Censorship Essay, Research Paper

Probably the most obvious example of intolerance in our society today is the existence of censorship.

I have yet to encounter a valid argument for any form of censorship. Such arguments as are presented invariably take the form of concern for the well being of others , children frequently being the alleged victims quoted . The arguments are specious and shallow and constitute nothing more than the imposition of one groups morality on another.

As it stands, the current position is farcical. A small group of officials, comprising customs clerks, policemen and arbitrarily appointed members of various tribunals, are, to take one example, apparently deemed by law to be invulnerable to those supposedly corrupting influences of pornography and violence. However if those in favour of censorship are to be believed, should these people retire or change their employment, they suddenly join the masses becoming corruptible like the rest of us

and must now be protected

If the case put forward by the indefatigable censorship advocates has any merit, then we ought regularly to be reading in our newspapers of the arrest of members of our censorship body, found lurking, naked under their raincoats outside girls’ schools, corrupted victims of their excessive exposure to pornographic material.

The greatest danger with censorship is that it knows bounds. It is an all or nothing situation and even if proof can be made of ‘harm’ to some through the absence of censorship, it is a price well worth paying to ensure an open society in which each of us determines our own behaviour.