the problem, as always, resides in human nature.
there wouldn't be a need to ban controversial material and the like if we all had the ability to differentiate between reality and fiction - if we could all tell what is right from what is wrong
then we'd have something like those utopias from antiquity, described by those romantic idealists; a world where fairies dance and pixies prance, and everyone is pretty cool
but we don't live in such a world
our society (subtly) teaches us that all means are justifiable, so long as there's a profit on the other side; that the workplace is more important than the family; that official documents are worth more than a wholehearted promise. it's a society that presumes that humans are evil by nature. it's no surprise that such a society would produce morally bankrupt people.
one of the keys to solving this is moral education (not the zombie-like chanting of confucian scriptures they have nowadays)
huh? what was the topic again?
Teach what morality? Teach who's morality? What is morality, and does it really exist? How do you know that I want your morality, and that your morality isn't my evil? How do you know I am capable of understanding morality at all? Is Western morality correct? Is Eastern morality correct? Middle Eastern?
Is teaching morality oppressive? Does it stomp out the viewpoints of others? Wouldn't enforcing a single definition of morality run counter to free will, and destroy the point of a democracy? What is a truly moral state? Do the people support their peers? Does the government support the people? Are the crippled given pity jobs, or are they given support simply because they are crippled?
If I do not want to work, is it moral to destroy my free will? Is it immoral to leave me to die because of my own bad decisions? Is it immoral to want to advance? Is it moral to voice your opinions, when others may not want to hear them? Does morality require toleration of the borderline intolerable? Is morality pure abstinence, or is it indulgence that only harms yourself? Is indulgence immoral, or natural?
I could go on for quite a while, but answer those questions first.
While I disagree with many things, I understand that not everyone's "morality" is consistent with my own.
Yes, religions have codified laws, but even those can still be left open to interpretation, if someone really wants to bend them.
We're not in Rousseau's paradise, the government is merely compensating for the fact that morality is not consistent, and it is trying to enforce something which is reasonably fair.
Of course, government isn't perfect, but hey...
I'm not trying to lecture you, by the way. I just have too much free time on my hands, and I'm "just a passing housewife."