Censorship Sucks

“Censorship feeds the dirty mind more than the four-letter word itself.”  -  Dick Cavett

  I have no messiah or martyr complex, but I do have a voice.  I have things to say, none of which have anything to do with anyone else.  Allow me a brief political, historical precedent …

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

                While other people may not like my opinion or my language or my ideology, others’ dissent does not require me to stifle my voice.  The United States government has given me the right to express myself, and no person has the right to take that away from me.  I may be a teacher, but I am not a slave to the educational system.  I will not silence myself just because a handful of prudish and anti-intellectual individuals who don’t know me at all want to shove a gag in my mouth.  What is our political system if not a medium to advocate ideas and dialogue about the world?  I don’t wear a burqa or an abaya; this is not the Middle East, nor is America a communist nation.  

                Many of the things which I post online will contain political and educational and personal opinions which I simply want to share with friends and like-minded people.  Apparently some people in society think that certain people's constitutional rights should not be the same as theirs because of the context of a job contract.  Because it is my first amendment right, I will say politically sensitive things occasionally.  I will discuss ideas about education, because that is the field to which I have devoted my life.  I will occasionally litter my speech with profanity, because language can be a powerful tool of expression.  None of these things will be done to offend anyone; I can’t control what other people think.  What’s offensive to one person is common sense to another.

                I have devoted the past 12 years to encouraging people to stand up for themselves, to be heard, to take advantage of learning opportunities, and to think for themselves.  What kind of hypocrite would I be if I simply did nothing when my civil liberties were being compromised? 

  It’s my obligation as  to stand up for what I believe in rather than behaving like a sheep.  I may have accepted the herd mentality when I was a child, and even to an extent throughout my education in college, but I’m an adult now.  I will not blindly follow arbitrary rules which compromise my rights as a citizen.  I will not bend to simple-minded parents who are afraid that their children might encounter new and radical ideas.  I deserve the right to speak in whatever forum I see fit.   I will exercise the right to leave my job at the door when I check out at the end of the day like millions of other Americans.  Balance requires a healthy separation of personal and professional life.  It’s only fair that everyone in society be afforded the right to step out of their job – to not be wholly defined by it - and just be themselves.  If you don’t like my blog, don’t read it. 


  As Voltaire once said, “Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too.”