I'm not sure if this is the appropriate forum for this, but this article makes me think that the world of Fahrenheit 451 isn't too far away...
http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Opinion/Editorials/03OpOPN62051504.htm

Shaunathan:

How about the misinterpretation of the facts that Gore and Kerry bring forth in an endless cycle. Should they be censored?

Now terrorists want to change the history of the US Presidency, like in Spain. Gee, what next?

A free society with so many viewpoints. No moral compass, Wow! No absolutes. No truth. Everyone has their own.

Revisionist historians.
School textbooks that get written, printed and read with all kinds of hidden agendas. No censorship.

You can teach about all kinds of religions in the classroom, especially Islam and the like, but can't talk about Christ in the school.

Jus where do you think all this is heading?

Hm....(nothing more to say).

Cheers, Translator

Censorship is always a bit frightening. It is particularly dangerous when it carries the weight of government behind it.

I favor age-specific guidelines and some specific guidelines for sex and violence; but for adult audiences, I tend to favor pretty liberal standards there. For example: I see no redeeming social value in child porn or snuff films. I favor pre-publication banning of those kinds of things, but for the most part, adults should see what they want to see and study what they want to study.

Mr. Dark:

How about books written and printed and distributed on building bombs to blow up buildings with day care centers in them.

How about books dealing with methods and ways of killing others, with detailed illustrations? There is a popular Nazi book out, written by an American.

I have mixed feelings. The book itself kills no one.

However, it is definitely an enabler. When it combines hate literature with killing techniques, it's definitely problematic. What about a book that tells someone how to build a rifle or pistol? How to make a daggar? How to build booby traps into one's home for protection?

I guess I would have to think about what kind of redeeming social value it might offer. That's kind of one of the parameters of legal verses illegal porn . . . is there any socially redeeming value?

I don't think, for example, that nudity itself is pornography; but that doesn't mean there is not pornography.

Mr. Dark:

Well, then, the gun itself kills no one.

The gun itself DOESN'T kill anyone. Not sure what you mean.

Someone has to pick it up, aim it, and pull the trigger. People are killed in numerous ways: stabbings, beatings, drownings, hangings, poisonings, etc.

A gun, untouched, harms no one. People have to decide to act (or, in the case of kids and drunks, act accidently) in order to bring harm with a gun.

"...the book itself kills no one."

Your comment above, can be appleid to a gun. A gun kills no one. But it takes picking up both. Learning from one and implementing what is necessary to, perhaps, operate a gun and shoot.

What's the intent of the product. What's the intent of the writer. What's the intent of anything.

I refer to "A Piece of Wood" one of my favorites of Ray's. When the playing field is bare, any old chair leg will do...
To bad we don't just relagate our frustrations to two pieces of wood with graphite running down the middle. And the most efficient editing device invented, an erasure. The cliche back to the drawing board could still be a good alternative to
the vast conflicts we face. Words can make the masses ponder the dillema. Grassroot common courtesy may be a strange way to schush out universal fear. A smile knows no nationality, cooperation knows no language. There is more good out there than we realise you just have to look past the worlds patina, and grime that colors our views. Nothing succeeds without a polish of maintainence once in a while.
I actually found a web site that collected good news, and it was'nt just religious items it was world wide. For as many depths,and drear shadows. There are light sources to still be seen on a local basis. I am not putting out a utopian pie in the sky vision here, I still hear gun shots at night, and coming from the country can usually guess the caliber. Although each moment contains our decision to seek shine or slime. It is our choice
uncle

A gun itself kills no one?

A person can be killed with almost anything, bat, chair, rolled up phone book, water, etc.

A gun, however, is designed for the specific purpose of taking human life. Guns do kill and they are a bad idea.

I agree that guns don;t kill themselves. However, as I don;t trust those who wield the guns at all, I support the idea of banning guns. I have a very low opinion of the general public; by giving it guns you end up having something like 10 000 gun-related murders every year in the US. Guns are deadly, guns are dangerous, and it is very easy to kill with a gun. I know, I was shot with one. So no, guns themselves don;t kill people, people kill people, and if they have guns, they can do so much more efficiently.

Cheers, Translator

Sorry you were shot, and agreed, things should not be like the old West with people packing holsters trying to provoke others to "draw" (if, indeed, the old West was actually like that,) but concealed weapons are not always a bad thing, as long as they are not out visible where the "outlaws" can grab them: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1099688/posts

Guns??!!

Everybody talks about the American death toll in Iraq. Two a day since April. April and May totals over 200.

Gee! Three a day, every day, died just in Chicago in the last years, by guns, stabbings. Violent crimes, you know!

Just Chicago.

I scared to think what the total is for the entire United States per day. If I knew, I don't know if I'd want to visit the place...

What surprises me is what makes headlines.

The Central Park jogger, who was beaten, raped, nearly bled to death, and indeed would have died had she not been in top physical condition.

The young tennis player from Utah who was stabbed to death on a New York subway platform.

These made national news, the covers of national magazines, and all the time I'm thinking--I thought they raped, beat, and stabbed at least ten people to death a DAY in both Central Park AND the New York subway on a slow day such as during bad weather--maybe more in nice weather! I can see making a bit of a fuss over the out-of-state visitor, but the jogger wasn't even a tourist! What gave here? Was there some special aspect to these stories, or could New York be possibly not quite as violent as we've all been led to believe?