Censorship: Why it is Bad

We all know the story of how Sarah Palin attempted to have a book on evolution removed from the Wasilla library. I do not wish to examine whether her religious views would allow her to be an effective leader of a democratic nation, rather I want to express the need to prevent censorship. How electing McCain would be extremely dangerous.

I have a very good friend who is smart and nice and very funny, but she supports Sarah Palin. I think there are a lot of people just like her, smart intelligent people who support her, but I am not sure these people understand the danger inherent in electing someone who wishes to restrict and filter information.

If you have ever read Fahrenheit 451-- This is a book, not a Michael Moore film. Fahrenheit 451 is about burning books -- the books are burned because they cause ideas to form, and ideas usually disrupt society. The book of Solomon in the Bible tells us that, "Wisdom causes sorrow." This is true, but only when it is the truth that hurts. Often it is simply our gaining knowledge of what it is that is hurting us. We must hurt though if we are to make it better. I read Nietzsche, and suddenly I realize that I am a slave of my religion and cannot worship in or donate to my church. I read Marx and I realize I am poor and that my boss can pay me infinitely more. I read Thomas Paine and suddenly I realize that my loyalties might be to mankind first and my country and its leaders second. It is best, according to the antagonist in the book, that books, thus knowledge, be destroyed. The mistake society makes in this novel is assuming that the growing pains are too much to bear even if they result in a better world in the end.

The Library of Alexandria, the collection of the works of thousands of brilliant Greeks, Romans, Persians, Egyptians, Jews, Mesopotamians, possibly even Asian works, was destroyed in the 3rd century. Its destruction set western society back roughly a 1000 years. The loss of knowledge left a gap in western academia so wide that ugly things such as myth and superstition replaced it. The road to the Christian era and thus the dark ages was paved with its ashes. Losing knowledge is not a trivial matter.

While it is true that stupidity might lead to a stable society, this is not a good thing. Stable societies favor the powerful. Stupid cannot conceive of the logical arguments needed to speak against the ruthless and the powerful. Books give us this power. The middle ages lasted for a thousand years. During these thousand years the aristocracy formed, the peasantry formed, and nothing changed. This was a stable society. They also burned books.

To tie this in, Sarah Palin goes to a library and wants Darwin banned. Why? For one, it contradicts her faith. Also is undermines her political power. She relies on the vote of people who think Darwin is the devil. The fewer people think he is the devil, the smaller her base. For Darwin to be less of a devil in these people's minds, they must read his books. The best way to prevent this is to destroy his books. Plus, we can rewrite his books then, give them some logical errors and some absurdities so they can be easily discredited when compared with books on creation.

Knowledge is the most precious thing we have and its destruction or manipulation is a travesty of the worst kind even if it takes place in a remote Alaska town.

© 2008 Justin Kunsman

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