Censorship

The Destruction of our Freedoms~ Word by Word America is the land of the free. In this land, Americans have the right to freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and the right to peacefully assemble. Americans have all these rights, and yet certain people think they have the right to impede upon these natural rights granted by the First Amendment of the Constitution through censorship. If America is truly the land of the free, and the home of the brave, then why do some citizens think they have the right to censor what others can read? The founding fathers chose to give their countrymen these rights. The First Amendment to the Constitution grants Americans freedom of the press. This was a foundation that the country was built on; the censorship of books goes against the First Amendment, impedes America’s history, and destroys the principles on which the founding fathers built this nation. America puts itself on a pedestal for all the freedoms granted to its citizens, yet some people believe that they can make their own rules. Censorship should not be permissible, because it treads on the founding fathers tenets, impedes on the First Amendment, and eradicates the true history of this country.

“Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press and cannot be limited without being lost” (Jefferson). In writing this, America’s founding father Thomas Jefferson believed in what the First Amendment stood for and not only that, but he thought that by limiting the freedom of press that all freedoms would be lost. He meant that even the smallest restraint of the press then would destroy the principles this country was founded on, and this restraint includes the censorship of books. Even the smallest amount of censorship would go against the beliefs of the founding fathers.

Books were created to be shared among mankind, and for some reason some people feel they have the power to censor these in America, a country built on freedom. As Thomas Jefferson wrote, “I am opposed to any form of tyranny over the mind of man” (Jefferson). He wanted there to be no control over man including, but not limited to, the right to pick what citizens could and could not read. If the founding fathers wanted to be told what they could and couldn’t do, they would not have revolted against England. The founding fathers wanted to create a country where its people had liberty, and this includes what they can and cannot read.

The Bill of Rights, one of the most important documents for the United States, and its very first amendment grants its people the freedom of speech, press, and the right to peacefully assemble. This amendment was created to promote the act of expression through a variety of ways including the written word, but censorship does away with this freedom. This destroys the entire purpose of writing. The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution to grant freedoms that the founding fathers didn’t have when under the control of England. So why to people think they can act like England and make laws destroying the natural rights given to Americans? The Bill of Rights was written so that censorship would not take place in the land of the free. The obliteration of a persons right to express themselves annihilates the foundation of our society.

A censor is defined as “ an official [who] examines books, plays, reports, motion pictures, and television programs, letters, cablegrams, etc., for purpose of suppressing parts deemed objectionable on moral, political, military, or other grounds” (dictionary.com). In other words, a censor is someone who examines books to see if America’s people should have the choice to read them. According to the First Amendment the only person who has the right to decide what can and cannot be read is ones self, not some official who may or may not have the peoples best interest in mind.

In the mid -1900s, the Federal government decided that obscenity, libel, slander, and private action where not protected under the First Amendment to the Constitution. Pro - censorship individuals used this to their advantage and got books that used words that they felt were offensive banned from public institutions such as schools. For example //The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn// is a novel that has been banned in schools for its usage of the n-word. This word may not be acceptable in today’s society but in the 1800s when the novel was written, it was. Just because it may offend people now, it is still a part of America’s past and it can’t be cast aside through censorship. This country will always have its proverbial black-eyes in its history, even if some of it makes people feel uncomfortable.

After World War II, Germany destroyed some of its books on Hitler and his Nazi regime thinking that it could destroy the country’s dark past. Obviously it didn’t work. This type of censorship goes as far back as 2000 years ago when Rome destroyed the Jewish temple and religious tomes to get rid of their beliefs. This destruction didn’t work, because the Jewish people just rebuilt. As some say, “history is written in blood” meaning that the past can never be destroyed, or forgotten. So why censor something that can’t change the past? If something is offensive, individuals have the right to not read it. That is a perk of the First Amendment; no one is making individuals read something that they don’t want to read. So if no one is forcing people to read books, then why are people forcing censorship on others?

America was built upon the freedom, which no one can take away. But if censorship of books is allowed to continue then this key idea is being destroyed, and the founding fathers didn’t want. Censorship is wrong not just for the fact that it sets the country back to the time when it was controlled by the British but it figuratively stomps all over the founding fathers ideas that they fought so hard for.

Bibliography

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