Word: spellmans
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...decision that "the right to determine whether a picture is indecent, immoral or sacrilegious is vested solely in the Board of Education" (the authorized censors in New York). In fact, the rulings of the censorship board should apparently be accepted without challenge or criticism, for your attacks on Spellman are all based on the fact that he disapproved of their judgment on "The Miracle...
...seems to me that the argument should be concerned with the merits of the movie, rather than with Spellman's or anyone else's right to decide whether the board of censors are performing their function. To condemn him for doing so is simply to revert to the intellectual "dictatorship which your editorial is so anxious to avert. John Ziegler...
...CRIMSON of course does not question Cardinal Spellman's right to call for a ban on "The Miracle." But, as our editorial pointed out, we feel that there was ample precedent, even from the Catholic Church, for considering "The Miracle" not blasphemous. We simply hoped that Boston's censors, and New York's, would not give in to the Cardinal's pressure, would not prevent people who may disagree with the Cardinal from seeing the movie...
...State Board of Education. When an outraged city official tried to ban the film on his own, the State Supreme Court reminded him that "the right to determine whether a picture is indecent, immoral, or sacrilegious is invested solely in the education department." Then, on January 7, Francis Cardinal Spellman issued a statement condemning the film and criticizing the state entering for passing it. Spellman also asked all "right-thinking citizens" for stricter censorship laws to prevent the showing of similar films. Members of various Catholic organizations began picketing the Paris Theatre, where "The Miracle" is showing, carrying indignant signs...
...Spellman's demand for more stringent censorship laws is the most ominous part of the campaign. Controversial pictures are bound to offend the sensibilities of certain groups; those who are so offended are free to stay away and save their money. They even have the right to picket theatres and hoot at those who attend. But they do not have the right to use their personal judgments as a standard for deciding what the public should or should not see. Such biased "purification" of public media in the guise of public protection has been identified with every dictatorship. The city...