the opinionation

God and Censorship

No other issue in today’s society polarizes the populace like religion.

I am often criticized when playing the “blame game” where religion and its influence is ultimately my answer for the world’s ills. I have been known to say that religion is the root cause of many human atrocities from hate crimes to poverty. I am aware that my deity bashing produces either vitriol to be sprayed in my direction or, worse for me; people just stop listening as I am “unreasonable”.

My latest argument centers on the proposed ISP internet filtering scheme championed by Senator Steven Conroy.  It is my view that this scheme and the heavy censorship that takes place in Australia everyday is the result of pandering to the religious.

Those on the same, if not similar, wavelength to me will probably respond with a resounding “duh”, but many people (still) fail to see the link.

To begin with the current hot topic in censorship, Australia is the only Western country without an R18+ rating for video games. As a result many games don’t arrive on our shores without being “tweaked” if at all. Some may say this is trivial, but it means that there are adults in Australia who cannot play the video games they want due to a manufactured morality being pushed upon them. Others would argue that gaming is meant for minors and therefore video game distribution should be monitored, but that is what Michael Atkinson, SA Attorney General, would like one to think. In The Interactive Australia 2009 report it found that the average age of an Australian gamer is 30. I would argue that the majority of gamers are over the 15 year old limit placed on the current highest rating. The highest rating a video can receive at the moment is MA15+ - restricted for sale to anyone under the age of fifteen.

Recently the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (iGEA) CEO posted a prefabricated/stock standard letter he received from Mr Atkinson about this issue. The letter is full of unsubstantiated claims, like the link between simulated and actual violence, and backhanded remarks like suggesting that if someone has an issue about it, they should run against him in 2010. The letter with responses is available here: http://www.igea.net/2009/12/igea-ceo-responds-to-atkinsons-form-letter-on-r18/ , and I suggest everyone give it a read, if only to get a feel for the smug tone.

So if it isn’t actual facts that cause Mr Atkinson and others to take the viewpoint that banning or modifying a game to fit what is suitable for a fifteen year old, what else could it be?

I would be inclined to argue that the Government’s automatic stance to take the “parenting” out of parenting is at work, however, the same iGEA report found that 92% of parents are aware of what their child is playing and over 60% of parents actively play these games with their children.

The only other alternative is the Government trying to push its values, conservative values, on the populace and where do I contend that these conservative values come from? Religion – I’ll return to this in a little bit.

The gaming industry isn’t the only sector to be constrained by the conservative censoring beast that is the Australian Government, the film industry has had its fair share of run-ins with the Classification board and don’t get me started on the pornography industry.

As I had mentioned earlier, Steven Conroy has championed a plan by the Labor party to implement a mandatory filter to stop access to illegal websites.  As with most censorship plans, the official line from the top mentions that this proposal is necessary to stop “evil”. In this case it mentions the distribution of Child Pornography. They have also thrown the “terrorist” threat in the mix as well by claiming to make a safer country by blocking access to sites that contain information of terrorist recruitment camps.

It is the definition of the word “illegal” which gets the back up of all liberal minded citizens. By its own definition Euthanasia is illegal, as is the use of marijuana – this would mean any site that gives someone information on euthanasia or how to smoke marijuana in a safer way could, and probably would, be blocked.  Under this scheme, the only way to find out about terrorist camps would be from the Government and the Government alone.  Any reasonable Australian who doesn’t have a problem with the idea needs to read it again slowly.

The only way to find out about these “illegal” things would be from the Government and the Government alone.

Given that in 2003 it has been found that the Government had lied about the knowledge of the existence of WMD’s in Iraq, one would be very careful believing what we are told.

Whilst Steven Conroy is the dominant poster child for the filtering scheme, he isn’t the father of it. The idea has been buried within Labor’s plans since at least 2006, and has only been brought to the surface due to political lobbying by the conservative right and Family First Senator Steve Fielding.

There isn’t much that can be said about Fielding that a lot of smarter people have said in smarter ways. He is conservative, anti-freedom and an out and proud religious apologist / believer.

Which brings me around to the rather bold claim I made a few paragraphs back – all conservative stances originate from religion.

Unfortunately, for the argument, the issue of censorship isn’t as polarizing as say abortion or gay marriage. There would be religious folk who think the mandatory filter is a bad idea and there would be non-religious folk who support it. What the non-religious don’t understand is the want, or in some cases need, to control what people know or do in the privacy or their own home stems from the idea that the “Great Auditor of Thoughts” is watching.  I should clarify, I am fully aware of the actions of the USSR and how that would be a perfect example of non-religious censorship and control – the difference is the USSR wanted complete control over its population to control dissent whereas in the West and most certainly in this case, control is wanted to uphold a certain moral view.

It is no coincidence that this moral view being projected onto all Australians is that of the Judeo-Christian variety. Like a finale of Australian Idol, the fix is in. The conservative right in Australia is pulling the strings.

I confess I don’t know enough about the inner workings of the major religions to know exactly why controlling what other consenting adults do with their spare time or what someone does with their computer is important. One would think that by having more temptation around would make one look all the more pious!

Perhaps it’s the insecurity that their God has shown from both the original book and its sequel. The “us or them” attitude runs rampant. One gets the feeling that they actually believe that if we aren’t all living the Christian lifestyle than we must be working to destroy them.

After the 2009 Bushfires, Catch the Fire Ministry released a statement claiming that the reason thousands suffered and hundreds perished was because God was angry about the legalisation of Abortion in Victoria. If this is the case I fear the wrath of God when he finds out I’m free to look at his competitors are up to, or if I choose to look at scantily dressed women for sexual arousal.

I know I haven’t made my case as well as I would like to. The censorship issues we face both in videogames and on the internet stem from the elephant in every room ever made: Religion.

By effectively lobbying from within and outside of Government the Judeo-Christians have successfully and covertly stolen liberties from us without our knowing and until recently, our caring.

It is time for every Atheist and every Secularist to stand up and be counted. This country has apparently stood for tolerance of all races and creeds and lack thereof. It is hypocritical of the same country to be defining its laws and morals then, based on an intolerant and hypocritical religion.

Unfortunately, unlike our brethren in the United States, we have no law declaring that our Government is to be for all intents and purposes secular. While this may change if we were to become a republic it is the duty of every citizen who enjoys the freedom this country offers to ensure that any and all laws are separate from one sided religious dogma.

For the time being it is still our country, and I don’t plan on handing it over socially conservative, superstitious and ignorant fools.

-db