Wil's Rant

The Sikhs are protesting a play which involves murder and sex abuse in a Sikh Temple. I understand why this might be upsetting to them. I would be equally concerned about the concept of a Christian Priest, Mininster, whatever, being depicted as committing these crimes in a Christian church. But the fact is, Christians can read about this type of thing almost daily in the papers as having been actually committed, not just depicted in a play. I understand that the Sikh are a very devout people and I have never heard of this type of problem within their community, unlike many other faiths. That doesn't mean that it has never happened, only that I have never heard of it. My point is that this is only a play and as such is not meant to actually depict any historical event. There have been many works of fiction that depict acts which having actually been committed would offend many people. Sometimes, just the fiction offends many people. Should we censor these works because they offend some people? Or should we instead be allowed to form our own conclusions about the work and decide whether to watch or not. I, for one, disagree with the concept of censorship. If it was up to me, most of the severe gore that is shown on television everyday would not be shown. The C.S.I. shows come to mind. Yet these shows are widely popular despite having, what I consider, to be far too much depiction of blood and guts, so to speak. Due to the nature of this particular program, a certain amount of blood needs to be shown in order to demonstrate the subject matter, but this much! In any event, I'm sure the author did not write the play with the intention of offending anyone. She may have simply been examining the subject matter from various angles. Censorship is a dangerous concept. It can be used to deny the rights of people as a whole. It is for this reason that we must allow these types of works, even when we find the subject offensive.