Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
So, here's a question for you.
And it is a real question: What is going too far, in terms of blog posts?
My post below is titled "Damn, I am one sick puppy." I do have an offbeat sense of humor, and a cynical view of the human condition. I post things here that I don't post on my own blog or elsewhere - not just stuff related to atheism, per se, but rather stuff which discusses a need to have a skeptical eye in general about the abuses of authority and power throughout society.
But what is "going too far?"
I ask because this very topic has come up on a blog I check out fairly often, a big one with a general interest in tech, culture, and writing. But every once in a while one of the main writers there will post something which is a glimpse into true horror - a news item about a horrible crime, typically*. And when these jarring things happen, the comments typically take the person to task for posting such a thing. But there is also a fair percentage of comments along the lines of "hey, this is reality - wake up!"
OK, which is it for you?
I'll make my own choices in the matter, of course, and they can be probably figured out from what I have posted here in the past. I am willing and capable of looking at true horror when the situation demands it, but I do not dive into such waters lightly.
But what do you think? Was the post below just a little too crass? A little too sharp-edged? Or just boring? I'm curious.
Jim Downey
* Yes, I am talking about BoingBoing. I didn't want to put a link to the specific instance directly in my post, and only add it here at the end so that people can check it out if they want. But warning - you cannot "unsee" the post, the headline, or even the hyperlink - so proceed at your own discretion.
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I always say...
...you can't go too far if you're going in the right direction.
BoingBoing appears to be simply reporting a true story. I don't see how anyone can object to that. If it happened, people should know about it. I wouldn't care to see that story treated humorously, but they're not doing that.
What does worry me, sometimes, is when people invent fictional gruesome crimes for purposes of entertainment. I worry that it will put ideas in the heads of the unhinged that they wouldn't have thought of themselves, which they'll then make real. In fact I'm pretty sure that's happened a few times. I believe in free speech, without exceptions -- but it still worries me.
As for the Edward Current video, it's straight up black comedy, not particularly gruesome, and makes a real point (i.e., the Bible says some crazy shit). I don't see any objection there either, unless it's to the request to emulate him. But since we know the whole thing is fake, that objection doesn't have much bite to it either. No one's going to take it seriously.
Sardonic smile goes here
" ... the Bible says some crazy shit [...] ). No one's going to take it seriously."
Oh, ye of little faith! There's some wacko Christian woman on the lam right now to keep her son from getting court-ordered chemotherapy for Hodgkin's.
some reality isn't pretty
Your question seems to presuppose that the biases and sensibilities of the reader has any authority over what you choose to write. "Too far," like beauty, is in the eye of the individual beholder. Write what you want to write about and say what you want to say about it. You have no control over how readers perceive things. If a ruckus arises in the comments it's not your responsibility and ultimately, if people don't like what they read here they have the option of not coming back and reading it any more.
With a headline like that...
... you're on your own if you go any farther.
Let's see, in the past week or so, I've filled time with episodes of various versions of CSI and seen deaths caused by swallowing some corrosive liquid that ate away their insides, another falling into a pool filled with a similar ingredient that essentially baked him and cooked off his skin ... I've forgotten the others. And here's a reminder that reality can push that even further.
At the same time, reading the post reminded me of an episode of Dragnet, where the baby sitter got high on marijuana and put the baby into the oven, thinking it was the Sunday roast. Jack Webb had all sorts of opportunity to look I-told-you-so-ish about the depravity of callow youth. So, how sick am I if this horrible reality reminds me of a dimwitted TV show?
It also reminds me of the statement I've heard in various forms, attributed to a variety of classic authors: "I am human. Nothing human is foreign to me." (http://www.xs4all.nl/~josvg/cits/terence/index.html) Not that I particularly want to learn about the furthest reaches of human depravity, when PCP-assisted or not, but I am never particularly surprised at just how far we can reach in that direction.
Frank Moorman, skeptic
"what is the point of giving persons Freedom of Speech... if you then say they must not utilize same? And is not the Power of Speech the greatest Power of all? Then surely it must be exercised to the full." --Salman Rushdie
I liked it!
But I'm a sick puppy, too. :)
too far?
How far is "too far?" It's sort of like pornography -- I can't describe it, but I know it when I see it. :-)
Seriously, I'd guess that anything appearing on the Web is fair game for linking, discussing, showing, etc. You have to know your audience -- if NObody complains EVER, you're probably not doing your job! If EVERYone complains, you're probably going too far.