Did you know that the famous scientist and astronomer Galileo was censored? Censorship is not as recent as most people think. The Roman Catholic Church has been censoring material that they feel is inappropriate since the Middle Ages, including secular music and philosophical viewpoints of the world. Censorship, in any form, is a terrible thing because it takes away from our basic human rights. Not only does it violate the first amendment of the Bill of Rights, which gives US citizens a "freedom" to say what they want, but censorship also takes away individuals right to make their own decisions. It is used for revenge, punishment, and other unjust reasons as well. Censorship must cease before it gets to be out of control.
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The First amendment of the Constitution states "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press- We are told that we are free but, on the contrary, we are very limited. Ferinheight 451's situation is somewhat similar. The main difference is that people in the world of F451 are ignorant to a different way of life. Censorship is used in the novel by burning books. .
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Censorship is oppressive. It takes away a persons right to make decisions by making them for a person without any input from the person. One thing that censors fail to realize is that their opinion of what is appropriate and what is not isn't shared by everyone. The only one who should determine what you listen to is you. If you disagree with something you see, hear, or read just stop seeing, hearing, or reading it respectively. Groups like the PMRC, or Porn Music Resource Center, feel the need to stop certain music from entering the homes of America but it shouldn't be their decision. Parents are capable of monitoring the listening habits of their children and should be anyway.
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Corporations like Wal-mart have used censorship as vengeance and discipline. You may or may not know that Wal-mart is the nations #1 music retailer, therefore they decide, indirectly, who will be popular in music.