Philo,

You need to re-read my post.
I did not say it was illegal to photograph nude. It is legal to photograph nude (or semi nude)people provided you have their permission. That's why a couple of years ago someone was fined on Bondi Beach for photographing topless bathers. It's not even illegal to photograph nude children, if you have the permission of the parents. I do not photograph nude people because that is my decision, and most nudist clubs do not allow cameras. That is their policy not the law. Just because I don't photograph nudes doesn't mean that other people can't provided they follow the correct procedure, (as Bill Henson has done). Incidentally, some nudists are opposed to Bill Henson and similar photographers as the nude photography is not done in the context of a nudist situation.

Bill Henson has not broken any laws. NSW Police should have been aware that these photos did not break the law and when they visited the Roslyn9 Gallery, they should have left after viewing the photos. All police involved in child pornography investigation should be required to undertake training with the Office of Film and Literature Classification so they know how to correctly identify this material. Customs Officers have this training when inspecting DVD's and other material imported for personal use.

I uphold the rights of nudist parents to raise their children their way, just as I uphold the rights of parents to raise their children according to their religious beliefs.

By the way, how many people here knew of Bill Henson prior to this media witch-hunt? I had never heard of him before.

Polycrap,

There is a COMMANDMENT against bearing false witness.

Henson has done nothing illegal, and you had best admit that properly

That Bill Hensen has done nothing illegal is questionable and is the reason his art works were removed from the public gallery.

He had, in the eyes of the law acted illegaly by displayning nude photographs of prepubescent girls for every dick, harry and paedophile to admire.

Pure art and sculpture are mental pictures created from and by an artist mind and hand, a photgraph is an actual image of a person. A sculpture can be like a person, but a photograph is an actual image depiction of a person and is not itself a creation from the imagination of the artist. But the immagination of the artist is focused not in the art but in the actual image of the person, that is why he seeks children as models.

There are questionable motives behind his purpose and to display it in public may border on peadophilia. Let the public decide on what is acceptable for display as photography. It is socially abnormal in the eyes of the majority of this society to display nude photographs of prepubescent children. Otherwise the laws on photography regarding children would be repealed.

In the eyes of Hansen he is challenging the social norm to get his point across. His purpose is not art but a political statement that children must be allowed the freedom to parade in public undressed, as supported by Steel Mann in his nudist camps.

Polycarp wrote: Tragically... many people prefer darkness to light, and seek to re-define the light of Christ as some kind of oppressive human system.
Worse.. some using the name of Christ have done that very thing.

Dear Polycarp,

One need not redefine the words of Jesus to justify oppressive human systems.

According to the New Testament Jesus said "No one comes to the Father but by me" (John 14:6). This text has helped to create a world where adherents of one religion feel compelled to kill adherents of another.

Another vicious saying is:

MARK 9:43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to
enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire
that never shall be quenched:

I question Jesus and the New Testament as espousing a God of love. In the above Jesus holds out the promise of eternal torture.

Three books by Christians:

The Closing of the Western Mind by Charles Freeman:

The adoption of Christianity by Rome destroyed the spirit of free enquiry in the Classical World. The adoption of Christianity ushered in the Dark Ages.

Constantine’s Sword by James Carroll:

How the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire changed Christianity to a religion of war.

The Conversion of Europe from Paganism to Christianity: 371-1386 by Richard Fletcher:

Ireland is the only country becoming Christian peacefully. It apparently was legitimate to kill people for the sin of not being Christian.

The Bible will continue to be a source of hate and discord until it is regarded the way we now regard the legends telling of the pagan Gods.

The history of the Manichean religion comforts me. It lasted from the third to the eighteenth century and existed from Spain to China. Most people have never heard of it, and nobody as far as I know believes in it any more.

Eventually Christianity will also disappear. The Bible will exist as a source of legends and stories but as nothing else

The same goes for you too philo, stop bearing false witness.

In the "eyes of the law", Henson has done nothing wrong, the photographs were removed by police following a complaint by a moralist crusader. No charges have been laid.

It's hard to tell whether Philo is being ignorant, obtuse or deliberately dishonest. Bill Henson has contravened no laws, neither in selecting his subjects, photographing them nor displaying the images. That his art upsets the sensibilities of various prudes, wowsers and child abuse hysterics doesn't mean that it;s in any way illegal.

Also, Philo's ignorant diatribe about photographic art and the base motivations he projects upon the artist demonstrate that he is as ignorant of art as he is of the law.