#%$& CENSORED!

Earlier today we were driving along and Eminem was playing on the radio.

I'll be the first to admit that he is a pretty talented musician and a brilliant lyricist; however, it is very difficult to listen to his music on the radio.

I say this not out of dis-like for his songs, but more for the brutal bleeps and skips installed by the ever-caring FCC. Once it was pointed out, I couldn't help but think that some of my nearly twenty-year-old CD's sound better.

Having grown up in a relatively hands-off family, censorship was never really enforced for me as a child; as a result, Rambo: First Blood was one of the first movies I can remember seeing. Not that I'm complaining, but I am pretty sure that most would consider this an inappropriate movie for toddlers to watch.

However, life being as it was, I watched more than my fair share of ultra-violent movies, saw a good bunch of naked people and listened to plenty of profane music growing up. As a small aside, I think I've turned out to be a relatively productive member of society.

So, considering my own personal history with censorship, I am completely opposed to any and all government-enforced censorship. That includes censorship of movies, music, books, news and ideas.

I am of the opinion that telling people they aren't allowed to see or hear something will only increase their curiosity for said sight or sound.

I personally have no problem with nudity and as a sailor have an ear very desensitized to foul language. Personally, I take more issue with violence than I do with either of the other two primary censored categories, but all the same feel that it should not be something that the government controls.

If my kids want to listen to Eminem on the radio, what is the benefit of editing out every other word from the song?

Is someone under the false impression that they aren't going to look up the lyrics as soon as they find a computer?