I have a gift/curse of understanding. I can see many sides to any topic, and I can see the reasoning behind a great many decisions made by people. I have the ability to think very long term and see the consequences of seemingly harmless decisions and policies. However, for all of my gifts and abilities there are some things I just can’t wrap my head around. Censorship is one of those things.

Why do people think that censorship of any kind is a good thing? You DO want the permission to speak your mind don’t you? Not to mention the freedom to create art. I admit that I am a little biased on this topic, I am after all an artist who specializes in pin-ups. Then again, anyone with half a brain who likes to complain about the government should be biased. Hmm … wouldn’t that be nearly EVERYONE?

It’s easy to allow censorship to happen too. You get offended by some image, idea, or written piece and you decide to yourself “Nobody should be subjected to THIS”. That’s how it all starts folks, when you don’t like something. You don’t like it, so you tell your friends, then your friends tell their friends. Next thing you know, you have hundreds of people ranting, raving and frothing at the mouth to eliminate this THING from public awareness. So this mob of “like-minded” individuals go to their congressman, senator, and whoever else will listen and they scream to the rafters about this BAD THING that is offensive beyond belief. Now you have government officials drawn into the fight against this THING that is Surely against the laws of nature and physics by merely existing. Sooner or later, you now have a public policy, regulations and laws prohibiting this THING from being displayed in public and perhaps even prohibited from private exhibition too.

It happens. You can see it happening every day, on the internet and out there in the real world. Open your eyes and watch it happen. Yes Virginia, there really ARE banned books even in the USA. Ideas are dangerous things don’t you know? Ideas make people THINK, which is to be avoided at all costs by any government that wants to keep operating. Pictures are dangerous too, they might corrupt the youth with their inspirational symbolism. Images of The human body are an especially bad thing to allow anyone to see, people might actually think about something nice instead of buying the new brand of patented BS we’re selling them.

Are you selling your brain to the censors for the sake of the next new thing?

dracoselene

I'm an artist, writer, ordained interfaith minister, veteran, spiritualist, androgyne, and piles of other labels that never seem to fit. I'm following my passion and attempting to make myself and the world a better place. I think that through compassion and understanding we can all become one unified race of human beings, and life is better when you remember to play.