There is a rather disturbing story over on the Archbishop Cranmer blog which highlights a letter he has received from the Advertising Standards Authority. It relates to an advert encouraging people to keep marriage "traditional", the advert makes no explicit mention of gay marriage but it is clear that, by extension, supporting traditional marriage means opposing gay marriage. It is not a possition that I agree with as I have written about here.
The tone of the letter is as officious and unpleasant as you would expect but what I find most worrying is that it demands that he keeps the correspondance confidential and that he explains why he feels the advert isn't "offensive and homophobic" as 10 complainants to the ASA have said it is.
While I disagree with the intention of the advert, I cannot see how any reasonable person could see it to be either homophobic or offensive and I completely support the right to make it and display it. If people find it "homophobic and offensive" it should be for them to justify why rather than the blog owner to explain why it isn't.
We should have the fortitude not to automatically be offended by things we disagree with, and even if we are offended it doesn't mean that people should automatically be silenced.
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To me, the biggest issue is simply political correctness run amok. It is somehow assumed that everyone in society must be protected from every possible offense. Or to take another example. Geert Wilders banned from the country. Whether one agrees or disagrees with his views (and I may agree with some of the more reasonable suggestions he makes), the idea that we must ban a legislator from a close western ally due to our fear of giving offense is just downright scary. For those who believe in freedom of speech, the whole trend is deeply depressing.
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