Word: moralization
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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First of all, I've never heard of any of the Literature and Arts B offerings. And don't even get me started on the fact that there is only one Moral Reasoning course in the fall--and it's scheduled for 9 a.m. But in truth, neither of these things would have bothered me at all if it wasn't for the fact that I have to take Core courses. And thinking about the Core makes me depressed...
...cries of "un-American" are as genuine and as frequent on either side. Everyone is protecting the country. Zappa accuses Gore of undermining the moral fiber of America with the "sexual neuroses of these vigilant ladies." He argues that she threatens our freedoms with "connubial insider trading" because her husband is a Senator. Apparently her marital status should deprive her of speaking privileges in public -- an argument Westbrook Pegler used to make against Eleanor Roosevelt. Penthouse says Rakolta is taking us down the path toward fascism. It attacks her for living in a rich suburb -- the old "radical chic" argument...
There is a basic distinction that cuts through this free-for-all over freedom. It is the distinction, too often neglected, between censorship and censure (the free expression of moral disapproval). What the campuses are trying to do (at least those with state money) is use the force of government to contain freedom of speech. What Donald Wildmon, the free-lance moralist from Tupelo, Miss., does when he gets Pepsi to cancel its Madonna ad is censure the ad by calling for a boycott. Advocating boycotts is a form of speech protected by the First Amendment. As Nat Hentoff, journalistic...
...false ideal of tolerance has not only outlawed censorship but discouraged censoriousness (another word for censure). Most civilizations have expressed their moral values by mobilization of social opprobrium. That, rather than specific legislation, is what changed the treatment of minorities in films and TV over recent years. One can now draw opprobrious attention by gay bashing, as the Beastie Boys rock group found when their distributor told them to cut out remarks about "fags" for business reasons. Or by anti-Semitism, as the just disbanded rap group Public Enemy has discovered...
...great mistakes of liberals in recent decades has been the ceding of moral concern to right-wingers. Just because one opposes censorship, one need not be seen as agreeing with pornographers. Why should liberals, of all people, oppose Gore when she asks that labels be put on products meant for the young, to inform those entrusted by law with the care of the young? Liberals were the first to promote "healthy" television shows like Sesame Street and The Electric Company. In the 1950s and 1960s they were the leading critics of television, of its mindless violence...