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Nov. 6, 2009
Rabbi Berel Wein: Choosing to hear
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick The mullahs' big week
Suzanne Fields A Fallen Wall for Fallen Man
Nov. 5, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet: Three scrumptious -- but simple -- butternut squash dishes
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger: Should prayers be covered?
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The Holocaust is now on Facebook
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
Oct. 30, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: Secret to Immortality
Caroline B. Glick Silencing dissent in America
Oct. 29, 2009
Lini S. Kadaba: Do tactics avert flu or reduce humanity?
JWisdom.com We Must Revamp our Religious Vocabulary With Gavriel Aryeh Sanders ( 10 minutes)
Oct. 28, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Atheists in Bubbleland
JWisdom.com Why what we wear impacts who we are With Rabbis Mordechai Becher, Menachem Golberger and Aliza Bulow ( 10 minutes)
Oct. 27, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The United Nations Is Outraged Again, Or: Department of Mideast Static
JWisdom.com The Science of Love With Rabbi Jonathan Rietti ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 26, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Damaging disclosures with a twist
JWisdom.com Wisdom and Wonks With Rabbi Eytan Feiner ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 23, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: Are you ready for the ultimate pleasure?
JWisdom.com Watermark and oneness with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 4 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick Stop using limited powers in a way that expands our enemies' advantages over us
Oct. 22, 2009
Steven Emerson: Terror Cases Share Desire to Kill Americans
JWisdom.com No More More Family Fights --- Really? By Sarah Chana Radcliffe ( 5 minutes)
Oct. 21, 2009
Tonya Alanez: Holocaust denier sues survivor, calling Auschwitz memoir 'vicious lies'
JWisdom.com Meditating Jewishly: A Panacea for Success by Sarah Yoheved Rigler ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 20, 2009
Dennis Prager: Obama and Dalai Lama: Why Israel Worries about U.S. President
JWisdom.com Abraham was not religious By Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer ( 6 minutes)
Oct. 19, 2009
JWisdom.comWhy Good People Do Bad Things By Rabbi Eytan Feiner ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 16, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Perfect Number
JWisdom.com Hearing Voices By Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick How Turkey was lost
Oct. 15, 2009
Jeff Jacoby: Peace vs. the 'peace process'
JWisdom.com: Former MTV producer and stand-up comedian Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff: Taming a Control Freak (A VERY fast 15 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review June 27, 2006 / 1 Tamuz, 5766

Our ‘opt-out’ society

By Pat Sajak


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | While watching a sporting event on NBC recently, a commercial for the DVD release of the grisly horror film, "The Hills Have Eyes" was shown. And to make it even grislier, this was the uncut release that was "too intense for theaters". The commercial, while not graphic, was intense and, I would maintain, disturbing. Disturbing, too, was the question of why NBC (or its local affiliate) was running this commercial in the early evening and during a program which included large numbers of children, my own among them.

This was another jarring reminder that ours has become on "op-out" rather than an "opt-in" society. In other words, the burden falls on those who would rather not be subjected to commercials for films about torture and murder. The usual answer to such objections is, "If you don't like it, change the channel or don't watch." Well, that answer makes sense if HBO is airing the film, but what about a commercial dropped without warning into the middle of a sporting event?

The same problem applies to Internet porn, a huge issue for millions of families. As soon as you speak of controlling the flow of pornography into computers, screams about the First Amendment begin. These screams can be heard even if one is not advocating censoring the material, but merely suggesting that people should be allowed to opt-in rather than have to opt-out. Why can't someone who wants pornography in his home request it rather than have those who don't want it have to struggle to keep it out?

Again, I'm not talking about censoring anything. And who decides what's pornographic? Well, in an opt-in society, it really doesn't matter, because any adult would be free to allow anything at all into his or her home, as long as it's legal and available. Meantime, those who would rather not have it won't get it. No more legal battles and no more fighting about what's acceptable and what's not. You want it, you got it. You don't want it, you don't got it.

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The explosion of technology has, it seems to me, led to a strange twisting of the whole freedom of speech debate. For many, the argument has appeared to advance from protecting all forms of speech to protecting all forms of speech in all arenas. In other words, creating safe havens is, somehow, censorship. Requiring printed lyrics so that parents can monitor their kids' listening habits is, in this new world, tantamount to censorship. (Just ask Tipper Gore the problems that can cause).

It's one thing to rail against so-called bluenoses who are trying to dictate what others can and should do; it's another to insist that no one should be able to shield himself or his family from what he — for whatever reason — may find offensive. All any of us should ask is the freedom to choose what we want or don't want. Why can't we opt-in for that?

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JWR contributor Pat Sajak is the recipient of three Emmys, a Peoples’ Choice Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He's currently the host of Wheel of Fortune.



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