Banned Book Week - Thoughts on Censorship
I hate censorship.
I hate the fact that there are people trying to tell people what to say, how to say it and why it offends them that the words were said at all. There are some things said out there in bad taste, that said, as human beings we have the right to say whatever we want. This should be an absolute thing.
That said, we don't live in that world, even in this country. Right now in Arizona they are trying to pass a legislation to force teachers to only teach things that are in line with the status quo. If a teacher challenges or tries to voice an opinion outside of the status quo, they can lose their job.
Isn't teaching only what the state wishes to teach another form of censorship? It's like having a monopoly on the market. You can't stop people from having a dissenting opinion, but you can now drill people in one concept long enough, that they never think about the alternative. It's another shrewd way to censor thoughts. I want my kids when I have them to be smarter and better than I was, not limited to a few ideas given out like crumbs from a government who's interest in me at best is purely selfish.
And don't even get me started on political correctness. An oxymoron if I ever heard one. There is no right way or wrong way to say something. Some ways are rude, some are obnoxious, some are offensive. It's the world we live in. And you know what? It's okay sometimes to be rude, offensive and obnoxious. The last thing I want to live in is a world where everyone thinks the same thing and tries to do the same thing for their lives. We're human beings, not robots or cattle to be slaughtered.
Censorship is dangerous because it tries to curtail different ideas and values. Ideas that have every right to be out there. Things like alternative ideas to what may have happened on 9/11, who really shot JFK, or that maybe the government isn't doing it's job properly. And maybe that we can do something about it. There's nothing wrong with ideas.
One of my history teachers told me that ideas have consequences. I disagree with that. Ideas only have one consequence. Because all an idea can do is expose you to something you haven't seen before. All an idea can expose you to is a choice you may have never known you had. Whether you make that choice or not is up to you. And that's why I love different ideas. They create choices, opportunities and change. Things the world needs all the time to survive.
So what does this have to do with banned books? Banning a piece of literature fits exactly with cornering the market with ideas. Which to me is a lose/lose. First off, that means that yes, books like the Necronomican, people that say that the jews deserved to die in the holocaust and about two dozen different pornographic images involving horses, ostriches and whatever else is out there can become available out there. But you know what? I rather know it's out there than not. I can do something about what I know about. I can't do anything if I'm cloaked in ignorance. And say what you will about the hateful, bizarre and strange ideas that exist; the point is people think these things, whatever they may be.
So do yourself a favor and pick a book, any book that's been censored and read it and make your own conclusions. Whether it's Tom Sawyer or Harry Potter or Catcher In The Rye I encourage you to explore that route and see for yourself why they are banned. Who knows? A good idea may come from that. Or maybe you'll be repulsed. Either way, your horizons will be expanded. And that, no matter how you look at it, is a good thing.
EYH
JP
I hate the fact that there are people trying to tell people what to say, how to say it and why it offends them that the words were said at all. There are some things said out there in bad taste, that said, as human beings we have the right to say whatever we want. This should be an absolute thing.
That said, we don't live in that world, even in this country. Right now in Arizona they are trying to pass a legislation to force teachers to only teach things that are in line with the status quo. If a teacher challenges or tries to voice an opinion outside of the status quo, they can lose their job.
Isn't teaching only what the state wishes to teach another form of censorship? It's like having a monopoly on the market. You can't stop people from having a dissenting opinion, but you can now drill people in one concept long enough, that they never think about the alternative. It's another shrewd way to censor thoughts. I want my kids when I have them to be smarter and better than I was, not limited to a few ideas given out like crumbs from a government who's interest in me at best is purely selfish.
And don't even get me started on political correctness. An oxymoron if I ever heard one. There is no right way or wrong way to say something. Some ways are rude, some are obnoxious, some are offensive. It's the world we live in. And you know what? It's okay sometimes to be rude, offensive and obnoxious. The last thing I want to live in is a world where everyone thinks the same thing and tries to do the same thing for their lives. We're human beings, not robots or cattle to be slaughtered.
Censorship is dangerous because it tries to curtail different ideas and values. Ideas that have every right to be out there. Things like alternative ideas to what may have happened on 9/11, who really shot JFK, or that maybe the government isn't doing it's job properly. And maybe that we can do something about it. There's nothing wrong with ideas.
One of my history teachers told me that ideas have consequences. I disagree with that. Ideas only have one consequence. Because all an idea can do is expose you to something you haven't seen before. All an idea can expose you to is a choice you may have never known you had. Whether you make that choice or not is up to you. And that's why I love different ideas. They create choices, opportunities and change. Things the world needs all the time to survive.
So what does this have to do with banned books? Banning a piece of literature fits exactly with cornering the market with ideas. Which to me is a lose/lose. First off, that means that yes, books like the Necronomican, people that say that the jews deserved to die in the holocaust and about two dozen different pornographic images involving horses, ostriches and whatever else is out there can become available out there. But you know what? I rather know it's out there than not. I can do something about what I know about. I can't do anything if I'm cloaked in ignorance. And say what you will about the hateful, bizarre and strange ideas that exist; the point is people think these things, whatever they may be.
So do yourself a favor and pick a book, any book that's been censored and read it and make your own conclusions. Whether it's Tom Sawyer or Harry Potter or Catcher In The Rye I encourage you to explore that route and see for yourself why they are banned. Who knows? A good idea may come from that. Or maybe you'll be repulsed. Either way, your horizons will be expanded. And that, no matter how you look at it, is a good thing.
EYH
JP