Some really interesting points have been made here, one of which bothers me not a little. If we censor, or even try to dilute the messages that art puts across, we simply drive it underground. In other words, the same "works" will be produced, but will only be available to the limited audience who are already supporters of such stuff (take Wolgang's example).

This obviously polarises the "sides" involved because nobody gets to hear how the other half feels. Surely the way people can best get on with each other (and I'm sure we all want that) is to try to understand what it is about us that might be pissing people off - perhaps then taking the points on board and doing something about it. Art is able to express this by de-personalising the issue.

Surely also, by making sure, by whatever means (e.g. violent protest), that our perceived faults do not get aired, we simply perpetuate a less than satisfactory situation by keeping the head stuck firmly in the ground.

cheers, Terry