Samantha Danis

Jessica Morton
UWRT 1103-066
March 14, 2016

Standpoint Statement

My inquiry topic is about censorship, and how far are is censorship going to go until
it inhibits freedom of speech. I believe that censoring hate speech is validated, but I
do not believe that speech and writing should be censored any more than that. One
of the greatest things about America is all of the freedoms that were granted to its
citizens so long ago and those freedoms are what this country was built on. I believe
that everyone has a right to share what they think and believe because it is a
personal opinion and nothing more. I am a Christian and I have never been offended
when someone tells me they dont believe in God and cant understand why I
would. Our constitution grants us freedom of religion, so you can absolutely
disagree with what someones religion, because you have the right to practice
whatever religion you believe or no religion at all. I think that people are calling for
censorship because they are scared of someone sharing a different opinion that
disagrees with what they believe.
I think that taking classic books out of schools because they evoke unwanted
feelings for students is ridiculous. Nobody in the real world is going to put a
disclaimer before they say something that they are not sure is going to bring up
feelings of a traumatic event they have no knowledge of. I can give extremely
unbiased opinions on situations because I always try to see both sides of an
argument. Then there is my personal opinion of a situation which reflects my beliefs
(from my faith). I would assume that my religious beliefs present a bias, but Im not
sure if bias is the correct term. My religion is so popular so I am not treated harshly
or ridiculed for my faith as people who are followers of other faiths may be.
The other bias I may have is that I was raised to be tough, what other people
say to me is their own opinion and that doesnt make it true. If I had a problem with
what someone said to me, then I confront them, tell them how I feel, resolve the
situation and move on. I wouldnt want the government to censor so that they cant
ask me questions as to why I believe in God for fear that I could get offended. I
know that emotionally some people are more sensitive than I am which means that
they may take something that was not meant to have underlying meaning as a
cryptic message that attacks their beliefs or character. For example, think of the
classic situation where a man says something about a womans food, Are you going
to eat that whole meal? and she responds, are you calling me fat?!? When all he
meant was they ate not too long ago and he didnt want to pay for the whole meal if
she wasnt going to eat it. Men arent forced by the government to censor

themselves for fear of offending the women in their lives by accident, so why should
everyone else?