Comments for Society for Promotion of Community Standards Inc.

Comment on Erotica Expo unlikely for Claudelands Arena – Hamilton by Dave

Dave — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 10:20:29 +0000

This decision by Council is laughable at best. It’s not a moral decision says Macpherson… But… It is… This is a legal established event – and any councillor concerned with the fit of this event within the image of the city obviously haven’t headed down to the CBD on a typical Friday or Saturday night.

It smacks of dogooder gone wrong and is nothing short of a misplaced effort of Patricia Bartlett type controls… One must ask why council hasn’t gone to the same efforts to address the numerous brothels, strip clubs, adult stores and swinger clubs that grace our CBD.

Comment on Art shock ‘kills’ PM [John Key] in alley – Sunday Star Times by Richard Hamilton

Richard Hamilton — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:34:54 +0000

I presume our politicians are part if the community, and are to be scrutinised for their standards by the SPCS, yet John Key’s lies and deceit and his government’s anti social activities have not been commented on, as far as I know, by your organisation. The National government and it’s actions are far more offensive than this genuine attempt by Sam Mahon to prompt debate on the issue. Moralism can be just another form of fascism and a great cover for narrow minded bigotry. On Saturday night I changed channels on the TV and, without warning, was faced with an image of a woman with her throat cut from ear to ear, for my entertainment. It was not put there for my enlightenment. That is highly offensive to me. I rarely hear the sound of tambourines banged on that issue.
The John Key image is obviously an art work, its purpose is morally justified. There is no part of the image that even approaches the violent filth we are exposed to every night on television, and there is no part of the message that intends harm or exploitation. There is, though, a lot of harm and exploitation of the community by Key and his government.

Further I think it is inappropriate for your society to contend anything about the views of “most New Zealanders” given that, in the few hours that the web site has been open, you could not possibly have gleaned enough comments to sustain your argument.

Comment on What REALLY Happens During an Abortion by Silvio

Silvio — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 23:54:21 +0000

I wonder if Caleb, who seems to justify abortion on the grounds that a woman may not be able to afford to raise it, has heard of adoption?

Comment on CEO of registered charity – Womens Refuge – criticises Judge’s decision by Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 13:13:11 +0000

I agree with Heather. Why should status be a factor in determining the sentence when a crime is committed? If that’s the case, professionals would be of an advantage in all criminal cases. The NZ legal system serves the public and should not be biased in their decisions towards professionals or people of higher status.

Comment on What REALLY Happens During an Abortion by Caleb

Caleb — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:22:18 +0000

Wow, it’s been a while.

Rob, if you can give me one example of an abortion which involved ” ripping their [an unborn child's] limbs off, one-by-one” in this country, I will surrender my argument and admit that you are right. If you can’t, then I advise you not to exaggerate when you argue – you sound stupid.

And yes, I have nothing against your beliefs. I myself am a Christian – I try to live by the example that Jesus set, and be a good, reasonable person. That said, I detest Christians, such as those in the SPCS, who feel they have to ram their opinions down everyone’s throats.

Listen, Rob, before you go calling me intolerant of others, take a look at your argument. You’re saying that nobody has the right to an abortion. I’d say that’s a fairly intolerant argument – you don’t take anything about the individual into account. What if they can’t afford a child? What if they don’t want a child? It’s nobodies business but theirs. Deal with it.

I’ll give you one thing though – people should be more responsible, and at present, our system encourages the opposite. I’m all for getting rid of taxpayer funded abortion surgery, but people should be free to pursue abortions privately.

Comment on John M Carr & more defunct NZ Petroleum Exploration Ltd Shareholders by sylvia de freitas

sylvia de freitas — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 19:29:29 +0000

all the above being said (the “dogs breakfast” being particularly enlightening),do I keep my 100 shares, or put them in my compost heap?

Comment on Better Business Services, Inc. and Porn Marketing Connections ‘Down Under’ by identity theft prote

identity theft prote — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 13:51:37 +0000

It was pleasure reading your post. Thanks for the share!

Comment on Computer South Ltd finally Struck Off – Funnel for money laundering and fraud by john

john — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 18:28:30 +0000

The world is a dangerous place. Not because of evil people, but because of people who don’t do anything about it. – Einstein

Comment on Film “End of the Spear” R16 rating downgraded to R13 following Society’s successful appeal by SPCS

SPCS — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 01:25:44 +0000

We can honestly say, with the greatest respect, that it appears you may have led a very sheltered life. There are numerous very violent films screened in cinemas and available on DVD that are far more violent in our view than Passion of The Christ. Furthermore, many of them involve unacceptable levels of gratuitous violence (e.g. Baise-Moi) depicted without any reasonable justification – such as the need to portray violent events based on histrorical context factors etc. It was the distributor of the film that sought the downgrading of the classification (restriction) from R16 to R15 and NOT the SPCS (see reference link below).

While it is true the Society supported many aspects of the distributor’s appeal arguments – it recognised that a strong Censor’s warning note as to the nature of the film’s content was needed and it recommended parental mandatory supervision/approval as a consideration.

While we do not wish to downplay your concerns raised over the portrayal of violence in the film (viewers’ sensitivities to such content do vary greatly), we do suggest you take a careful look at the substance of our arguments in our published comments on this film. It may be easy for you to just label the Society as hypocrites because of our views on other forms of violence in the media, but we suggest that have not properly examined our position with an open mind. We suggest you check out our published views (see links below). The Society does NOT accept its position to be hypocritical. The government enforecement agencies we regularly deal with do not think so.

You ask “what is the message” that the film is sending? As you know it only deals with a very limited portion of Jesus Christ’s life: it fails to cover His Resurrection, His appearances to his followers over the course of 40 days on earth, His ascension and His glorification. Nor does it deal with the Meaning of His Life in Salvation/Redemption terms (theological considerations). Allow us to ask you: What message does the Mona Lisa painting present to you?

Please read from the URL links below to find out some of the messages that have been communicated through the film.

References:

The Passion Of The Christ Submission. Published Wednesday, 7 April 2004, 1:11 pm
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0404/S00030.htm

Historical Violence not the same as Gratuitous violence
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3551525

NZ churches join push to lower censorship of the passion
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3551015

Comment on Film “End of the Spear” R16 rating downgraded to R13 following Society’s successful appeal by Elijah Winter

Elijah Winter — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 22:24:29 +0000

I can honestly say that Passion of The Christ is one of the most violent films I have ever watched, and it was very hard to sit through. I agree with James, wanting to ban video games, yet wanting to lower the rating of a film promoting a Christian message is very hypocritical, but I would ask the question, what IS the message that Passion of the Christ is sending?