Censorship Essay -- essays research papers

Censorship Everyone has a voice and an opinion. Some people, unfortunately, are censored and denied the right to express their opinion because it is different. Because everyone thinks they are right, if something is new or different, it will, more often than not, be disliked because people do not like to hear new and different ideas. It is not right that some people can express their opinion and some are censored and cannot express their opinion because their opinion is different from the norm. Censorship is wrong because it denies an individual the chance to be heard simply because they have different ideas. It also restricts freedom of information, which is vital to the survival of Democracy. With censorship, moral, artistic, and intellectual growth would cease to exist, and people would have no choice to believe what the government tells them, because they would have no other sources of information to turn to. Nazi Germany used censorship as a prime tool to keep the average people ignor ant and promote anti-Semitism. The United States Constitution says in the First Amendment, â€Å"Congress shall make no law†¦abridging the freedom of speech† (qtd. in Murphy) which means that any material in any medium; art, music, literature, spoken, cannot be altered by the government in any way. The people of the United States of America are free to express their opinion in any way, shape, or form without fear of repercussions from the government or others. Therefore, censorship is a violation of an American’s First Amendment rights. According to an article on Eric Nuzum’s website, after September 11th, a list of over 150 â€Å"lyrically questionable† songs was circulated to radio stations, urging restraint of these songs, â€Å"out of respect† for the dead. ( Nuzum). In the list, â€Å"all songs by Rage Against the Machine† was listed. Rage Against the Machine is a band famous for its controversial political views. Almost none of Rage’s songs bear reference to flying airplanes into buildings. There is no reason for all of their songs to be censored. This is an example of censorship. Silencing someone because of ideas that are different. Rage Against the Machine has a right to express their ideas without repercussions, and to censor all their songs from the radio is a violation of their right to free speech. According to an arti... ...any. It strips the common man of individualism, keeps him ignorant, and makes him a prime target for manipulation by malicious persons. Censorship has long been the tool of fascists, and totalitarian dictatorships who seek to use the common man for their own malicious intents. Censorship ensured that the Nazis had the German public in their grip as they bombarded them on a daily basis on how their lives had been improved from the day Hitler became Germany's leader. Nothing good has or will become of censorship. Murphy, Gerald. "Bill of Rights." Legal Information Institute. 14 Mar. 1993. Cornell U. 12 Feb. 2005 . Kingsbury, Alex. "A Windy War of Words." U.S News and World Report Feb. 2005: 16. Nuzum, Eric. "Sound Off: Our Attitudes Toward Music Parallel Our Belief in Freedom." Parental Advisory: Music Censorship in America. 30 Oct. 2001. 12 Feb. 2005 . Rovers, Ronald. "The silencing of Theo van Gogh." Salon. 24 Nov. 2004. 9 May 2005 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/11/24/vangogh/index.html "Discriminate." Dictionary. 2000. 10 May 2005 . Alexander, Jeff. "Blue In The Face." Rock Out Censorship. 2003. 10 May 2005