Fayner Posts: Censorship of any kind (except child porn) is inexcusable in this country. As a free nation, we should be able to get access to anything that tickles our fancy, whether it be racist propaganda, Meth recipes or videos of dogs being brutally beaten for fun. Unpopular these things may be, but their sheer presence in our society is what we’re supposedly fighting a war to preserve.

Where is my present anger stemming from, you may ask?

Check out http://www.local6.com/news/4968965/detail.html to read about a book about the historical events of 1940s India through the eyes of a young girl is being challenged by a Florida high school because of references to oral sex.

But our right to decide for ourselves what we want and should be allowed to enjoy is always being challenged, sometimes even denied. Powerful lawmakers have taken it into their own hands to change the rules as they see fit.

Some examples

In June 1997, George W. Bush signs into law a rider that requires state pension funds to divest any assets that are invested in record companies that produce "obscene" albums in hopes of censoring what music we are allowed to listen to.

In October 1985, President Ronald Reagan said that "reactionary" and "obscene" rock music should not deserve Constitutional protection. "I don’t believe that our Founding Fathers ever intended to create a nation where the rights of pornographers would take precedence over the rights of parents, and the violent and malevolent would be given free rein to prey upon our children."

2001 saw Clinton’s designation of June as Gay Pride Month being nixed by new Prez
Bush, as was in 2004 an annual event celebrating "gay pride month" at the Department
of Justice’s Pennsylvania Avenueheadquarters despite signing proclamations designating Black History Month, Women’s History Month and Irish-American Heritage Month.

Here are some books found at http://www.forbiddenlibrary.com that have either been banned or challenged by US school committees, along with the reasons, because of their unpopular content, that which to this day are still protected by the US Constitution as free speech and should be allowed—rather, required—reading for everyone based solely on merit alone…not to mention their status as either fantastic stories or important works…

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer “racially charged language”

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. “sexually offensive passages.” "real downer."

Catcher in the Rye.  "anti-Christian." "profanity, reference to suicide, vulgarity, disrespect, and anti-Christian sentiments."

Zen Buddhism: Selected Writings.  "this book details the teachings of the religion of Buddhism in such a way that the reader could very likely embrace its teachings and choose this as his religion."

Grapes of Wrath "vulgar words”  “uses the name of God and Jesus in a ‘vain and profane manner along with inappropriate sexual references.’"