Peter McWilliams

In the following viewpoint, Peter McWilliams examines the arguments used to support censorship and asserts that it is frequently used to protect political or religious beliefs. However, since people do not always share the same beliefs, what may offend one person may not be offensive to someone else. For that reason, McWilliams maintains, deciding whether sexually explicit material is pornographic or not depends on the context and personal taste. McWilliams is the author of Ain’t Nobody’s Business If You Do, from which this viewpoint is excerpted.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What are the three basic subjects of censorship, according to McWilliams?
2. In the author’s view, what is the problem with pornography?
3. What does censorship ultimately come down to, in the author’s opinion?

Censorship applies to basically three...