by Jenilee Dunson

Created on: May 14, 2009   Last Updated: May 15, 2009

As soon as I read the debate question while rating some articles today, I immediately knew how I felt. Very strongly, I believe that there is already TOO much censorship in America. I am ALL for freedom of speech. Censorship completely and utterly rapes and destroys ART. And that is what music is, is it not? A beautiful work of art? No one is forcing you to listen to the song if it comes on, turn the dial. Afraid of your kids hearing the song? Boo hoo. Try watching them instead of letting them run rampant. Or here's a better idea, why don't you just do your best to teach them and instill beliefs into them and trust them to make their own, hopefully good, decisions.

Music does not cause violent crimes. Neither does television nor the gaming industry. If you think music can make someone rob a store, shoot someone, rape someone, do drugs, or lead a promiscuous sex life... I'm sorry but you're wrong. You're so attached to the person doing these things, or attached to humanity itself, that you do not realize, that not all humans are inherently good... Stop looking for a reason why. You won't find one.

Go ahead and blame music if it makes you sleep better at night. But understand in life, the only type of person who could possibly be influenced by a song, is someone who is mentally ill already.

There are a lot of great songs that use explicit lyrics. And not all of them use them derogatively or for no reason. Music is often the artist's way of bearing their soul, showing their pain, struggles, triumphs, and through music, it allows us to connect to them.

As adults, these are words which we have all encountered in our life. I see no shame in them. It helps us to relate to the artists' own pain, and make it our own.

If everything sounded like Sesame Street or Teletubies, it would be a huge injustice and disservice to the realm of Art. Censorship destroys art.

I'm OK with radio edits. I understand that they need to do this to keep their revenue and advertisers. I understand at certain hours of the day more underage kiddies are listening to the radio.

I understand warning labels on CDs.

All of that is fine...

But an outright ban on language, or too much censorship.... is always a bad thing, never a good thing. And who or what is to say what gets censored and to what degree? Is it just explicit language, or any language that could be construed to imply the true meaning. Or is it a ban on content and dark themes all together?

In my highschool days, at my public school of all places, one of my English teachers made it a point to assign us with books that had been banned by neighboring school districts. Some of them were quite raunchy like A Brave New World. But others were literary CLASSICS like Tom Sawyer (banned for use of the N word).

You can see the allusion there to the music industry I'm sure. Do you think we should deprive our children of "Mark Twains" and "Tom Sawyers" of the music world?

Only through freedom of speech can true art be created.

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