Bible spared "indecent" classification in Hong Kong
Pastor Dale Morgan
Bible spared "indecent" classification in Hong Kong
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Reuters
Friday, May 18, 2007; 12:57 AM
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong's media regulator has rejected calls to
reclassify the Bible as an indecent publication following more than
2,000 complaints about its sexual and violent content, including rape
and incest.
"The Bible is a religious text which is part of civilization. It has
been passed from generation to generation," Hong Kong's Television and
Licensing Authority (TELA) said in a statement issued late on Thursday.
It said it would not submit the Bible to the Obscene Articles Tribunal
for classification.
The regulator received 2,041 complaints against the Bible this week,
following an uproar over a sex column in a student magazine that was
classified as "indecent" by authorities for asking if readers had ever
fantasized about incest or bestiality.
A Web site launched soon afterwards campaigned to have the Bible
similarly classified, citing passages with sexual and violent content it
claimed went beyond that of the sex column.
But TELA said in its statement the Bible "had not violated standards of
morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable members
of the community."
Publications classified as indecent in Hong Kong can only be bought by
people aged over 18 and must be sealed in a wrapper with a statutory
warning notice.