3 ms·

Oh no, this new wave of UK anti-porn zealotry will ban even legitimate literature like 50 Shades of Grey... Give me a break. 50 Shades of Grey is a porn novel.

by astine 13y ago

Oh no, this new wave of UK anti-porn zealotry will ban even legitimate literature like 50 Shades of Grey... Give me a break. 50 Shades of Grey is a porn novel. It's a porn novel that made the best seller list, much to the first world's embarrassment and I'll bet you anything that it's what prompted this law in the first place. There are a lot of legitimate reasons to be concerned about this new proposed law, but I won't shed a tear for 50 Shades.

spiek 13y ago
I think you are missing the point. It seems that the author used 50 Shades of Grey to illustrate his "If everyone is a criminal, no one is" point. Literary merit aside, 50 Shades of Grey was a massive hit, and also pornographic, meaning that lots and lots of people read it, and lots and lots of people are now "criminals". Also, in terms of freedom of expression how is 50 shades of grey any less significant than any of the other books he listed?
- astine 13y ago
  "Literary merit aside, 50 Shades of Grey was a massive hit, and also pornographic, meaning that lots and lots of people read it," Which is probably something that the UK government does not want happening again. "and lots and lots of people are now "criminals"." No they're not, unless they decide to share copies of the novel online. I must have really missed it if there was something about retroactively enforcing laws. There are legit concerns here, but fsog isn't one.
  - spiek 13y ago
    FSOG (nice acronym, it's a pain in the ass to type out) demonstrates that there a wide segment of the population that is willing and interested in reading material which the government is attempting to criminalize. I misspoke when I said they "are now" criminals, I should have said they will be criminals. >Which is probably something that the UK government does not want happening again. Also, this gets my hackles up. Why should they not want it to happen again, besides pointless and absurd moralizing? People have been writing smut for thousands of years. The first books printed with Gutenberg's printing press? Porn. What's different now?
laichzeit0 13y ago
No form of literature should ever be made illegal. Holocaust denial, Creationism, Scientology, etc. No matter how absurd or factually incorrect it is, should never be censored in any way or form. Absolute freedom of press without limitation. Incitement to hatred, racism, etc. The usual arguments against this come from people who are offended. People who argue that they are offended do so under the assumption that they have a right not to be offended. This is a false assumption.

by astine 13y ago

spiek 13y ago

I think you are missing the point. It seems that the author used 50 Shades of Grey to illustrate his "If everyone is a criminal, no one is" point. Literary merit aside, 50 Shades of Grey was a massive hit, and also pornographic, meaning that lots and lots of people read it, and lots and lots of people are now "criminals". Also, in terms of freedom of expression how is 50 shades of grey any less significant than any of the other books he listed?

astine 13y ago
"Literary merit aside, 50 Shades of Grey was a massive hit, and also pornographic, meaning that lots and lots of people read it," Which is probably something that the UK government does not want happening again. "and lots and lots of people are now "criminals"." No they're not, unless they decide to share copies of the novel online. I must have really missed it if there was something about retroactively enforcing laws. There are legit concerns here, but fsog isn't one.
- spiek 13y ago
  FSOG (nice acronym, it's a pain in the ass to type out) demonstrates that there a wide segment of the population that is willing and interested in reading material which the government is attempting to criminalize. I misspoke when I said they "are now" criminals, I should have said they will be criminals. >Which is probably something that the UK government does not want happening again. Also, this gets my hackles up. Why should they not want it to happen again, besides pointless and absurd moralizing? People have been writing smut for thousands of years. The first books printed with Gutenberg's printing press? Porn. What's different now?

laichzeit0 13y ago

No form of literature should ever be made illegal. Holocaust denial, Creationism, Scientology, etc. No matter how absurd or factually incorrect it is, should never be censored in any way or form. Absolute freedom of press without limitation. Incitement to hatred, racism, etc. The usual arguments against this come from people who are offended. People who argue that they are offended do so under the assumption that they have a right not to be offended. This is a false assumption.