Banned Books Week 2008 Comes to a Close

Though Banned Books Week ended on October 4, there is no reason to abandon the fervor people seem to have against censorship!

People pick up books that have been challenged or banned during Banned Books Week, herald the freedom to read them, and at the end of the week, go back into their bubbles and pretend censorship isn't something that effects people every day.

According to Wikipedia:

According to the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, the United States is currently ranked 48th in the world in terms of press freedom. Certain forms of speech, such as obscenity and defamation, are restricted in major media outlets by the government or by the industry on its own. However, in general freedom of speech is considered an integral American value, as protected by the First Amendment to the United States constitution.

Despite this, books are challenged every year.  The challenges are rarely successful, but some think a challenge is just as dangerous as a banning since the damage has already been done.

Unfortunately, it's not just books that are censored in today's society.  People try to restrict music, art, even political thought.

Yes, we have the right to free speech.  And to promote that right, people create "free speech zones."  According to Wikipedia:

The existence of free speech zones is based on U.S. court decisions stipulating that the government may regulate the time, place, and manner—but not content—of expression.

To be honest, it makes me a little sad that free speech zones have to be created.  Despite having the right to free speech, people have to be given specific areas in which to practice that right.

This is censorship at work, ladies and gentlemen.  People are telling when when and where you can have freedom to speak your mind.

When you finish reading your book for Banned Books Week and put it back on your shelf, don't let your passion for free speech go on the shelf as well.

If we don't fight censorship and clamor for our right to free speech, it will slowly be sneaked away from us little by little until the only freedom of speech we'll have is the ability to say "No, thanks," when we're asked if we want coffee after dinner.