One of the biggest promises of the Internet was that it would have unfettered free speech for all.
However, a new study released Thursday revealed that Christians are one of the few groups being censored online.
The new media platforms of our world -- Facebook, Google, Apple, and MySpace -- all promise a world filled with much more free speech and democracy.
But the National Religious Broadcasters has warned these platforms could well be the new anti-religious censors of our day.
The NRB conducted a study of the social networking websites that showed even among the largest of the sites, only Twitter hasn't censored Christians.
I'm going to propose a new rule. When you censor comments on your own blog that are contributing to the discussing but offer a differing viewpoint (as many of my comments have been but not made it past NOM's censors), then you aren't allowed to complain when someone censors your point of view. Does that seem fair to everyone?
As for the study itself, it was conducted by the National Religious Board. I am not going to say that they have an agenda to fill, but I will say that the study would have more weight behind it, in my mind, if it were conducted by an independent group, or a group that looks at civil rights and censorship (like the ACLU). I am against censorship, even censorship of unpopular views.
I would like to point out my favorite quote from the original article, however.
"Then you're thinking, 'Wait just a minute. We've crossed over into this netherworld where offense is now the justification upon which the rights we have as Americans to fully engage in the culture and to debate all issues is going to be decided?'" May asked"It's funny, because Christians, the group allegedly being censored, oppose gay rights and gay marriage because it morally offends them. I guess that it is a worse crime to have your first amendment rights violated than it is to have your fourteenth amendment rights violated.
The last thing I will add is that gay people, in some countries and in some areas of the US, also have their first amendment rights trampled upon, not being able to say "I'm gay" without fear of community backlash (e.g. bullying in school, which has lead to suicides). So please, NOM and Christians, do NOT play the victim here; if anything, you perpetuate a culture of dehumanizing someone for their identity. That is FAR worse than not being able to say "Gay marriage is bad because..."
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