tried, I've failed and I've learned from those mistakes.
3/11/2004 1:27 AM | Jeremy Brayton
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