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This particular brand of 'worldwide censorship' is not unique in this day and age - Scientology practices something very similar, using the threat of copyright
by sshumaker 17y ago
This particular brand of 'worldwide censorship' is not unique in this day and age - Scientology practices something very similar, using the threat of copyright to discourage talking about their practices.
In any event, it's only recent globalization has made this approach a possibility. Go back two decades, and the Soviet Union practiced similar censorship within their own territories. Go back a few hundred years, and the catholic church threatened excommunication if you didn't toe the party line.
It's the same idea - just the techniques have gotten more refined.
- smallblacksun 17y ago"the catholic church threatened excommunication" How dare they threaten to remove someone from their own organization!
- cpr 17y agoExcept that excommunication simply let you know you had removed yourself from the Church, and was a call to repentance. (Same today, though it's rarely used.) No physical threats, no violence, just a formal reminder from the Church that by your actions you're essentially cutting yourself off. If that didn't bother you, so be it.
- sshumaker 17y agoYou must be joking. The church's excommunication back in the day went far beyond that. For example, when the Catholic church excommunicated Martin Luther, "It also made it a crime for anyone in Germany to give Luther food or shelter. It permitted anyone to kill Luther without legal consequence." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther) Many excommunications were of the form "vitandus", where the excommunicated was to be shunned by fellow Catholics. That's a pretty severe penalty when _everyone_ was Catholic.
- cpr 17y agoNo, the Church didn't do that--the state (Emperor) sentenced him thusly. Read the article more carefully.