Censorship Essay -- essays research papers fc

CensorshipThe freedom to read is requisite to the democratic way of life. But today, thatfreedom is under attack. Private groups and commonplace authorities everywhere argon working to remove both ledgers and periodicals from sale, to forfend certain booksfrom public schools, to censor and silence magazines and newspapers, and tolimit "controversial" books and periodicals to the worldwide public. Thesuppression of reading materials is suppression of creative thought. Books andperiodicals are not the alone ones being suppressed by pressures to the politicaland social systems. They are to a fault being brought against the educational system,films, radio, television, and against the graphic and theatre arts. However orwhenever these attacks occur, they commonly fall at least one of the followingcategoriesReligion war & Peace (Violence)Sociology & RaceLanguageDrugsSex wrong Adolescent BehaviourWhat is Obscenity? Clearly something hard to talk close to constructivel y."Obscenity" is difficult to discuss honestly. After all, what makes a thing lustful? It is Something too vague perhaps to be defined. Its an elusive termwe use, precisely cant explain. Different hatful often see things differently. Somesee stain in nude pictures, statues, paintings, etc. While others find less nastiness in these things. All the same, "obscene" isnt the same as "wrong" or"bad". Clearly obscenity is not identical with evil. It only covers a singlesegment of it. But what is that segment? A look at the words "obscenity" and"pornography" suggests that it is a segment that didnt worry people very muchtill relatively recently.Though censorship was cognise in english law quite early on, it wasnt forobscenity exclusively for heresy and sedition."Undue" exploitation of sex" is whatcriminal law in Canada prohibits. This is how criminal law defines obscenity.But it is rather vague. It doesnt differentiate betwe en " mine run obscenity"and "hard-core pornography." The first denoting the ordinary run of "girliemagazines and the second denoting pictures , literature and so on that deal withrape, sadism, masochism, bestiality, necrophilia and other perversions. People dispose to object far more to "hard-core pornography." Another distinction alas overlo... ...m that mainly frowns upon the violence againstwomen. There should indeed be access to close types of literature, just now in varyingdegrees of freedom, determined not by censorship, but by controlled access.Parents are trying to protect their children from the harsh realities of life,but are they really helping, or hindering?BibliographyThe Censorship Iceberg The results of a heap of challenges in school andpublic libraries. By Dr. David Jenkins. School Libraries in Canada. Fall, 1985.v.6 n.1 p19-22 sanitize textbooks reflect a pious paradise that never was. By June Callwood.The terra firma and Mail. Marc h 18, 1987. pA2-A3Suffer the little children. By Janet Collins. Books in Canada. October 1991.v.20 n.7 p25-27Court bans humanist books from atomic number 13 public schools. By Robin Toner. TheGlobe and Mail. March 5, 1987. pA10Censorship in the childrens library. By Rupert Colley. The Junior Bookshelf.June 1990. v.54 n.3 p121-123Censorship News. Spring 1985. n20Limits of criminal law - obscenity a test case. By The Law Reform Commissionworking paper no. 10. p7-9Censorship stopping the book banners. By the book and periodical developmentcouncil. August 1988. p1-17