this may apply to my fellow Americans/Yanks mostly but if this is happening in your neck of the woods feel free to say so, this sort of thing affects us all
I was reading the following list and article and I had an epiphany about censorship, independent thought and society, especially considering I had to read Fahrenheit 451 and Brave New World in High School and of course I had to put a disclaimer in case heaven* forbid I offended anyone. What follows is a statement about how it seems people are no longer willing to take responsibility for their actions and thoughts, and how it seems we have entered a new dark ages in terms of people thinking for themselves.
One man’s opinion
Ladies and Gentlemen, I offer a disclaimer, this is my opinion. It may not reflect your views but it must be said. You may cry for my censorship or execution, label me an enemy of the state or want to kill me but this is only my opinion and I have as much right to it as you have to yours. Before you decry me, think about what it would be like if you were to express your views and I was to try to silence you. You don’t have to agree with me, you just have to let me say what I have to say and if you like, you can listen.
We have become that which we most feared, how is it that a country that prides itself on the right of its peoples to have open discourse and debate over the merits of it’s leaders now seeks to oppress those who perpetuate the very acts this country was founded upon? We used to think, discuss, debate things, now it’s become less of taking one’s personal responsibility for one’s actions and more of suing, crying and fussing to get our own way. We have forgotten our roots, forgotten our children and forgotten our families; we’ve become more obsessed with watching how Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne raise their kids than how we raise our own. And yet when our children injure themselves imitating something they saw on TV some of us would rather blame the TV instead of the sluggish mass holding the remote, or more often the parent of the sluggish mass holding the remote. Instead of thinking for ourselves we are told how to think and what to like by so called “experts” be they commercial or governmental who all claim to know best what we want. I am not a weirdo, nerd, freak, left wing communist, right wing fascist, or other such colorful epithet. I am merely a man, a man with a brain that still has all it’s capacities. A man who in what seems like another day and age was actually encouraged to have independent thought in school. And yes while I may have been in gifted classes I still only manage around a C average in college, but the key is I have not forgotten how to think. I know enough that If there is nothing on TV than why bother watching it? I watched TV as a child but I still ended up well rounded, I have friends, I have a life, I have a brain. I am not asking you to act, to shed all you know and live as an ascetic, but to think. I know you have a brain, why not use it for something other than worrying who the mole is or whether the couple you want to get “married by America” will be happy.
My name is Ben Feld and I have a brain
Questions, comments and whatever else is welcome, respond to me at Shogunraptor@yahoo.com and if there's someone you feel needs to read this send it to them by all means, thank you for your time
“Let's look at a few of the books that have been recently banned in various areas of the country:
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou: Banned because the author describes how she was molested as a child.
A Child Called "It" and The Lost Boy by David Peltzer: Banned because of it's graphic descriptions of abuse. An autobiographical of the worst case of child abuse in the state of California in which the abused child lived to tell the tale.
The Bible by various authors: Banned because of depictions of violence, and because of religious connotations.
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank: Depressing, depictions of violence.
Blubber by Judy Blume: Offensive language, the leader of the cruelty is never punished.
A Hero Ain't Nuthin' But A Sandwich by Alice Childress: Considered to be Anti-American and immoral.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury: Casual attitude towards war, violent death of a main character. Also banned due to the coda in which the author professes his views on censorship and attempting to appease minorities.
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein: Banned due to illustrations that implore children to misbehave.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone et al. by J.K. Rowling: Banned for allegedly presenting a favorable view of the occult.
Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein: Banned for depictions of violence.
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer: Banned for it's unfavorable and insulting views towards political and religious figures.
Frankenstein: the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley: Banned for obscenity and violence.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: Banned for obscenity and violent deaths of two main characters.”
*I hereby apologize to all atheists and agnostics for using the word “heaven”
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The cafeteria menus in the three House office buildings changed the name of "french fries" to "freedom fries," in a culinary rebuke of France stemming from anger over the country's refusal to support the U.S. position on Iraq.
Ditto for "french toast," which will be known as "freedom toast."
The name changes were spearheaded by two Republican lawmakers who held a news conference Tuesday to make the name changes official on the menus.
Across the country, some private restaurants have done the same.
"This action today is a small, but symbolic effort to show the strong displeasure of many on Capitol Hill with the actions of our so-called ally, France," said Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, the chairman of the Committee on House Administration.