Is it because the world has become so polarized, or is it that Companies are scared of the Religious Right? Has being Politically Correct been taken too far?

You have to wonder, when you hear about Internet Companies censoring the legal commentary by some of it’s subscribers. The issue is growing too, as Companies like Yahoo sign huge deals with Governments like Communist China. And it is about Free Speech, though many argue it is about simply following rules and guidelines.

(AP) Rant all you want in a public park. A police officer generally won’t eject you for your remarks alone, however unpopular or provocative.

Say it on the Internet, and you’ll find that free speech and other constitutional rights are anything but guaranteed. (source - CBS News)

If you go to some of the blogger sites, it is amazing at how many are ‘removed due to objectionable content’ or some other disclaimer. Frankly, I suppose it is their right, to host only what they believe. Yet on the other hand, when does it cross the line?

I mean seriously, if you are a business, you have an obligation to your shareholders, to your own values and morals, but when does perception cross over to become Censorship? When does Big Brother become the guiding factor behind a rule or guideline?

Now the article is discussing how Yahoo censored a photo, not once but twice, and there lies the rub. The total INCONSISTENT manner in which companies apply their rules, their guidelines. And yes, they don’t always make those rules clear, thanks to all the legalese they use. Not to mention the length of those document either.

It is funny, how we all claim Free Speech when we are dumped for doing something stupid. Like posting a porn blog on a site that clearly states NO ADULT, but is it about Free Speech or simply the right of ownership? I mean if a site is willing to host adult content, why should their decision be assaulted by those who aren’t into adult subjects? And that gets me too, because so many mouth off about being Anti Porn, but how come so many watch Porn in Secret?

Sex isn’t dirty, but society makes it so, as does most Religion. Sex is a natural physical act, and as long as both parties are of legal age, consent to the act, what friggin business is it for anyone else? If I don’t like a television show, I SWITCH THE CHANNEL. Yet here we are, in the year 2008, and companies are allowing their employees to administer their policies, their guideline, based on their own perceptions, their own values.

It bugs me, that many of us forget that Democracy really isn’t about the will of the majority, but is about the rights of all people, to be able to express their views, their own values. As objectionable as that may be, a minority should not be subjected to conform to the will of the majority. Though in all honesty, is it the majority that is making up all these bullshit rules? Or is it just a select few?

Bottom line, a company should be able to set its own rules, its own guidelines without being attacked. However, they have an obligation to CLEARLY DESCRIBE THOSE TERMS, CONDITIONS.

The recent Victory by Senator Barack Obama in South Carolina tops the news, because let us be honest, who would have thought 10 or 20 years ago that a Black Man might become President? I know it was perhaps a dream among many, but did the White World ever truly believe it possible?

Given how ‘racism‘ has actually been on the rise over the last decade, you kind of have to sit back and smile each time Barack Obama wins a Primary, or comes close. I mean it is good for the soul, to see someone rising above the Racism that exists. And when you consider how many advances have been made in just 4 short decades, well nearly 5, but still, it is quite a remarkable feat.

It kind of gives one hope about the Gay struggle for ‘acceptance‘ given that our own ‘Civil Rights’ movement is only a decade or two behind the Black Movement. Yet, in some ways, I am not sure that Gays will reach this kind of pinnacle anytime soon. I mean look at how vehement the opposition is to just simply being allowed to Marry?

Then too, look at the race for President. There isn’t ONE SINGLE CANDIDATE standing up for Gay Rights. Oh I know, many believe that Hilary Clinton is a strong supporter, but frankly I don’t think so. Nor do I believe that Barack Obama is what one could call a ‘good friend‘ to Gay Rights.

In fact, if you heard his speech to a Church Audience long before people thought he could knock off Hilary Clinton, it wasn’t good news for us Gays. Now I know, it would be a real political killer if say he did support Gay Rights, and said so bluntly. I mean odds are he wouldn’t have won Iowa, let alone taken South Caroline or come within a whisker’s hair of winning New Hampshire.

Still, wouldn’t it be nice if Politicians could say that?

I mean what is the attraction of Bigotry & Racism? I don’t get why people need to ‘hate‘ others so much, irrespective of their differences? I mean what did Black People do that so many Whites feared them? Still do in some areas, but what did anyone do to the so called ‘silent majority‘ that made ‘racism‘ so acceptable?

Did a bunch of Gays hit on every Tom Dick & Harry they met? Was there some mass sex assault on Mainstream America that I missed? I mean, okay so you don’t understand how two men can have sex, or two women, with each other. Why should that offend or sicken you? Hey, I don’t like Haggis, but it is a National Dish for the Scots, should I now hate them? Ostracize them because they like Haggis?

Jews don’t accept that Jesus Christ is the son of God. So that means we should eradicate them from the World? That they should be killed at every opportunity as some Muslim Leaders believe, and some Christian one’s too, just seems crazy. And yet that is our world today, and then I see Barack Obama, winning in South Carolina, I hear how Caroline Kennedy has spoken out in support of him, remembering how inspirational her father was.

And I wonder, will hatred end in my lifetime, or will Barack Obama meet the same fate as John Kennedy? There is so much hate, and it isn’t based on anything tangible. People fear and hate homosexuals, because of some ancient passages in a book, but they foam at the mouth when they think a gay person will be able to show their love by marrying their partner. It is insane, and yet maybe, if they can get over the color issue, the barrier that people who have about different skin color, maybe there is hope they’ll get over the fact that I can love another man.

If Barack Obama goes on to become President, I think in the short term it really won’t help Gay Rights. There are just too many obstacles for him or any President to overcome right now. But in the long term, it does give one hope, and maybe that is all we can expect these days. Maybe a win by Obama will make people take stock, and realize how much they have missed out on, by being prejudiced for so long. Maybe at last, the human race is growing up.

We can only hope so.

You really have to love these Politicians who campaign on ‘Family Values‘ and rail against Homosexuals, Adultery, and other that other good ‘election rhetoric‘. I mean so many seem willing to gobble it up, and it is what makes them VOTE FOR a candidate. Just look at the race in the Republican Party today for President.

You have Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee going toe to toe over who is more ‘Religious‘ than the other. Who is more of a ‘Conservative Christian‘ than anyone else. Even John McCain and Rudy Gulliani are trying to establish their credentials for being the true ‘Christian Conservative‘. Only problem is, just how many of them really mean it?

Can we say Senator Larry Craig?

Remember that Texas Prosecutor that defended Texas Sodomy Laws before the Supreme Court? The one where Police kicked in a gay couples bedroom door, then charged them?

Well seems Mister Pure & Innocent, who campaigned on being a ‘Family Values Candidate‘ (like Larry Craig, Tom Foley, and others) is not so squeaky clean. In fact, he dropped his re-election campaign because he got caught sending naughty emails with video, to his secretary.

(Houston, Texas) The district attorney who defended the Texas law criminalizing homosexuality before the US Supreme Court is desperately trying to keep his job following the discovery of e-mails containing sexually explicit videos, racist jokes and what is described as torrid love notes to his executive secretary. (source)

This is what happens when you pander to special interest groups. It is also what happens when, as voters, we place more emphasis on what a person believes in (religious wise) than on what they are willing to do. After all, it is how George W. Bush got elected, and we all know how that has worked out.