Thursday, October 4, 2012

Freedom of speech... or just plain wrong?



Recently I was with my friends and one of them mentioned something that happened a few years ago. Now, I realize this is not new information, but it was news to me. I guess that a man had self-published a book on Amazon.com called "The Pedophile's Guide". The context of the book is pretty clear in the title. This book explains the "proper" methods to being a pedophile in order to not only please yourself, but also the child involved. Obviously the book got loads of bad press. How could a book like this one be published in a place where pedophilia is illegal? The author argued that many children enjoy sexual activity. He would know. He was raped at a very young age. If you are a normal human being, then like me, you should be disgusted! But, then you and I have to realize that disgusting or not, the author of this book has rights. The Constitution advocates for "freedom of speech", and because Amazon.com does not censor the items that are put on their site, the author has his full right to write and sell such a book. (Thankfully though, Amazon.com finally made the choice to yank the book from the site.)

This issue, is not a new one. In 1989 a book titled "The Anarchist Cookbook" was published in the United States. This book explained how to make bomb and how to cause general mayhem. To this day, that book is one of the most controversial.