Censorship
by
Theresa Chaze

Censorship an ugly word, that everyone denies but so many practice in subtle ways. It could be as simple as telling another to shut up or going to the extreme of physically preventing the person from speaking. In either case and on every level in-between, one person or group has imposed their expectations and values on others. By silencing even one voice, not only do you limit the information and wisdom they could share, but also you hinder others’ ability to be comfortable sharing their experience.
The uniqueness of every individual gives them a perspective that is all their own. It is the old adage of the three blind men describing an elephant. The one at the head thinks it’s a long muscular hose that‘s attached to a mouth with a wet tongue. The one in the middle feels a flat, rough sometimes moving surface on large pedestals. The one at the tail claims it’s narrow, hard rope that smelly lumps drop out of. With the information they have, all are correct, yet none of them have all the facts. It’s only by bringing all the pieces together that you are given a more accurate description of the elephant.
A society, which reinforces its known traditions without leaving room for questioning or re-examination, becomes inbred and stagnant. By closing their society, the members are limited to what they are able to experience or learn about themselves and their environment. When the society as a whole sees change or new ideas as a threat, they will use fear and intimidation to prevent others from bringing it into their society. It is the mental equivalent of limiting the genre pool. Just as inbreeding leads to negative, recessive traits becoming the norm, ideas that are recycled without being reexamined, degenerate into fanaticism or blind subservience. Individualism becomes a menace to society and those who chose to walk their own path are labeled blasphemers or traitors. Instead of embracing their uniqueness, their society harasses, threatens or silences by death. But it affects more than the one individual; others, who see the brutality, become less likely to share themselves and their wisdom, choosing instead they hide in the shadows and pretend to conform, which further closes off the society. It is an unending cycle, which spirals downward until the members of the society no longer have free will or the ability to make decisions on a personal level. It is at this point the society begins to die as a whole.
It is the challenge of ideas that make a society strong and allows it to grow. Galileo was threatened with death when he proposed that the world was round and not the center of the universe. For many decades, disease was blamed on curses or the ill will of the Gods. Even as late as the early nineteenth century, when dinosaur bones and evidence of early civilization became uncovered, many still refused to believe the human race was older than six thousand years old. They believed it was all a hoax, created to attack their religious beliefs. But the bones were real. Planet Earth is one planet in our solar system, which lies in the boondocks of our galaxy. Viruses and bacteria are treated with antibiotics, many of which were created with a combination of new and old wisdom. If Columbus hadn’t set sail in 1492 across the ocean blue, the Americas wouldn’t have been found and many of the wonderful creations wouldn’t exist today. Many of the modern toys that we take for granted were born from our reaching for the stars. These are all indisputable facts. When old beliefs and knowledge are challenged, room is made to learn and grow beyond what they are at this moment. By questioning, we are more able to find new wisdom and knowledge. We are also more capable of understanding what we do unearth.
A healthy, strong society starts with one voice, one new idea and the ability to share it with others. No one person or group has all the information or wisdom; it’s only by combining what we all know, suspect, or theorize that we can expand our ability to understand and know more of the ultimate truths. Each of the blind men could stubbornly stick to their truth about the elephant, ignoring the others findings, and be correct, but they wouldn’t have the whole elephant--only a part. Just like every country and religion has only part of the universal truth; by combining all our wisdom and knowledge will we finally reach a clearer understanding of who we all are and why we are here.