Online Censorship

[razz]

I realyl like Fahrenheit 451. it's a great story. I hear they're making another film of it, Tom Hanks was gonna star in it, but he left for an unknown reason (unknown to me at least). but i wanted to tell a little story.
during the previous school year, i suggested the novel to my American Literature teacher. She said that she had planned to read the novel in class, but the school had deemed the book inappropriate. Good God. They censore a novel on Censorship.

[razz]

i think it's actually code for "our new superintendent spent the entire budget on office furniture again, so we're flat broke". hey, it's happened at least once

[razz]

exactly. what's sad is, it's a high school, and I'm a senior now. i noticed they didn't remove it from the library

[razz]

>< that sux

[B Rag]

Inappropriate! I can't imagine... well, I guess it is a bit violent. Maybe they're afraid it'll draw attention to other acts of censorship?

Anyway, I voted for the second choice, though I was really torn between it and the last one. I don't believe censorship should ever occur in any way, but I do believe the owner of a site should be allowed to decide what goes on it. I hope that doesn't sound like a contradiction...

[razz]

not at all, B Rag. and we had to read the Great Gatsby :cry:, and the Crucible. Horrible. I still wake up screaming, thinking i'm still in that class

[B Rag]

The only thing worse than being forced to read The Great Gatsby is being forced to read The Jungle. :scared:

[The Lady of Shadows]

not true. not true. being forced to read moby dick. that's horrible. fucking book about a fucking whale. and the fucking whale doesn't even show up until 2/3 of the way through the fucking book.

anyway, as to the topic. i don't think it's censorship for the owner of a site to be responsible for what goes on the site. after all, it is his or her site. for example. if someone on this site were to suddenly start putting links for, say, child porn in their sig you bet your ass that matt would do something about it. not only because that shit is wrong but because it's his name on the f'n site papers and if he let it go on there could be reprecussions for him.

now, he can't read every single post obviously. but he does have a staff (even though their pay is what? beam bucks?) whose job i presume consists of browsing through their respective areas. god knows we've all been put back on topic enough. :lol:

as for the government, they're too busy listening in on phone calls, reading our text messages, and apparently keeping ves'ka gan and i from im'ing to pay attention to the billions of website out there.

[Jean]

I have bought a second-hand copy in London, now will at last [re]read it - I read it a very long time ago, in Russian (I assume the translation was adequate, though - every translation of that time I could compare with the original was adequate to say the least), and I didn't like it at all; but I hated all Bradbury at that time. I am very interested to find out what I will feel about him now.

[obscurejude]

not true. not true. being forced to read moby dick. that's horrible. fucking book about a fucking whale. and the fucking whale doesn't even show up until 2/3 of the way through the fucking book.

anyway, as to the topic. i don't think it's censorship for the owner of a site to be responsible for what goes on the site. after all, it is his or her site. for example. if someone on this site were to suddenly start putting links for, say, child porn in their sig you bet your ass that matt would do something about it. not only because that shit is wrong but because it's his name on the f'n site papers and if he let it go on there could be reprecussions for him.

now, he can't read every single post obviously. but he does have a staff (even though their pay is what? beam bucks?) whose job i presume consists of browsing through their respective areas. god knows we've all been put back on topic enough. :lol:

as for the government, they're too busy listening in on phone calls, reading our text messages, and apparently keeping ves'ka gan and i from im'ing to pay attention to the billions of website out there.

See, NAMBLA would disagree with you. This is why I'm sick of everyone bitching about censorship. Its needed. Anarchy isn't as glorious as Fight Club makes it out to be.

[B Rag]

Do you think anything besides child pornography should be banned?

[Jean]

<...> I'm sick of everyone bitching about censorship. Its needed. Anarchy isn't as glorious as Fight Club makes it out to be.
hear, hear

razz: I've only just noticed the poll, and have two questions:

1. WTF is Govornment? is it Government, as I suppose, or something mysterious I am unaware of?
2. WhyTF did you have to add this poll to a Bradbury thread instead of making it a separate thread? now we're going to talk of all kinds of things, except Fahrenheit 451.

[razz]

well i kinda wanted the discussion on censorship and 451 to be one and the same. Compare how the themes of the book are similar to censorship in real life
and i like polls :D
as for "govornment", i always have trouble spelling it, and usually Firefox would correct my spelling. aside from that it's a secret organization bent on ruling the world using extraterrestrial Technology and fruitcakes.

[obscurejude]

Do you think anything besides child pornography should be banned?

Absolutely. Aristotle is my moral compass and provides my reasonings for the most part. The modern philosophers that I hear an my head were/are also very influenced by said moral philosopher (Mathew Arnold, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Alasdair MacIntyre, etc...) Oh yeah, a shameless plug for Aquinas as well.

It would be easier for me if you had something specific in mind to discuss and I could break it down for you if you're interested rather than give you a list of things that I feel should be censored.

[B Rag]

Okay, I could try. Um... sexual acts between consenting adults. Do you think there are certain ones of which pictures should not be allowed on the internet, or perhaps that all of them should be banned? (Pictures of them, I mean)

[The Lady of Shadows]

you are a sick, sick, twisted person alex. :lol:

[Jean]

I like Moby Dick a lot.

So much for Bradbury discussion. That does it, guys, I am moving it to Dixie Pig, giving it a provisional title, which I can change for any other (if any) razz will suggest. If a Bradbury discussion is still of interest, feel free to start it anew in Dutch Hill. I also edited razz's first post, turning "this book" into "Fahrenheit 451", for the sake of clarity.

razz: Dutch Hill is strictly for literature. You can use Fahrenheit to illustrate your point in Dixie Pig as much as you want. (though I see no reason for it to become a spoiler thread)

[obscurejude]

Okay, I could try. Um... sexual acts between consenting adults. Do you think there are certain ones of which pictures should not be allowed on the internet, or perhaps that all of them should be banned? (Pictures of them, I mean)

Wanted to let you know that I saw this and will get to it soon B Rag. Its getting late here and would rather post when I'm not so tired (at least about the more serious things).

[Jon]

At least you have a library.
I was homeschooled. No library and my parents chose the books I read.


I suppose you walked up hill both ways too!!:excited:


Thank you

I'll be here all week.

Try the veal!

[Brice]

Censorship on a site isn't really censorship. You still have legitimate access to the same material elsewhere offsite. It is more an issue of if I come to your house or business I have to follow your rules or leave if I impudently show I'm unwilling to do so. The same applies to your school. It is not censorship. Censorship is done strictly by a governing body. Have they told you you can't read it? They still have it in the library. They've just chosen not to study that particular book. I'm sure they decide not to read numerous books for both similar and various other reasons. Unless they are prohibiting you're reading of it (since it's still in the library they're clearly not) it is not censorship at all.

Aside from this I am going to make Ryan very sad (but not surprised) by saying I approve of very minimal censorship. Basically anything that happens between consenting adults is cool with me (with the added provision that I'd probably, in most cases not want to know about it :lol: ). I'm willing and waiting to hear Aristotle's arguments though.

[Odetta]

I said no censorship... let the user decide what they wish to view or not view.

[The Lady of Shadows]

brice's response is exactly why i reponded that it's the site owner's responsibility. that's not really censorship but responsible site management, imo.

[obscurejude]

Censorship on a site isn't really censorship. You still have legitimate access to the same material elsewhere offsite. It is more an issue of if I come to your house or business I have to follow your rules or leave if I impudently show I'm unwilling to do so. The same applies to your school. It is not censorship. Censorship is done strictly by a governing body. Have they told you you can't read it? They still have it in the library. They've just chosen not to study that particular book. I'm sure they decide not to read numerous books for both similar and various other reasons. Unless they are prohibiting you're reading of it (since it's still in the library they're clearly not) it is not censorship at all.

Aside from this I am going to make Ryan very sad (but not surprised) by saying I approve of very minimal censorship. Basically anything that happens between consenting adults is cool with me (with the added provision that I'd probably, in most cases not want to know about it :lol: ). I'm willing and waiting to hear Aristotle's arguments though.

Minimal censorship wasn't really a poll option, but even minimal still begs the question, who has the right to decide? That's why I referred to NAMBLA in a previous post. The North American Man Boy Love Association would change the age of consenting adults to 13 years old. If that's the case, then consenting acts between adults takes on a different meaning. Should this be censored and why?

Another interesting aspect of the web is that its international. I think this is the real risk involved, because different forms of life (via Wittgenstein, "a people, place, with its own history, language and practices") look at the world with different lenses. Who has the right to decide truth absolutely? C.S. Lewis has made some good arguments for a universal moral code, but he didn't live in the same age as we do. Its a conundrum. Did the experiment of the 60's, which was based on a lot of decadent philosophy of the late nineteenth century, fail because it was too utopic and not realistic, or because the foundation of the established morality was too strong to break? The love revolution brought plenty of great things, but also wider spread STD's, unwanted pregnancies, and drugs. Was the war on drugs in the 80's the right way to do it, or was mandated minimal sentences a bad idea (seeing that now the prisons are vastly overpopulated)?

I don't particularly have a solution besides not letting anyone under the age of 18 use the internet. Once you're an adult, you have a responsibility to frame these questions and make up your mind about them. I'm inclined to believe that we, as a society can learn a lot from the Amish.

[theBeamisHome]

mmm... i want some veal.

we had to read The Great Gatsby in 11th grade... i didn't.. i also didn't read Catcher in the Rye, and probably many other books. Why do schools pick such awful titles? I started Moby Dick one time on my own and couldn't get past the first page.

now with censorship... i think mostly that parents should be responsible for censorship in regards to what their children see (at least while they're with them, its impossible to control EVERYTHING they see), i don't really dig government messing with anything because they always go too far, but idk...

[razz]

i for the most part oppose most censorship, but i also think that if someone runs a site, they have the right to decide what is put on their site. also there are some things that should not be put on some sites, for example, screenshots of a murder on a preschool site. tho that is some thing i would do. :evilrazz: