Thursday, May 17, 2007

I agree with the government.

This is a rare occasion that I agree with the government.

A controversy was raised recently after two editions of the students journal published by the Chinese University of Kong Kong published articles on incest and bestiality.
Some community members feel offended, and complained to the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority. The authority then transfer the journal to the Obscene Articles Tribunal, which classified the material as indecent.
Some people have exaggerated that the classification has suppressed freedom of expression and discussion on sex. The students who publish the journal said they aimed at opening up more discussion on sex.
I believe that these claims are non-sense. Not many people in the community said sex should not be discussed in the university magazine.
But how the information is presented crucial. The journal asked readers questions such as ``Which kind of animal you would like to have sex with?''
It would be absolutely fine if the magazine analyzed questions results, and invite some academics or people who have well understanding of the topics for an in-depth discussion or reporting. But the magazine has none of these meaningful stuff. It is disgusting and bad taste if you just raise the question but not giving any insight.
Some community members, not sure if they are angered by the students journal classification, have raised a campaign against the Bible, saying the Christian scripture also contains material on incest and bestiality. They asks why the Bible is exempted if the students journal is classified as indecent.
The Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority received more than 2,000 complaints against the Bible, which demand the holy book be given to the tribunal for classification.
The authority today issued a statement, which I cannot agree with more.

The statement says
"The Bible is a religious text which is part of civilisation. It has been passed on from generation to generation. TELA considers that such longstanding religious texts or literature have not violated standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable members of the community. Therefore, TELA will not submit the Bible to the Obscene Articles Tribunal for classification."
「《聖經》是宗教文獻,亦是人類文明的一部分,歷代相傳。影視處認為這些源遠流長的宗教文獻或文學作品,並沒有違反一般合理社會人士普遍接受的道德禮教標準。因此,影視處不會將《聖經》呈交淫褻物品審裁處評定類別。」

I am a Christian, I have to declare.
But I believe the Bible, apart from religious teaching, is presenting what is happening in the past. Some behaviors deemed unacceptable in today's moral standard had really happened in ancient times. A book that gave details on history should not be banned even though the behaviors are not accepted in today's standard provided that the information is written in a decent manner. The Bible does not explicitly say how people have sex with others.
If the Bible is banned, then lots of other publications, including those on war history, should also be banned as I am sure the war scene will be disturbing to some people. Some well-know literature, which also have material on incest, should also be banned even though they are well respected.
The students of the Chinese University, and some community members, should find out why people believe their journal is indecent instead of insisting they have done nothing wrong as they have a ``higher'' aim.

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