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Our
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Heiter Skeltered?
Marilyn Manson pushes
First Amendment too far
Last weekend’s appearance of Marilyn
Manson at Omaha’s Civic Auditorium was
meant to shock and frighten a lot of people.
Manson’s hideous stage antics and his
band’s twisted, anti-everything songs were
meant to whip public officials and moral
watchdog groups into a frenzy of backlash.
And those shock-value tactics were also
meant to whip hordes of teen-age music
buyers into an equally avid spending frenzy.
On both counts, Manson’s attempts
worked. The concert was a financial suc
cess, and—following the footsteps of their
counterparts in other cities—Omaha’s civic
leaders were quick to publicly denounce
Manson’s show.
But even if you’re not afraid of blood
and-guts theatrics, unabashed displays of
satanic rituals and gut-pounding music that
borders on mindlessness, Marilyn Manson’s
Saturday night performance should have
scared you.
Manson should scare you because in an
age of widespread backlash against the en
tertainment industry’s lack of restraint when
it comes to sex and violence, Marilyn
Manson serves as a prime target for those
who would solve this problem by limiting
our First Amendment rights.
The freedoms of speech and expression
are among our most cherished rights in this
country, and when extremists such as
Manson abuse those freedoms for the mere
sake of abusing them, we all risk paying the
price.
When Marilyn Manson decides to use
a public stage as a forum for displaying his
genitals, the innards of mutilated animals,
satanic propaganda and a horde of other un
savory items, we should be very afraid.
Not only because of the objects them
selves, but because the irresponsible flaunt
ing of these objects only lends relevance to
public outcries to limit his — and subse
quently our— First Amendment rights.
True, nearly everything Manson does
falls under the First Amendment umbrella
of protection, but there are people in our
community and our government who would
rather hack away at freedom of speech and
expression than allow this to remain the case.
And when more of these people come
out of the woodwork, it gives their case even
more weight.
Marilyn Manson should be allowed to
do or say whatever he wants on stage or in
the studio. That’s his right. That’s America,
no matter how ugly — or frightening — it
gets.
But wee an all do our part to put an end
to Manson’s potentially damaging attempts
to push the First Amendment too far. We
can stop buying his records. We can stop
going to his concerts. We can change the
channel when his face springs up — as it
often does — on MTV.
By doing this, we can put an end to the
threatening media presence of Manson and
his beyond-the-limits sideshow act; and we
can show a little good taste at the same time.
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the
Spring 1997 Daily Nebraskan. They do not
necessarily reflect die views of the Univer
sity ofNebraska-Lincoln, its employees, its
student body or the University of Nebraska
Board of Regents. A column is soley the
opinion of its author The Board of Regents
serves as publisher of the Daily Nebraskan;
policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Edito
rial Board. The UNL Publications Board,
established by the regents, supervises the
production of the paper According to policy
set by die regents, responsibility for the edi
torial content of the newspaper lies solely
in the hands of its student employees.
Letter Policy
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief let
ters to the editor and guest columns, but
does not guarantee their publication. The
Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit
or reject any material submitted Sub
mitted material becomes the property of
the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be re
turned Anonymous submissions will not
be published Those! who submit letters
must identify themselves by name, year
in school, major and/or group affilia
tion, if any. Submit material to: Daily
Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R
SL Lincoln, Neb. 68S88-0448. E-mail:
letters@unlinfo.unl.edu.
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DN I
LETTERS
Fightin’Words
In response to “Call to action”
(DN, Thursday) — you give conflict
a bum wrap! You hope that the
Republicans and the Democrats will
work together toward their collective
goal.
The editorial seems to advocate a
calm peace on Capitol Hill. How
ever, this nation was founded and is
sustained through heated debate —
not through “getting along.”
The Declaration of Independence
was a call, not to cooperation, but to
a principle. The Constitution was
drafted amidst a fury of conflict. The
checks and balances written within
it rely on the assumption of conten
tion.
The Civil War was fought
because there were things more
important than peace. I dare say that
our country has not progressed at all
but through vigorous, painful
struggle.
The two parties do indeed have
some common goals, but their
strategies — their solutions to the
obvious ills that plague our country
— are anything but common
ground. As a voting citizen, I’ve
sent my representatives to Washing
ton to fight, yes fight, for their
principles.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m all for
civility. I want a clear presentation
and defense of the ideas, not
muddled by name-calling and petty
finger-pointing. But I want them to
stand for their beliefs and articulate
them. Only then will the right
solutions rise to the top. I say
Washington is working as the
founders planned only when
passionate debate is echoing through
its halls.
Glen Parks
junior
philosophy
Sharing Grace
I would like to take the time to
thank JJ. Harder for his recent
article discussing recent incidents
where professional athletes had
given the glory of their accomplish
ments to Jesus Christ.
It was sad for me to see how it
Aaron Steckelberg/DN
was taken and just how far away
from our founding fathers’ views we
truly are. If I’m not mistaken, this
country’s foundation was built using
Judeo-Christian values. The major
ity of our founding fathers were
Christians.
I truly feel that we have been
incredibly blessed more than any
other country because of our
founding fathers’ willingness to
build this country based on their
faith in Jesus Christ. I also believe
that the erosion of this society is due
to our unwillingness to obey God’s
principles laid out for us. I really
feel that people have the right to
place their faith in whatever they
want.
Our founding fathers came to this
country few that very same reason. I
don’t think that Christians should
shove their beliefs down anyone’s
throat. But I certainly commend the
character and faith that JJ. has used
to stand up for what he believes in. I
am a truly committed Christian. I
have sinned and will continue to sin.
I will never claim to be perfect.
But I know that the burden of my
sins has been taken away through
Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. It
is also an incredible feeling to know
that I have nothing to worry about.
Many people feel that this world is
eternal life. But I am so excited to
know that this life is temporary and
there is a greater life waiting for me
in heaven. I respect any beliefs that
are different than mine but I also
hope that others will have the
opportunity to experience the grace
of God. Corey Metschke
senior
business management
Not Silent
A front pagearticle Monday
morning in the Omaha World
Herald entitled “Talks Filling
Silence After Cross Burning,”
quoted Lincoln activist Lela Shanks
as saying that “Not one white
religious leader issued any statement
condemning the cross burning.”
A statement was issued by one
religious organization at UNL —
Christian Challenge. On Tuesday,
Jan. 28, we hand delivered a signed
letter from our staff and student
leaders condemning the incident and
calling on the university for action
to the Daily Nebraskan. It was never
printed.
Maybe the editorial staff was
unaware of the clear tie between
racism and white churches during
the days of Klan oppression and
murder. Often Klan members were
leaders in the churches. Being a
white religious leader, I wanted to
quickly and publicly denounce this
incident of racism and stand up with
and for the African-American
community at UNL and in Lincoln. -
Therefore, with our students we
wrote the letter which was not
printed.
Regarding the history of racism
in this country, I grieve the actions '
of and repent in behalf of those who
were evil and misguided in their
religion. The Jesus of the Bible
spoke and acted against injustice
everywhere he saw it.
Those who do otherwise are not
his followers. I look forward to
learning more about racism from Dr.
Buster Soaries at a Veritas Forum
free lecture, “Can Humans Be a
Race?” Wednesday night in the
union.
Obviously, at UNL we all need to
learn more about racism.
Rev. Brett D. Yohn
Lincoln
Christian Challenge