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Poster: Margaret
Caption: We see examples of what Rushdie is talking about all over the world. Societies such as those of the former Soviet bloc got accustomed to having everybody spying on everybody else; you knew that your neighbors, or even your children, would report on you, so you watched what you said around everybody; you couldn't speak freely to anybody. And even after those regimes went away, the people took a long time to open up, to shake off those feelings or suspicion or paranoia. We saw that in the immediate aftermath of Saddam's fall; local Iraqis were very reluctant to talk to the Western press, because they didn't really believe Saddam's goon squads wouldn't still come get them. The Roman historian Tacitus, who lived through the dictatorship of the Emperor Domitian, observed this in the 2nd century AD: it is easier to crush than to revive genius. That is, it takes a long time for people to regain the use of their freedom, even after they have regained the freedom itself.

Poster: beacommer@
Caption: God of Reason ie Principle is and always fights with us

Poster: Rick Henry
Caption: Any censorship immediatley stifels the truth. As ususal however there are two ways to look at this issue. First, censorship is always a dangerous thing in a democracy like the one that America enjoys. Here we have a law that prohibits censorship, and we have additional laws that protect the right to free expression along with a court system that essentially gaurantees the right of free speech and a free press. Of course there are some instances when there needs to be a court fight (in deciding if something is in the national interest to be kept secret) but here there is fight to the finish to protect ourselves from censorship. Secondly the people in America seem to insist on freedom of expression, even though there may be times when they wish that right were not allowed to be exercised. So a concensus of government and people as a group and individuals along with the press protect our right of expression. In other countries however the view is a more restricted. They seem to believe that total freedom of expression can lead to outright social chaos among sectarian groups. This particualarly applies to views concerning religion. Presently there is talk of arresting Madonna if she puts herself on a cross in Germany. If she does it will violate a law against making fun of a religion. By the way this is supported by the Catholic Church who urging that Madonna who was raised as a Catholic be arrested and excommunicated. Apparently from news reports on CNN the Pope agrees at least in pricipal. This might give us a hint about what would happen if Churches ran the show. We must risk some social discomfort for the right to freedom of expression. Censorship may work for awhile but eventually the public will rebel. The strength of a country can be measured by how it protects the market place of ideas. If you want to have a picture of what a stagnat society looks like, take a look at 1000 AD in Europe. From the glory of Rome and Greece to a pig sty. about 75 years later when the people experinced a little freedom Europe was transformed to place of growth and prosperity. Brought about by a small measure of freedom and expression of the common folk. Freedom without civil war and peace with dignity.