Censorship...It's The New Black

 Why do we want to stop others from seeing things we ourselves don't want to see?

That's the question.

I suppose it's because we don't want people to think a certain way, to act a certain way, to speak a certain way. We want them to think the way we do, to act the way we do, to speak the way we do. How do we get others to obey, to conform?

We limit the information...

And everybody does it.

Do an internet search and enter the word, "Censor" and (depending on the search engine you use...), you'll see thousands of examples of censorship. The latest high-profile example is found in the literary world...the changing of author Roald Dahl's classic works. The political cartoon is from Jeff Stahler and it appeared in Logan Utah's Harold Journal.

I'm not an attorney. I'm not a psychologist. I'm not a historian. Others with more knowledge and experience will point out that changing Mr. Dahl's words is completely different from a company editing DVDs, and legally, they may be correct. However, the end result is the same. We're good and because we're good we need to change things to spread our goodness to others.

Of course, you can either approach censorship from a position of altruism or selfishness. It doesn't matter...the end result is the same. Both instances believe the receiver cannot--or should not--make decisions on their own. They need help. They need guidance. They need a manipulated message.

Whether or not those changing classic literature have the legal right to do what they're doing, they don't have the moral right to do it. They think they're helping. 

They're wrong.