The censors among us are fanatical in ways that a reasonably well-adjusted person would consider a colossal waste of calories. When a person says or writes something the censors consider heresy—and their standard for sacrilege is a low bar indeed—it triggers a maniacal reflex in which the unendurable words must be exterminated and the person who offended their delicate sensibilities is made to suffer personal and professional ruination.
It doesn’t matter to the censors whether or not the so-called offense is something they must partake of. Close a book, don’t buy a ticket, change the channel: These are inadequate responses to the manifestation of another’s iniquity. The censors are hellbent on stopping their fellow man from sinfulness and punishing those that dare bring it into the world. They are inflicting divine good, earning their spot in earthly paradise. As is the case with all who would do evil against others in pursuit of one’s own salvation, these efforts are ultimately meant to secure for their god the sinner’s worship in the form of subjugation. The sincerity of the converso’s newfound “belief” is irrelevant, as long as he no longer utters or writes a heretical notion…or better yet…never dares think one.
Though the censor is childish and emotionally weak, he is, nevertheless, able to conjure up a remarkable degree of energy and singlemindedness in furtherance of his pernicious goal. The fervent exertions of those who would control discordant ideas and speech are akin to the viciousness well-adjusted people reserve for heinous physical crimes, such as rape or child molestation. Unfortunately, the censor is far more outraged that the rapist was misgendered than he is of the actual sexual assault itself. “There, there, my dear rapist, I’ll take care of these bigots!”
In essence, censors are fascist busybodies. Their ilk has always been among us, but modern technology, at long last, gives them the means of God-like omnipotence in both speed and reach. An indecorous comment half a world away is within nanoseconds uncovered and pounced upon. The sinner is quickly adorned with his crown of thorns, whipped bleeding through the digital streets of social media, and then nailed to a cross of silicon. This crucifixion rite serves two purposes: It is punishment for the evildoer and a warning to others that this is not a sacrifice to forgive us our transgressions, but to warn us that our sins, no matter how trivial or ancient, are to be swiftly punished with disproportionate cruelty. The censors intend in the here-and-now a mirthless totalitarianism sold to its adherents as Heaven on Earth. Heaven it most certainly will not be. Not for us. Not for them.
Take for example, a television show. The host or so much as a single guest is someone I abhor. I would either watch the show or not watch the show. Its mere existence would not cripple my ability to go on with life. I’d leave a similar decision for others to make, recognizing that my willingness to allow others freedom of speech is what ensures my own free speech.
Contrast this with things I wouldn’t do:
- Call the network and demand the show be canceled or the host fired.
- Watch the show, endure the sacrilege in order to jot down the names of the advertisers, and then contact them to demand they stop advertising on the show.
- If Snickers advertised on the show and ignored my pleas, contact the peanut farmer to demand he no longer supply peanuts to Snickers.
- Contact the bank the network uses to demand it stop providing the network financial services. (This may even devolve into contacting the banks the advertisers use and then making the same demand regarding these customers.)
- Contact the financial app the network uses. Demand it stop providing financial services to the network.
- Drill down even further: Contact the entity that provides the app. Demand it stop providing the app.
- If the host of the show is scheduled to speak at a college:
- Whine to the school that it must cancel the speech because it shall result in “hate” and “unsafe spaces” for “marginalized communities.” If the school persists, demand a crying room be provided for offended students to use in order to get over the so-called trauma.
- Buy up tickets to prevent actual attendees from attending.
- Disrupt the speech.
- Create a ruckus to keep people from attending.
- If the host has a book deal:
- Contact the publisher, demand it not publish the book.
- Contact bookstores, demand they not sell it.
- Attack anyone who follows the host on Twitter.
- Attack anyone who retweets the host’s tweets.
- See if anyone liked the host’s tweets and then attack that person.
- Deplatform the host on social media sites.
- Demonetize the host on social media sites.
- Go after the hosts family, dox them.
- If the host attends college, demand he be expelled.
Today’s censors actually do these fascist things, imbibed with an amalgam of glee, malice, and smugness. Sane people don’t. Censorship is fascism. We must fight fascism. We must allow opinions we don’t like to exist. We must allow opinions we agree with to exist. We must treat opinions like an animal species on the verge of extinction, one down to its last mating pair. We’re to that point. Our own freedom depends on the freedom we allow others have, especially those people we don’t like.
The censors couldn’t care less about free speech. Scouring the world of all offense is an evil goal. It can lead only to bleakness: A scorched Earth that is a mirthless, uninteresting place denuded of ideas. Is that a world you want to live in? I don’t. The censors desperately want that world and mean to have it. One wonders why they would sit amidst the blasted landscape and its gray ashes, and declare it Eden.
Be First to Comment