Ancient Rome and antiquated Greece have been found to be the first societies to adopt some sort of censorship that has been documented. Since then censorship has expanded rapidly and become much more focused. In these ancient communities citizens were simply expected to adopt the views and beliefs of the state, and if they refused, the state’s laws would be forced upon them. While this is not a direct form of censoring free thought, it was certainly not conducive to individualism. In these societies we also begin to see the emergence of censorship through religious channels. While there were no laws set in stone, it was expected that everyone conformed with the religious beliefs of the city in which one lived, and if they did not they would likely be discriminated against by the government and possibly even ostracized by society. There could be repercussions, supported by legal sanctions, for those who spoke improperly about religious issues in public. The censorship of religious opinions in these societies could be seen in the case of prosecutions of individuals refusing to acknowledge and or accept the gods of the particular city.
Censorship was even more evident in the frequent unwillingness of a city, no matter what its obvious political or military interests may have been, to allow the practice of public business to be conducted at a time when the religious calendar, auspices, or other such signs forbade civic activities (Cropsey). While there were no laws set in stone, its is apparent that an individual was punished unofficially for and clearly discouraged from thinking freely from society, which in effect is a form of censorship. This censorship was enforced because the ruling governments feared free thinkers, especially those who challenged religious precedents. When the policies of the church and state were put into question the obvious solution was to suppress disparate thoughts and thus make everyone act and think the same. However the validity of this source may be put into question because there are hardly any specific examples of the censorship occurring due to the lack of remaining records from the time period.
The one staggering specific example of censorship during this era takes place in Athens. While Athens did have a reputation for being a very liberal city, it ironically became well known for fostering one of the most severe acts of censorship in any of the Greek communities of antiquity. The event that occurred was the trial, conviction, and execution of Socrates in 399 BC on charges that he corrupted the youth and that he did not acknowledge the gods that the city did but other new divinities of his own (Edward DeGrazia). The reasons for and the events surrounding his execution have been very well documented and are widely considered to be valid. This again concretely shows the theme of individuals being censored because of differing ideals and thoughts. Socrates challenged classic thoughts and beliefs about religion and socially accepted customs and thus, his views were put down in order to prevent controversy.
The kind of censorship that was evident in Rome and Greece is practically paralleled in ancient Israel. The records of the troubles Jesus encountered, and the offenses that he would come to be accused of, dictate the degree of the restrictions and biased laws to which the Jews were forced to withstand in relation to their religious beliefs, traditions and idols. Jesus more than any individual throughout history, was subjected to censoring for altering religious conceptions and beliefs. The mere debate about his existence has caused many severe conflicts, which is exactly the main reason why people and their thoughts have been censored throughout history. Conflicts and new ideas can lead to awakenings which can lead to revolutions which is exactly what those in power do not want. However resistance to censorship was much more than it was in ancient Greece and Rome. It was during this time that one of the main arguments against censorship in the religious arena was founded. This foundation is John 8:23 which states “…and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.”
There are also several examples of censorship being used in early Far Eastern countries. For example, Confucius has been quoted as saying “oppressive government is fiercer than a tiger”. It is generally acknowledged that throughout history the Chinese have been controlled, and therefor censored be default, longer and more severely than any other nationality. Particularly influential was the thought of Confucius, with his considerable emphasis upon deference to authority and to family elders and upon respect for ritual observances and propriety. Cautiousness in speech was encouraged, licentious expressions were discouraged, and long-established teachings were relied upon for shaping character. All of these practices are classic means of preventing radical new and different ideas from even forming. It was contrary to Chinese good taste to speak openly of the faults of one's government or of one's rulers. Keeping this theme it is no surprise that in an attempt to stamp out the influence of Confucius and of other controversial troublesome sages, China destroyed copious amounts of books in 231 BC. Despite the efforts of the government to put down Confucian thought, the Confucian ideals were revived thereafter, to become the dominant influence for almost two millenniums (Alexander Meiklejohn). This shows that censorship often causes the
In more recent times, The Roman Catholic Church and its Index Librorum Prohibitorum displayed the most drastic form of restriction and creed in the Christian religion with the development of censorship. The Index is a list of proscribed books, the origins of which go back to the 5th century AD and which continued to have official sanction well into the 20th century. The most spectacular instance of the silencing of a thinker based on the merits of the Index may have been the restrictions placed upon Galileo in 1633. (Richard McKeon, Robert K. Merton, Walter Gellhorn).
The system of beliefs protected by works like the Index had to have been systems of thought in which certain texts possessed immense value and importance. It is then natural that if literary or other mediums dramatically challenge the messages and thoughts of these certain books and texts, that the challenging texts would be banned and destroyed. It would soon become an even more severe problem when means became available, especially after the invention of printing, to produce and distribute books in large quantities. This is when technology starts altering the course of censorship. Now, ideas, thoughts and information were made readily available to the public, and it gave people with conflicting and controversial thoughts a much more effective medium to spread their thoughts (Richard McKeon, Robert K. Merton, Walter Gellhorn). This boom in the spread of information made censoring of any kind much more difficult to accomplish, and thus censorship became a much more pressing issue.
The face of censorship evolved significantly throughout history, particularly in the second millennium. The acute focus became centered on the effort to keep government from reviewing any manuscript, in addition to the effort to keep government from penalizing any text that expressed forbidden ideals. Concerns occur, on account of groups that are fighting to change the freedom of expression, the right to freely represent individual thoughts, feelings, and views, in order to protect their families as well as others. These groups, religious or otherwise, believe that publishing unorthodox material is an abuse of free expression.
The Enlightenment, beginning in the 17th century, attempted to purge Europe of the censorship that found political despotism allied with religious traditionalism. During the Enlightenment, many great minds were censored for challenging long standing beliefs, the perfect example being Galileo. Galileo was employed in Florence by the Medici grand dukes of Tuscany, and his work eventually aroused the suspicion of several theologians. The issues was presented to Pope Urban VIII in 1624, who permitted Galileo to write about different possible systems of the world as long as he did not presume to judge which one actually existed. After the publication in Italian of his widely read Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World in 1632, which openly contradicted the traditional views of Aristotle and Ptolemy and defended those of the scorned Copernicus, Galileo was tried for heresy by the Papal Inquisition. After being imprisoned and threatened with torture Galileo recanted and renounced and cursed his Copernican errors. This trial was the perfect example and symbol of the inherent conflict between religious belief and scientific knowledge. It is hard to say whether this censorship was political or religious because it served two purposes, and because the church and state were so closely linked in medieval times.
Bibliography
1.) Edward DeGrazia, Censorship Landmarks 1969
2.) Alexander Meiklejohn, Political Freedom 1960, reprinted 1979
3.) Leo Strauss, Persecution and the Art of Writing 1952, reprinted 1973
4.) Leo Strauss, Natural Right and History 1953
4.) Cropsey, Ancients and Moderns 1964
6.) John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
7.) Richard McKeon, Robert K. Merton, and Walter Gellhorn, The Freedom to Read 1957
8.) Encyclopedia Britannica
9.) Dictionary.com
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