Outlawing obscenity and upholding decency

Very correctly, the 66th birthday of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the first anniversary of his assuming the office of President for a second term were celebrated on a solemn, religious note. This was a most welcome development because ostentatious celebrations on occasions such as these detract from the sobriety which should characterize governance in these times when every effort is being made by the state and other concerned sections to direct Sri Lanka on the path of national rejuvenation.

The tone in which these momentous events in the life of the President have been celebrated serves to emphasize the essential cultural and religious values which have been serving as the basis of Sri Lankan social life from time immemorial.

Among the more perceptive and thoughtful sections of our public it is religiosity and reverence for life which are of prime importance. These form the core values of our major religions and together they form the bedrock on which the local way of life has been moulded over the centuries.

It is in the fitness of things that President Rajapaksa should lead from the front in increasingly giving to national life this religious fervour and solemnity.

The ethic of Reverence for Life and the recognition of the sacredness of human life should never be permitted to be diluted or corrupted by alien cultural influences and this is one reason why we welcome a decision by the state media authorities to clamp a ban on websites that spew obscenities and pornographic material.

Numerous are the parents and elders who are worrying themselves exceedingly over the corrupting impact these websites have on young, impressionable minds. It is up to the government to respond positively to these just worries and they could not do better than to clamp-down on these deleterious and perverting influences. We urge the government to persist in eliminating these blighting influences and forces.

While it is not our position that local minds should be insulated completely from the exemplary and wholesome cultures of the world, we believe that we would be doing ourselves immense and even irreversible harm by indiscreetly allowing corrupting influences from the world outside to invade our homes and hearths.

These are some of the tragic consequences of integrating local cultures with the Worldwide Web. Once a culture becomes a member of the 'Global Village', it confronts the uphill task of selecting wholesome or beneficial influences from the world outside from the dross and 'filth' that clogs these pervasive media links to outside cultures and ambiences.

Ideally, the local mind should be exposed to what the world has to offer by way of entertainment and other essential requirements of the human personality and be permitted to choose for itself what is best for it, but the issue is that the 'good' comes along with tons of the undesirable and evil. Therefore, exposing the young and impressionable to such contamination could prove highly risky.

Indeed, sexual promiscuity and violence of the most gruesome kind that one often hears of, could be traced directly to websites and other media sources that are not usually monitored and are allowed to operate with the 'freedom of the wild ass.'

One needs to always take into consideration the 'copycat' effect of the material displayed by these sensationally-oriented and salacious sections of the media. It is no secret that both the young and the old could be influenced for the worse by these sources of 'entertainment.'

Therefore, we consider the state's decision to clamp down on culturally 'contaminating' websites and other sections of the media which are operating in violation of the norms of decency as long overdue. We need to always opt for those influences which are wholesome and respectful of the sacredness of life. We need to be standard bearers of these norms.