India Music Politics Post

India Falls for Christ Illusion

Slayer Christ Illusion Recently in the news India has banned the new Slayer Album, Christ Illusion, from being sold in the country. The reasoning being that the album artwork offended Christians and the lyrics were inflammatory to Christians and Muslims. My response to this? Its Slayer, they’re supposed to offend religious groups, that’s what they do. Slayer since the beginning of their career has written music that is anti-established religion and that is meant to offend the sensibilities of the followers of those religions. That is why the first amendment is so important in this country. It is more to protect speech that people don’t like than to protect speech that people don’t find offensive. What is so wrong with what Slayer is saying anyway? The prevailing theme on this album is religion is harmful to humanity because it is the basis for wars throughout history and still to today. Are they really wrong here? Isn’t the current war on terror primarily against radical Muslims fighting a holy war? What is the problem with Slayer putting out an album about that--it offends people’s religion? Should we then ban all speech that offends people’s religion? Does that mean that people can’t speak out against the Catholic Church and call the pope in to question because of the child molestation scandal because it would offend people? Even though people do knock America all the time, this still is the best country in the world for speaking your mind. People should have the right to question and criticize religions and other institutions without being censored for offending others. What really offends me is Slayer fans in India are being told what to listen to and think by their government and religion rather than being able to make up their own minds.