Censorship, 2001

Articles in this Topic Discussions in this Topic

Jul 6, 2001

Today is Independence Day here in the good ol' USA, July 4, 2001, a time to remember what the politically correct and the leftist-socialist politicians seem to forget: that this country didn't throw off British rule just to become encumbered again by an anti-people power elite.

But, alas it has, and so now it is time to again do what I said I had set out to do with this column: express myself on the most important media issue there is--freedom of speech and expression, a media issue without which makes an empty, mindless media.

Take that radio station in Colorado that has banned Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady," because of foul language and other reasons. And, while I see nothing wrong (and everything right!) in legislating morality in the home (my home, for instance, is off-limits to the likes of Marilyn Manson, MTV, satanic lyrics and pornography, among other things), legislating morality in society when the gatekeepers are sinners all, and also mostly a bunch of hypocrites, is another story, and should always be warned against. Read Myles Kantor's article, "The Commissar's in Town" for a look into the role of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), created in 1934 by none other than that "champion of democracy," FDR, in order to put a leash on the morality that the power elites think they can foster on the rest of us. The article is at "http://www.lewrockwell.com/kantor/kantor...".

Then there is Harper/Collins Publishers, trying to take Christianity out of the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis, in the guise of legislating morality for "family reading". It is a well known fact that Christianity is extremely politically incorrect these days (unfortunately, self-righteous Christian/Moral Majority types are going way overboard in stressing this fact, to the point where one would think anyone who goes to a Christian Church is lion-fodder!). Supposedly, the Aslan (Jesus) character is going to be watered-down to just being a "good guy" teacher-type, and not the true Gatekeeper (of the only gate that really matters, the one in Heaven). This is so young folks don't have to be bothered with learning what is right from wrong using fictional stories by CS Lewis, and to "Harry Potterize" the Narnia series. This, folks, is censorship, without Lewis' permission, and the big problem for Harper/Collins is two-fold: one, most folks buy Lewis precisely for his Christian-fiction message (heck, about the only stores I've ever seen Narnia in are Christian bookstores anyway); we already have the Harry Potter series for folks who like "good vs. evil" but not the Christian message necessarily, so why should they read CS Lewis, who is a harder read anyway than JK Rowlings? Read Joseph Sobran's article, "Bowdlerizing CS Lewis" at "http://www.lewrockwell.com/sobran/sobran...".

Go To Page: 1 2

The copyright of the article Censorship, 2001 in Media Issues is owned by Deborah Lagarde. Permission to republish Censorship, 2001 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.