Welcome to
The DFN Weekly

Personal Freedom
and Censorship
An Editorial

By

Jojasa

Hot Slut's Links

I was complacent.
I took for granted that, as an adult, I could pretty much do whatever I wanted with my own body as long as I didn't break any major laws. I thought that what I did behind closed doors, at a private party, or in a member's only club was no one else's (other than the other adults who were there by their own choosing) business. I always thought I was a pretty good person, I've never intentionally harmed anyone, I've followed the Golden Rule, I have a very definite set of morals which, while they might not be your morals, they make sense to me. I don't believe there is one universal right and wrong in the world of morals. I have made peace with my god and my religion, which may not be your god or religion, but I am ok with that. We all need to do what is right for our own soul.

So where am I going with all this?
The past few weeks I have learned first hand that the freedoms I took for granted as an American, the freedoms we have always prided ourselves on and fought and died for, are slowly disappearing. We cannot continue to be complacent about our right to free speech, our personal freedoms, and our privacy. There are people out there who think everyone should think and act like them. They have the *right* religion, the *right* morals, the *right* gender orientation, their's is the only way and if you deviate from how they think, you are wrong, immoral, and a threat to everything decent. You suddenly become un-patriotic, and a threat to *good* and *decent* people everywhere.

I knew they were out there, but I dismissed them as fringe groups, no one who could actually affect me personally. After all, I am an American too, I have rights.

Don't become complacent. They are out there and they are growing. And one day soon they *will* affect you personally if you continue to ignore them. They aren't going away. They quietly write thousands of letters to your representatives telling them how to vote. They threaten businesses with nationwide boycotts. They get commercials that they consider offensive pulled from tv, and laws passed that erode our personal freedoms. They twist things to promote their agendas and try to make anyone who speaks against them into an enemy of all decent people.

The CWFA, Concerned Women for America, is one such group. They promote "traditional biblical values". Their campaigns include many many faxes, emails, phone calls and letters to our government. They try to intimidate business that support gays or any type of sexual expression outside of a traditional marriage, into following their rules. They do not want anything shown in the media that doesn't conform to their *family values*. There is NOTHING wrong with Christian family values. What IS wrong is their agenda to make everyone conform to their beliefs. It is very scary when one group tries to impose their values and morals on everyone else... and is slowly succeeding.

According to CWFA standards, because I am involved in the BDSM world, I am not a good person, I am probably a threat to children and should not be allowed access to my own children, I have no morals, I am definitely not a Christian, and I should probably be locked up. ...And they don't even know that I sell porn!

They have blackmailed the Radisson Hotel in Rosemont, IL., into not allowing a BDSM event to take place this weekend. It was a convention with over 300 people, totally within the law, completely private, and had been held at that hotel in the past without incident. Radisson hotels didn't want the negative publicity that the CWFA promised them if they allowed these people to stay at their hotel. Thank god for the Ramada Hotels who are standing up for our rights and freedom despite the campaign of hate, censorship, and the promise of demonstrators this weekend, and are welcoming the BDSM group to their hotel. Radisson Hotels are now beginning to feel the effects of their decision from people writing and telling them they will no longer use their hotels.

What does this have to do with you?              
You are an adult webmaster. One of the CWFA's (and many other such groups) targets is porn on the internet and the people who put it there. Don't be complacent. Get involved with the people who are fighting for our rights. When you hear of a company caving in to a censorship campaign, write to them and tell them how you feel. When a business stands up to a group like the CWFA, let them know that you support them. Pay attention to the bills and laws going before our legal system and don't hesitate to write to your Representatives with your feelings. It *can* happen to you.

Jojasa