Free speech
Students of the University of Maryland, the censoring of music has gone too far, and it is time to take a stand. Society as a whole has recently been affected by the growing controversy over music censorship. Censorship is defined as the supervision and control of information and are circulated among the people within society. Many feel that censoring music is just a form of hiding the truth from the American people. This is clearly a biased matter that involves the music industry and the public in which they interact with. Since everyone has their own opinion, censorship has become a growing controversy and a rising subject of debate. Censorship is unconstitutional because it limits peoples' freedom of expression. If legislators can limit this right, then what right are they going to limit next? Censorship should not be allowed because it is a direct infringement upon the rights given tp us in the First Amendment, furthermore, if the government takes limit one right !then they may soon feel the need to limit others, and censoring music which provokes thoughts is a non-democratic form of mind control. The controversy over music censorship has increased greatly in the United States over the last twenty years. Everyone
is trying to voice their opinion on whether music should legally be censored. There are many groups that have come together tp debate this topic. Some argue for censorship, some are neutral, and some are against it. The wide variety of opinions are what makes music censorship such a debatable topic. In today's world most censorship is for the purpose of altering or suppressing parts of some performers lyrics that are considered objectionable or offensive. Therefore, people believe that music censorship is necessary for the protection of three basic social groups. These groups are the family, the state, and the church. In the case of Miller v. California, a 1973 Supreme Court case, the court made an attempt to define obscenity, and says that music must appeal to the prurient interests and lack serious artistic merit. Since the definition was so vague, ! What makes a democracy great is the fact that the people within, stand up for their rights. Should citizens of a democracy be told what they can an can't listen to? In a democracy people tolerate what they dislike and they appreciate what they do like. The act of censorship sounds similar to a communist country that recently fell in Europe. That is exactly what will happen to America if the government is granted the right to censor. If a democratic government ever denied its people of their rights and thoughts, where will it reach its peak? Will it keep going till the entire country is under the governments mental control? "...What will stop the far right from continuing to redefine the unacceptable "fringe" of pop music until its power exceeds that of record producers and consumers" ("Issue")? The issue in question is free speech as well as freedom of expression. Many feel that if we do not take a stand now, we will gradually lose other rights, little by little. Ou! ir children's actions and just start looking into the mirror because they are the ones who are at fault. That is the one main problem with our great country. Everyone refuses to take blame for their mistakes. In other words, everyone looks for the easy way out instead of taking the blame for their own faults. r forefathers did not write the Constitution because they were bored and needed something to do. They wrote it so people of this great nation would always have their rights protected. Our forefathers gave their lives so the American people would be free and have rights. It is rather disturbing to know that our biggest threat of losing those rights comes from within our own country. Furious musicians feel that the act of music censorship not only infringes on upon their rights as musicians, but it infringes on the public's rights as well. Therefore, the people of this free land have to continue to take a stand for our forefathers sake, if not their own. Creativity is classified as a way to stimulate the imagination. Since music is a very innovative form of creativity, who is the government to limit this? The only problem with music is that it doesn't appeal t those in charge, therefore, it is not classified as creative. It was stated, referring to the band 2 Live Crew, that "...it's even harder to believe that an album that almost two million people have bought, laughed with, and danced to, has no value as creative work" ("Issue"). The singer of the B-52's, Kate Pierson, stated "as a woman, I find 2 Live Crew to be offensive, but as an American, I feel that everyone has the right to be st
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2340
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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