Censorship - An Important Foundation that Has Its Own Priorities Confused

Growing up, I always thought censorship was a good thing. The word "censorship" was always used on television when swear words were bleeped out or when certain parts of books were cut, because they were inappropriate. It seemed totally reasonable.

But, as I grew older I started to look at it from a different perspective... Who were these "people of power" to say what was or wasn't inappropriate in a work of art? Who were they to say what you couldn't see?

Books are censored very often, because authors look at their work as a personal craft, something that they put themselves into. So, naturally, they are unconcerned with censoring their own minds. However, for some reason, people don't look at it as a work of art, or a piece of a person's soul. They look at it simply as a collection of words that are filed into two categories, appropriate or inappropriate.

Now, while I don't agree that just anything should be out there, I believe that the decision of what content is viewed should belong to the artist and the audience. I also believe that the priorities of censorship are vastly skewed. While, a man being violently murdered can be seen on network television, they will still censor out a word. I have never fully understood this. What gives a word with no literal meaning more power than the death of a human being? Well, to be perfectly honest, neither of those have power until someone gives them power, and if you block somebody from seeing it because you believe that it has the ability to harm people mentally or emotionally, then you give it power. So, in summation, it would seem that the censors have given power to the very thing they sought to protect us from.

I am not proposing that we entirely abolish censorship. I am just saying that censorship has skewed priorities, and is taken too far in situations that do not call for it. My proposition is that censorship needs to be revamped, realigned, reconstituted, and rethought. I agree that there are things young people shouldn't see... and now that I have spent some time on the internet, I have realized that there are some things no one should see.

All these articles you read present you with information on a topic, but you don't have to stop there. You do have the ability to change things. You can change things with the way that you vote, or you can take action and write to someone in power, you can petition, you can rally. You have real power, and if this hasn't sparked your interest then there are causes far more noble to take up than censorship. You can make a difference, you just have to be willing to step out of the crowd and make yourself heard. It's a scary prospect, but it's the right thing to do.