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Censorship

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CajunCenturion

CajunCenturion

Programmer
Mar 4, 2002
11,381
US
In another thread, SF0751 brought up the word 'censorship'.

The word carries negative connotations, at least here in the USA, but is the word that bad? Does the word get a bad rap so to speak?

Is the word viewed negatively outside of the USA?
 
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BTW my thread is gone and it was funny funny harmless thread. Why is is gone? Talk about "censorship" as a good word? I don't think so.
 
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==> it was funny funny harmless thread

But was it on topic?

Good Luck
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It certainly has negative connotations here in the UK.

The word itself comes from the Latin censere to assess (OED & Merriam-Webster).

It seems to imply a faceless bureaucrat determining what is suitable viewing or reading for the hoi polloi, a tool used for control by repressive regimes.

In UK, The British Board of Film Classification determines minimum viewing age for films - I'm sure they used to be called The British Board of Film Censors.

Whether the word gets a bad rap rather depends on whether you believe everyone has the right to view / read anything, or whether you think that some material shouldn't be given air, and that access to some material should be limited by age.


Rosie
"Never express yourself more clearly than you think" (Niels Bohr)
 
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I'd have to go a long, long way to find anything short of physical violence or mental cruelty that I believe I need to be protected from by the imposition of censorship.

However...

I believe that children and possibly some other categories do need that judgement call to be made for them

and I am grateful that some steps are taken to limit the relentless assault on my eyes, by gratuitous, sexual imagery used for advertising purposes.

I know there is a lot of subjective shortcuts in what I have said (define mental cruelty, children, gratuitous, etc)
but its a big subject.





 
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My "censorship" pet peeve has to do with corporations being acused of censorship when they make decisions. Warner Brothers may censor a musician on their album label and people get outraged. Warner Brothers may do whatever they wish regarding their business. In fact, they may even do something illegal if they are willing to pay the consequences with the government and their shareholders.

They are censoring an artist, but they are not guilty of the censorship that is dangerous.

If the government doesn't permit you to legally listen to the musician, that is censorship too... and of the type that should alarm you.

~Thadeus
 
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The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of the word "censorship" is "parental authority". Now, that is probably because my pre-teen son accused me of practicing censorship because I will not allow him to watch the "Jerry Springer" show about strippers.

As Thadeus stated, when the government acts as a parental authority, and decides what their citizens can/cannot listen to, read, watch, etc. - that is fundamentally wrong.

Susan
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." - Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894)
 
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People usually say censorship when they disapprove of the particular form of control. It's like the difference between a spy and an undercover agent. Or between a submarine and a U-boat - that entered Engish during World War One, as it happens.

Tek Tips stops prevents stuff being posted that would be dangerous - ways round passwords or to defeat softweare keys. This is quite proper, and I'd just as soon that passwords were secure since I use them. If I sold software I'd be pretty annoyed at people being told how to steal it. Censorship? Maybe, or you could call it management, but it is needed.

------------------------------
A view [tiger] from the UK
 
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G.K. Chesterton wrote, “But if there be such a thing as mental growth, it must mean the growth into more and more definite convictions, into more and more dogmas. The human brain is a machine for coming to conclusions; if it cannot come to conclusions it is rusty…. Trees have no dogmas. Turnips are singularly broad-minded”

But does dogma excuse the sort of censorship seen in Birmingham,UK yesterday when a play was diven off the stage by violent 'censorship' ?
 
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GwydionM - Well said. There is a time and a place.

SteveGlo- Can you provide some background and details of the event?

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Thank you strongm. This is a very ugly situation.
SteveGlo said:
But does dogma excuse the sort of censorship seen in Birmingham,UK yesterday when a play was diven off the stage by violent 'censorship' ?
Click to expand...
Who censored whom?

I would also ask that the discussion in this thread/forum continue to center around the word 'censor' and its variations, meanings, and interprestations. Discussions about this specific event, its politics and implications, be held in Squaring The Circle. Thank you.

Good Luck
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To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
 
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In Birmingham a group of armed Sikhs prevented a play that was critical of certain elements in Muslim society from being performed.
The city council and law enforcement took no action against this, the theater decided to stop further performances of the play to prevent further unrest.

Yes, this is censorship and with the tacid approval of the (local) government of the worst kind.
 
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jwenting said:
The city council and law enforcement took no action against this
Click to expand...
According to the BBC article referenced above:
BBC said:
The Rep cancelled Behzti after three police officers were hurt in clashes with about 400 demonstrators outside the venue on Saturday.
Click to expand...
If law enforcement took no action, how did three officers get hurt?

Again, who censored whom?

Good Luck
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To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
 
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Here is the most telling of quotes to me:
West Midlands Police said it had always been prepared to protect theatre-goers and the decision to close the play had been entirely down to the theatre.
Click to expand...

So the play lost its venue.

The venue had been damaged by protesters. The venue has a right to protect their properties.

The play has the right to find a new venue.

How is this different than a record company dropping a musician because of protest?

How are both of these different from a citizen being jailed for speaking out against the government?

~Thadeus
 
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