Don't Read These Books

Did you know that there have been books that were banned?

What that means is, someone found a book offensive, and declared that it should not be available, either for sale or in public libraries. It happens to this day both in other countries and in the U.S. There have even been gatherings where people piled the books up and set them on fire. These were typically religious extremists, but other groups have decided that some books were not fit to be available and burned those as well.

You might be surprised to see what some of them were, and why they were banned. Such as:

"Fahrenheit 451," by Ray Bradbury
-Oddly, this book included references to burning books.

'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' by Mark Twain
-This book used the derogatory "N" word, which is highly offensive and enough in this instance, for some people, to ban the book.

"The Catcher In The Rye" by J.D. Salinger
-It is all about teenage angst (longing and confusion)


"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
-This book was thought to promote white supremacy, although it's about a white lawyer defending a black man, and also the book used the "N" word

"The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck
-The book was banned for using 'vulgar' language.

"Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
-It was banned because it was depressing. Seriously??

And check out some banned books that will probably surprise you more:

• The "Harry Potter" series, because it promoted sorcery and wizardry
• The Bible (still banned in North Korea)
• The Quran
• "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" because it showed young people smoking
• "Little Red Riding Hood" because she had wine in her basket (I don't recall the story mentioning the contents of the basket, but whatever)
• "Sleeping Beauty" which was thought to promote witchcraft and magic
• "Harriet the Spy" by Louise Fitzgerald, for teaching children to spy, back-talk, and curse
• "Where's Waldo" by Marvin Handford, because in one book there is a partially-exposed woman's breast. And--so what if there is? How would anyone find it?
• "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe, because it was anti-slavery
• "All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Remarque-banned for insulting the Nazis in WWII (!)

As well as more recently written books---

• "The Hunger Games"
• "Gossip Girl"
• "13 Reasons Why"
• "Twilight"
• "Captain Underpants"

Why?? Here is a source of banned books and the 'reasons' they were banned:
http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10

Have you already read some of these books?  Let's hope so!!


Another list of banned books:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_books_banned_by_governments

Do you think some books should be banned, or not. And if so, banned by whom-who should have the power to decree a book as unfit? Why? What effect does forbidding something usually have?

First Amendment Rights, Part 2: Freedom of the Press

Freedom of the press  is worded like this in the Constitution, September 25, 1789:


This is the entire First Amendment.


Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

If we're only talking about the freedom of the press, here is some food for thought:


"The last right we shall mention regards the freedom of the press. The importance of this consists, besides the advancement of truth, science, morality, and arts in general, in its diffusion of liberal sentiments on the administration of Government, its ready communication of thoughts between subjects, and its consequential promotion of union among them, whereby oppressive officers are shamed or intimidated into more honorable and just modes of conducting affairs."

 

Read the entire excellent essay here:  
http://www.heritage.org/constitution#!/amendments/1/essays/140/freedom-of-speech-and-of-the-press

 

The words 'Diffusion' and 'ready communication of thoughts' is still a valid way to say it. Today, this sharing is magnified greatly by the use of the phone, internet, television, and social media. These things also make it almost impossible to monitor every thing that's shared, from artwork and music to readable information. While the First Amendment intends to allow expression without censorship, there are those who seek to suppress these freedoms, to compel others to agree with their concept of 'appropriate'.


Definition of Censorship: the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security

The question is, who has decided they are unacceptable? The First Amendment is put in place to uphold your freedom but also to limit it, so that certain communication is blocked. What do you think of any kind of censorship? Is there danger in not having censorship? Is there danger in having it?

 

 

Freedom of the press, the right to "Gather, publish, and distribute ideas without government restriction." means:

• Published written work: Books, magazines, flyers, posters, signs, advertising
• Music such as CDs
• Art
• Research (medicine, science)
• Again, this freedom includes the right to not have your work censored.
• Censoring, definition: the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security

Journalists can refuse to disclose their sources. This confidentiality can protect the informant from being harassed (or worse)


Here is a judge's decision to a challenge to the disclosure rule:




Justice Stewart's dissent in Branzburg urged the Court to find that a qualified journalistic privilege exists unless the government is able to show three things: (1) Probable Cause to believe that the journalist possesses information that is clearly relevant; (2) an inability to obtain the material by less intrusive means; and (3) a compelling interest that overrides First Amendment interests.

 

This post is about Freedom of the Press in the United States. Check out this map giving areas of the world and where they also have it, and where they do not:
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/freedom-press-2016

I Demand My 1st Amendment Rights!! BTW What are they? Part 1, Freedom of Speech

Your First Amendment Rights include:

Freedom of Speech

Freedom of the Press
Freedom of Assembly
Freedom of Religioin
Freedom of Petition

 

First let's talk about.....

 

Freedom of Speech:

 

• The obvious is the right of every citizen to speak his or her mind, especially when it comes to politics. In a nutshell, it means if you want to say you disapprove or have negative feelings about the President of the United States or any other representative, you can, and you won't be arrested for doing so.
• Freedom of Speech is sometimes called Freedom of Expression; they are essentially the same, although 'expression' also means expressing yourself in different ways.

Freedom of Speech means you can:

• Seek, receive, or give out information
• This would mean you can look for information without fear of being arrested or penalized. You can seek information in person, through records, through libraries, online, and through the mail.

• You can also receive information: If you call and ask, or visit and ask, a source to send you information-that is perfectly legal, and your information (particularly mail) can't be censored, it is your personal property.
• 'Speech' also means the right to carry a sign, to put one in your yard, or on your car, or on clothing you wear, because this is a form of expression.
• You have the freedom to express yourself in art, as well: Song, painting, sculpture, writing, are all ways to express what you feel. Did you know some books have been "banned" in the US in the past? Read more about that in Triogenius, Jan. 5, 2015. How do you feel about censorship?

• You can give out information you have found, although it depends on where you want to speak or give out information in the form of flyers, for example. If you want to give a speech to a number of people about your beliefs, you can. You can't, however, do this in a space, even if it's public, if there are restrictions as to number of people, etc. One prime example is at a State Fair. There are people who own the land, specifically the state, who can restrict your speaking there. You may not assemble and make speeches on the grounds of a prison, because it is also usually state-owned. You may or may not be allowed to make speeches in a 'public' park, You are required to ask permission and then abide by the findings.

• Students do not necessarily have the right to speak on school grounds about their issues.
• While technically, you have the 'right' to say bad things about someone, whether in public, through the mail, or online, there is the question of ethics and how it damages that person in the process. Having the 'right' to say it doesn't mean you should say it.
• You do, perhaps unfortunately, have the right to burn the American flag in protest.
•  You do have the right to take photos of people in public places.
• You do have the right to form a protest and carry signs; however, you need to find a place where it will be allowed and get the necessary permit from the community. Some communities will not allow the use of signs mounted on sticks, in order to avoid possible violence.

• When protesting, you do not have the right to incite violence (see below). When this happens or seems imminent, law enforcement is allowed to move in and stop the protest.The protest should not infringe the rights of others (such as blocking traffic)
• Since the Internet is relatively new, discussions about rights online is a developing topic: how much  and what kind of information should we allow to be shared online? How can we regulate that? Should we? Who would decide?

 

Things you do NOT have the right to do with your Freedom of Speech:

• Saying or otherwise expressing things that incite or provoke people to violence
• Saying things that cause a panic in people (the traditional yelling "FIRE" in a theatre)
• Saying offensive things (this is open to a broad interpretation: What is offensive, and to whom?)

• Saying things that promote hate/hate crimes. You cannot speak of your hatred of a particular race, for example, when you make a speech.
• Saying, or collecting, or sharing obscene things-materials such as pictures or videos, especially involving children and vulnerable others
• Saying things that slander or defame other people
• Denying anyone else their freedom of speech
• Bullying behavior whether in person, online, or through your phone
• You cannot speak on matters that are classified information, are copyrighted, or that reveal trade secrets.
• Graffiti (sometimes called "Tagging") is damage to someone else's property; it is not simply freedom of expression. You see it frequently on train cars and buildings. Sometimes people will spray paint 'messages' on someone's house or a church. That is vandalism and possibly a hate crime.

For a legal description of this right: http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Freedom+of+Speech

There are countries in the world where freedom speech is not a given right. In Saudi Arabia, for example, if you speak against the religion of Islam, you can be put to death. Iran, Eritrea, Turkmenistan, China, North Korea, and other countries are very restrictive as to this freedom we take for granted here. Read more about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech_by_country