Censorship

I do not like censorship. Who gets to make the decision what is acceptable anyway? What if the censor doesn’t agree with you? Or with me?

Potter Stewart (1915 – 1985), appointed to the Supreme Court by Eisenhower, said “Censorship reflects society’s lack of confidence in itself.”

Albert Camus (1913 – 1950), an Algerian-French writer and one of my favorites wrote, “A free press can of course be good or bad, but, most certainly, without freedom it will never be anything but bad.”

Censorship happens around the globe. Censorship and book banning are still practiced today, even in our free democracy. The National Coalition Against Censorship provides alerts on censorship news. The Censorship Pages covers freedom of speech and the written word.

The question is freedom of speech. I don’t know the answer, but I do not think censorship answers anything. It may be different for national security. and parenting is a different matter. In parenting, it may be a question of appropriateness.

Clare Booth Luce (1903 – 1987), journalist and politician, said, “Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but, unlike charity, it should end there.”

If I don’t get to read about a topic, how do I know if I agree or disagree with it? Don’t take away my choices, and don’t try to make them for me.