Thank you, to all of you, who tuned in from all over and listened to the radio program on Friday. I loved hearing from you and also loved getting your kudos. It was nice to hear that you thought I sounded at least somewhat coherent. I did have a lovely time. The folks at KRCL are fantastic folks. Really.
If you were listening, you heard me talk a lot about how the exposure of our children to public nudity is truly a parental responsibility. I meant that. I do think it does take a village to raise a child and I have certainly contributed and done my share of helping to raise some pretty fantastic children on this planet. I'm proud of my contribution! But when it comes down to the moral safety of these children, to the things to which they are truly exposed, to their own values and the ways in which they see the world, I do feel that the parents play the primary role.
You can disagree with me if you'd like. I know and respect that each of you has your own opinion about this and that they are as varied as the there are types of people walking on this planet. That's what makes life so very interesting.
One thing, though, that is beginning to truly disturb me about our country (and here, I truly am talking about America and not the rest of the world) is how very conservative we are becoming. How we seem to be taking more and more steps backwards. We are becoming less and less tolerant. Less and less open hearted. Less and less accepting of those whose viewpoints are different than our own.
All those civil liberties and rights that were fought so hard for and won beginning even during World War II and going forward are very systematically and slowly being stripped away in the name of Freedom.
What freedom? We're allowing ourselves and our voices to be shackled. Is that freedom?
I read this article today and was truly saddened by the possible implications for our First Amendment rights. Because I am a woman who writes and publishes very openly here on the Internet about very personal and naked things, the idea that Karen Fletcher would be prosecuted for publishing fictional stories on the Internet truly is disturbing.
Let me say that again. They were fictional stories. That she was writing to help ease her own pain. When did we become a country that was intolerant of people writing to ease help themselves heal from their own pain and suffering?
I know that because she published these stories on the Internet she caused some sort of hullaballoo. But let's think about this from a more moral and logical standpoint. Yes she self-published her stories on a private web site on the internet. Did she force me to read them? No, she did not. Did she send them to people who didn't want to know about them? No, she did not. Did she spam innocent children's email addresses with these stories and pollute their minds with these images? No, she did not.
She wrote stories to help her heal from her own private hell. Fictional stories. She published them on a private, password protected website. What on earth is wrong with that?
When we start to prosecute writers for writing private material that is not even truly publicly shared we're crossing a very scary line. Our rights as writers, as human beings in this country are becoming tenuous at best.
It makes me truly sad that Karen Fletcher feels she can not fight this. I know she has to do what is best for her own mental health. But I feel that this loss is a loss for all of us, not just for her.
