CathNews New Zealand

T shirts and hoodies that advertise an album for British extreme metal group “Cradle of Filth” and  describe Jesus as a profanity were seized from an Invercargill store on Wednesday. Police took away the offending apparel after being asked to do so by Internal Affairs. They visited the store mid-afternoon and seized between 10 and 15 hooded tops and long-sleeved T-shirts with the offending words on them.

Sergeant Brock Davis said the tops would be sent to the department which would decide, after consulting with police, whether the owners of theImpuls’d store which sells them would be charged with any criminal offences.

In 2008 the Censor banned one of these T Shirts. In his judgement Bill Hastings said:
“The injury to the public good that is likely to be caused by the availability of this T-shirt originates from the manner in which it associates an aggressive and misogynistic meaning of the “harsh, brutal and generally unacceptable” word c### with Jesus Christ, and depicts an image of a chaste woman engaging in sexual activity. A fair interpretation of the messages conveyed by this T-shirt is that Christians should be vilified for their religious beliefs, and that women, including chaste and celibate women, cannot stop themselves engaging in sexual activity…” (OFLC No. 800513)

The censor also said the T shirt:

Degrades and demeans the woman pictured, and by extension all women,

Degrades and demeans the beliefs and values of Christian people, and in particular Catholics.

While possibly intended as satirical and anti-religious humour, but overall it has a crude, objectifying and vulgar tone.

Degrade and demean Catholic women with a subtext that denigrates Mary by presenting a woman, particularly a nun, in this way.

Has a deliberate intention to strip away the respect, honour and status given to women.

Contains “aggression and contempt” and has “strong elements of intimidation”

Conveys the message that Christians should be vilified for their religious beliefs

Has no literary, artistic, social, cultural, educational, scientific or other merit, value or importance.

Source

www.stuff.co.nz

Media Law Journal

Image: Google Images

Additional reading

• Lyndsay Freer interviewed by by Jim Mora on The Panel
• A variety of opinions
• Lawyers' Perspective
• Media Laywer Stephen Price critiques Censor's judgement
• Censor bans heavy metal T shirts

News category: New Zealand, Top Story.