 | Read a Banned Book |
| | Read a Banned Book |
Words & music by L. Hays & P. Seeger
The commemoration page was produced
with the kind assistance of Keenan Powell,
one young curmudgeon to another
A Brief chronological Compendium
of a Few Banned or Challenged Works,
and Censorship and Anti-Censorship Efforts
Personal Banned Books List
The Most Comprehensive, Single List
of
Challenged Works
that is
Available on the Internet
Tips and Tricks For Those
Who Think Critically Or Want To Learn How To
| Quick and Dirty Advice | Logical Fallacies | For Journalists | Pillars of Good Journalism |
Postcards from Iraq
A collection of images from the warzone,
quotations about conditions inside Iraq from Robert Fisk,
and an essay by a humanitarian aid worker on the ground inside Fallujah.
| Universal Declaration of Human Rights |
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms | The Constitution of the United States |
A few essays on the topic of and news reports reflecting the fall out from censorship:
Ray Bradury on the bowdlerization of Farhenheit 451
An essay on the nature of free speech on the internet by Jeffrey Shallit
An essay on ten fallacies behind internet censorship advocacy by Jeffrey Shallit
A critical review of Free Speech and "rational censorship" by Bob Chatelle
An essay by Ann K. Symon, past president of the ALA
An essay by Barbara Miner A bipartite essay by Scott Noveck on T.V. violence and censorware
An essay by Joan E. Bertin, contributor to the National Coalition Against Censorship An essay in response to the U.S. Freedom To Read Week; An op/ed piece from the Georgetown Essays on Information Warfare An essay from the ACLU briefly outlining censorship in schools; The ruling by the B.C. Supreme Court on the John Robin Sharpe case The Supreme Court of Canada ruling on the John Robin Sharpe case
A criticism of The London, Ontario Porn Ring case
Background on Publication Bans by Canadian Courts
Jan Goodwin's Buried Alive article Dr. Jiang Yanyong's Letter
an excellent example of clarity in thinking and communication
originally printed in
Rethinking Schools Online: An Urban Educational Journal
on the underlying futility of banning words
and
my critique of that essay
on internet filtering, from a personal perspective
a must read
and
a letter condemning the Kiddie-Porn Law
on women under the Taliban
On The Issues Online, 27 Feb 1998
[Archived at Wayback Machine]
calling on the government of China
to reappraise the Tiananmen Square Massacre
A few op/ed pieces of my own
Biographical and Explanatory Notes:
Since I began writing seriously I have studied many topics of social interest. One of the most fascinating is censorship. It has proven to be fascinating the way the gaze of a snake is said to be to small birds.Even if you do not advocate censorship, there could be in your mind some reservations about making available to children material that is inappropriate to them. In that case, you bring up the perennial question of selection vs: censorship. "What's the diff?" you ask? The difference is that selection is based on rejecting material from a milieu because it is not appropriate to that milieu. Censorship is based on banning and destroying any and all "objectionable" material so no one is allowed to see it no matter how sophisticated or intellectually mature that person might be. What constitutes "objectionable"? Anything that doesn't agree with the censor's prejudices in the least little bit; in any way, shape, or form.
If you don't believe that then consider that Jan Goodwin wrote in a 1998 report on Afghanistan that the Taliban had outlawed paper bags. Can't happen here, you say? Believe you me, there are religious groups in North America that are every bit as ultra-right wing as the Taliban.
The most difficult aspect of this subject has been to keep an open mind and to view the issues fairly without becoming the kind of hypersensitive, knee-jerk reactionary real censorship advocates are. Or the kind which some soi disant human rights advocates are. I believe that I have managed to do that while arriving at certain firm conclusions:
1: Censorship advocates are nuts.
2: There is no rhyme or reason to censorship.In actual fact I must admit that conclusion number one is a gross oversimplification. Despite that, it seems to be the kindest thing that one can say about censorship advocates.
My compendium of censorship efforts attempts to demonstrate both conclusions by presenting a wide range of reasons for why certain works have been challenged over the years. Some of which are positively ludicrous. The 1905 entry for the censoring of Huckleberry Finn, for instance, contains the rationale: "Huck not only itches but scratches, and says sweat when he should say perspiration."
Some entries attempt to show the absolute vehemence behind other efforts, and others still show the affects of institutionalized censorship. For not all efforts are from individuals or grass roots movements. Governments inflict their own share of misplaced morality on the masses. Nor do I mean in backwards places such as Taliban controlled Afghanistan or Iran or Iraq. I mean the Good Ol' U.S. of A. and Canada.
Don't take my word for it, however. Click on the links and peruse my compendium for yourself. Make up your own mind. You can also check my Personal List of Banned Books. This list was originally cribbed from an anti-censorship site on the web, but I have since added a number of titles. The titles marked in green are books I have read; either previous to beginning my studies or that I have gone out of my way to read because some dolt tried to tell me I'm not allowed to.
