LM_NET: Library Media Networking
I apologize! I was interrupted by some (I guess) "modem noise". To
complete the message I was trying to send below, I believe that the
internet has many good resources. But many parents will not train their
children to use them, and the trappings of this culture do not seem to
emphasize good taste. Perhaps "taste" rather than censorship needs to be
a looked at for the internet. Many seem to fear "someone else" making
that decision, but *some* selectivity seems warranted! Just look at
NetNews sometime, and see how many violent or erotic sites are offered.We
just might be able to do without them. If Christ can be eliminated from
the holiday that owes its modern existence to him, I do not understand
why people are so anxious to "protect" the "right" to bad taste! Does
anyone else notice these incongruities? Please allow me one more example:
a few years ago, I was teaching college prep world history for 10th-11th
graders, with a few seniors. During the course of the year, as we
studied the various world cultures, I brought in speakers from many
different faiths and backgrounds. I had a Muslim, a Hindu, a Buddhist, an
atheist, an agnostic, a "New Ager", a follower of the Jewish faith, and,
at the end of the year, a Christian. All year I worried that I would get
complaints or trouble from the religious conservatives that I had heard
so much about. I had been warned! But, nothing! Not a peep! No
criticism, no whining to my principal, no interrupt-my-supper phone
calls. No, there was never any censorship of my attempt to highlight the
influence of many faiths in world history-that was fine! I got
compliments for my attention to multiculturalism! But, the day after the
Christian speaker addressed my classes......he did no exhortation!
Nothing but what the others had done, which was to provide a history of
the faith and its structures. My phone rang off the hook that night.
Parents had called my principal the next morning! Some members of the
community felt that this speaker jeopardized the rights of their children!
Rights to what? Know that religion has had a strong effect on the course
of human history? Duh! Ever since that day, in 1988, I have watched our
culture on what often seems an arbitrary course of "jousting at
windmills": fighting great battles "for" so-called intellectual freedoms
while also fighting great battles to suppress the religious freedoms ALSO
guaranteed by our Constitution.Are these examples "apples and oranges"? I
think not. I think we need to think carefully about the license we give
our youth, while we seem to fear that no adult is capable of deciding
*anything* for them. It is a shame that we doubt our own competence as
educators and parents, and it shows. If you don't want to post me at
the lm_net, my e-mail address is: Alice Newman
<an17400@conrad.appstate.edu>. Thanks for taking the time to read and
think about these issues.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 12 Dec 1995 23:08:09 -0400
From: alice newman <an17400@conrad.appstate.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list LM_NET <LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU>
Subject: Intellectual Freedom
I must congratulate Mr. Lachowsky-and those who have been "in his camp"
for courage, and an ability to really think about what is at stake. I am
not sure that full censorship is the right path, either. Yet, it bothers
me that we Americans will fight so vigorously for the right to (choose)
to view pornography (intellectual freedom?!), and yet abandon our
religious freedoms. In fact, we fight to limit religious freedoms-we
censor these all the time. How many postings have I read this month
requesting "non-religious Christmas stories"? Talk about a contradiction
in terms! How many communities won't permit nativity scenes? As if a
nativity scene threatens our religious or intellectual freedom! But, we
sure are going to go to our Congress and demand full access to smut!
With the majority of you on this listserv, I would agree that the
internet provides 98% "good" or even excellent resources
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