Post by Maolsheachlann on Aug 9, 2017 8:19:48 GMT
What do people think of the much-lamented history of censorship in the Irish state:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_censorship_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland
I've always felt rather inclined to admire Ireland's history in this regard. It's true that some of the censorship was silly, but I'm not much exercized about that. I approve of the historical censorship as an assertion of Ireland's desire to have a distinctive culture of its own, most especially a Catholic culture. Literature is important, but the moral tone of society is much more important. There are enough books in the world to keep anyone going and nobody is going to suffer any real privation through not reading some book or other. Besides, I understand it was very easy to get the books if you REALLY wanted to read them.
I realize that this is in possible tension with my hatred of political correctness. I suppose all I can say is that it seems right to me that there should be SOME censorship of artistic works and it should err on the side of occasionally coming down hard-- keep the artists on their toes, and assert the spirit of the nation (to take a phrase from Charlie Haughey).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_censorship_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland
I've always felt rather inclined to admire Ireland's history in this regard. It's true that some of the censorship was silly, but I'm not much exercized about that. I approve of the historical censorship as an assertion of Ireland's desire to have a distinctive culture of its own, most especially a Catholic culture. Literature is important, but the moral tone of society is much more important. There are enough books in the world to keep anyone going and nobody is going to suffer any real privation through not reading some book or other. Besides, I understand it was very easy to get the books if you REALLY wanted to read them.
I realize that this is in possible tension with my hatred of political correctness. I suppose all I can say is that it seems right to me that there should be SOME censorship of artistic works and it should err on the side of occasionally coming down hard-- keep the artists on their toes, and assert the spirit of the nation (to take a phrase from Charlie Haughey).
