September 2023 Dare to Believe by Fran Joyce
Censorship can take many forms. A government might censor information it perceives as a threat to national security or the safety of its citizens.
As parents, we make decisions about what is appropriate for our children to read or watch. We monitor their browsing habits on the internet to protect them from predators.
We censor ourselves (hopefully) when we’re angry, so we don’t make the situation worse.
What happens when religious institutions, politicians, or conservative or liberal groups, attempt to censor what the general public can read or watch?
Before societies valued literacy for all instead of the select few and before the internet, censorship was much easier. Now we live in a world of 24/7 knowledge.
This month, I’ve selected two individuals from different time periods who opposed censorship, the poet, John Milton from the 17th century and Amanda Jones, a librarian from the 21st century. Both found the courage to stand against censorship in troubling times.
John Milton (1608-1674) – “He who destroys a good book destroys reason itself.”
Milton thought of books as having a life. He believed the life and experiences of the author were interwoven into the pages.
Milton also thought when people read books, they contributed their experiences, and he fiercely fought to protect books from censorship or alteration.
Milton was educated at Christ’s College at the University of Cambridge. After graduation, he traveled, wrote poetry, and began a career as a pamphleteer and publicist during Charles I’s increasingly autocratic rule. Charles I believed in the divine right of kings. Milton argued rulers should be held accountable for their actions. Charles’ attempts to rule with absolute power eventually led to chaos and civil war.
After Charles I was tried, convicted, and executed for high treason in 1649, the monarchy was abolished. England became a commonwealth and a republic. Milton supported the government of Oliver Cromwell and defended the need for a free press. He also opposed measures to censor books.
After Cromwell’s death, Charles II and his supporters were able to restore the monarchy in 1660. Milton was jailed for his views, and many of his works were burned.
His celebrated work, Areopagitica (1644), was written in condemnation of pre-publican censorship. It remains one of history’s most impassioned and influential defenses of free speech and the free press.
At the time of his death, Milton lived in poverty. He was no longer considered an influential writer in England, but he was famous throughout Europe for his bold political choices.
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Amanda Jones is a Livingston Parish school librarian in Louisianna who fights against the censorship of books in libraries. Jones was recently awarded the Intellectual Freedom Award by the American Association of School Librarians.
According to Kathy Lester, the president of the AASL:
“Amanda is an example that we must all stand together and stand strong. When a public library is challenged, all libraries are challenged. When a school or district in a state is challenged it is only a matter of time before other schools and districts are challenged. To unite and protect the rights of all learners is inspirational.”
When members of conservative groups in the district began to demand the removal of books they deemed inappropriate, Jones began speaking up at school board meetings to defend the books.
Jones, who is the president of the Louisianna Association of School Librarians, has created a “censorship toolkit” for Louisiana school librarians to help inform them about censorship debates. She has also founded, Louisianna Citizens Against Censorship, a statewide group opposed to censoring books.
When Jones began speaking out at school board meetings, she was publicly accused of trying to keep pornographic material in school libraries and of advocating anal sex to 11-year-olds. These accusations were posted by two men on their Facebook pages. After these posts, Jones received numerous threats of violence and a death threat. When Jones filed a defamation lawsuit against the two individuals, Judge Erika Sledge of the First Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case because in her opinion, the defendants were stating their opinions not uttering facts.
It’s ironic that the people who are trying to ban books conveniently hide behind freedom of speech to defend their actions.
Jones has filed an appeal.
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Photo of Amanda Jones:
With no intention of copyright infringement.