Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 2021)
4A | OCTOBER 14, 2021 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Cottage Grove Sentinel 1498 E Main St, Suite 104 Cottage Grove, Ore. 97424 damien Sherwood, editor | 541-942-3325 | dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Opinion The First Amendment C ongress shall make no law respect- ing an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Govern- ment for a redress of grievances. “I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800) Free Speech and Press (Editor’s Note: Viewpoint sub- missions on this and other topics are always welcome as part of our goal to encourage community discussion and exchange of perspectives.) Free speech and free press mean the same thing: the right to voice any beliefs or ideas, even unpop- ular ones — orally or on pa- per — without fear of being punished for it. Sometimes it’s called freedom of expression. Through history, various ad- vances slowly won this right, which lies at the very heart of democracy. It’s all about the right to think freely, safe from ar- rest or prosecution. Some ancient Greeks and Ro- mans first proposed tolerance of differing viewpoints. In 1501, Pope Alexander XI of the notori- ous Borgias ordered censorship of unwanted ideas. The church’s famed Index Expurgatorius, listing banned books, was launched in 1559 and continued for centuries, eventually forbidding believers to read works of Rene Descartes, Galileo, David Hume, John Locke, Daniel Defoe, Jean-Jacques Rous- seau, Voltaire and many other thinkers. In France, printer-schol- ar Etienne Dolet was burned at the stake in 1546 for his unorthodox writings. England’s infamous Star Chamber, which tortured and mu- tilated nonconformists, also cen- sored printed material. In 1644, poet John Milton’s Aeropagitica appeal to Parliament opposed censorship of writings. “Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties,” he wrote. Years ago, a former dean of West Virginia State University, Edwin Hoffman, wrote a superb book titled Pathways to Freedom, out- lining several breakthroughs of democracy. He gave this example: In the 1730s, after England seized New Amsterdam from the Dutch and renamed it New York, a new British governor was sent to the colony. He turned out to be a greedy, arrogant tyrant seeking to enrich himself. Many New Yorkers turned against him. A few start- ed a little newspaper, The New York Weekly Journal, to express their concerns. It was printed by a German immigrant, John Peter Zenger. The paper didn’t dare criticize the governor openly, but it pub- lished vague warnings without using his name. Nonetheless, the governor ordered Zenger arrested on charges of inflaming the people against the crown. The printer was locked in a cell for nine months, but continued publishing his weekly by dictating to his wife and friends through a hole in the door. When his case finally came to trial, an aging Quaker lawyer from Philadelphia eloquently argued that people should have a right to criticize authorities. To the sur- prise of nearly everyone, includ- ing the defense, jurors quickly declared Zenger innocent, even though he had admitted printing the criticisms. New York towns- people hailed him as a hero. It was a small landmark in the struggle for freedom of speech and press, which later were locked into the First Amendment of America’s Bill of Rights and subsequent de- mocracy codes. Free speech and press are bed- rock principles for liberals, and have been for centuries. Crusad- ing newspaper columnist Hey- wood Broun (1888-1939) once said: “Free speech is about as good a cause as the world has ever known.” Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841-1935) second-rate, country-town civili- zation after all.” Comstock repeatedly prosecut- ed Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, for advocat- ing birth control. He boasted that he caused 4,000 arrests, drove 15 people to suicide, destroyed 15 tons of books and 284,000 pounds of plates for printing books. Conservative sexual cen- sorship continued for de- By James A. Haught cades in America. In 1940, Editor Emeritus of The Charleston publisher Jacob Brussel Gazette-Mail reprinted Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer describing his sex life as an American In the long run of history, the cen- in France in the 1930s. Brussel was sor and the inquisitor have always thrown into prison for three years. In 1961, Grove Press again printed lost.” Singer Harry Belafonte said: the book and was forced to spend “You can cage the singer but not $100,000 fighting 60 censorship cases. Pennsylvania’s supreme the song.” Philosopher-lecturer Ralph court ruled that it is “not a book. It Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) is a cesspool, an open sewer, a pit wrote: “Whenever they burn of putrefaction, a slimy gathering books they will also, in the end, of all that is rotten in the debris of burn people.” human depravity.” The American Library Associa- However, in 1964, the Supreme tion and Association of American Court ruled in Grove Press Inc. Publishers said jointly: v. Gerstein that “Cancer” isn’t ob- The freedom to read is essential scene. to our democracy. It is continu- In subsequent rulings, the high ously under attack. Private groups court declared that sexual mate- and public authorities in various rials can be banned only if they parts of the country are working to violate three standards: (1) they remove books from sale to censor appeal to prurient interest in ways textbooks, to label ‘controversial’ that breach “contemporary com- books, to distribute lists of ‘objec- munity standards,” (2) they are tionable’ books or authors, and to presented in “a patently offen- purge libraries. sive way” and (3) the entire work “lacks serious literary, artistic, *** political or scientific value.” Since then, obscenity prosecutions have America’s First Amendment for- declined in America, and the In- bids any law “abridging the free- ternet brought a flood of explicit dom of speech, or of the press” -- sex of every imaginable sort. yet conservatives spent centuries trying to banish sex from written *** or spoken acknowledgement. Historically, prudish cen- Finally, a horrible new type of sors banned writings by Charles censorship — killing writers and Baudelaire, Gustave Flaubert, publishers — emerged in the cur- Honore de Balzac, James Joyce, rent era of faith-based slaughter. D.H. Lawrence, Henry Miller, Islam is based on a belief that Samuel Beckett, the Marquis de the angel Gabriel dictated the Qu- Sade and numerous others. An ran to Muhammad — but in 1988 1897 court ruling declared a news- Muslim-born novelist Salman paper called the Chicago Dispatch Rushdie wrote The Satanic Vers- “obscene, lewd, lascivious and es, which contains dream scenes indecent.” The 1760 novel Fanny subtly lampooning the faith’s basic Hill by John Cleland was outlawed claim. Muslims around the world in Boston as late as 1966. exploded in rage and rioting. The Sex censorship peaked in the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran is- late 1800s under priggish Antho- sued a fatwa calling on Muslims ny Comstock (1844-1915), a Civil to murder Rushdie and his pub- War veteran who had been offend- lishers. Iran posted million-dollar ed by coarse language of fellow rewards for any killers. The author Union soldiers. In 1873 Comstock hid with round-the-clock police created the New York Society for protection, but one of his transla- the Suppression of Vice and began tors was stabbed to death and two a lifelong career of stamping out others wounded. sex. In 1993 at Sivas, Turkey, a mob That same year, he induced of worshippers from a mosque at- Congress to pass the notorious tacked a hotel hosting an arts con- Comstock Law banning “obscene, ference that featured a writer who lewd or lascivious” material from had attempted to publish Rushdie’s the mail or other public venues. It book. Enraged attackers set fire to also outlawed mentions of birth the hotel and killed 37 people. control, abortion, venereal dis- Another example: A satirical ease and the like. It even prevent- French magazine, Charlie Hebdo, ed anatomy textbooks from being repeatedly mocked Islam in writ- mailed to medical students. ings and cartoons. In early 2015, Comstock was made a postal in- armed Muslim attackers stormed spector with a right to carry a pis- the publication’s Paris office and tol. He became a dynamo attack- killed a dozen people. Various ing and harassing all writers who other religion-driven murders — mentioned sex. He called himself a supreme form of censorship — “a weeder in God’s garden.” have occurred. When Ida Craddock wrote Free speech and press are a marriage manuals containing central liberal ideal, but they can sexual details, Comstock had her incur danger under this new men- sentenced to federal prison. She ace. From Hitler calling journal- committed suicide on the eve of ists the “enemy of the people” to reporting to jail. Donald Trump using those exact Comstock alerted police about words, free speech is under peri- a George Bernard Shaw play, odic threat, documented well in Mrs. Warren’s Profession, and Marvin Kalb’s 2018 book, Enemy called Shaw an “Irish smut deal- of the People: Trump’s War on the er.” Shaw replied that “Comstock- Press, the New McCarthyism, and ery is the world’s standing joke at the Threat to American Democra- the expense of the United States.” cy. He said it makes Europeans see America as “a provincial place, a said: “The very aim of our insti- tutions is just this: that we may think what we like and say what we think.” Yale University President and historian Alfred Whitney Gris- wold (1906-1963) wrote in Essays on Education: “Books won’t stay banned…. Ideas won’t go to jail. Guest Viewpoint USPS#133880 Copyright 2021 © COTTAGE GROVE SENTINAL Letters to the Editor Policy The Sentinel welcomes letters to the editor as part of a community discussion of issues on the local, state and national level. Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or typed letters must be signed. All letters need to include full name, address and phone number; only name and city will be printed. Letters should be limited to about 300 words. Letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumentative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or without documentation will not be published. Letters containing poetry or from outside The Sentinel readership area will only be published at the discretion of the editor. Political/Election Letters: Election-related letters must address pertinent or timely issues of interest to our readers at-large. Letters must: 1) Not be a part of letter-writing campaigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2) Ensure any information about a candidate is accurate, fair and not from second-hand knowledge or hearsay; and 3) explain the reasons to support candidates based on personal experience and perspective rather than partisanship and campaign-style rhetoric. Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the editor column to outline their views and platforms or to ask for votes; this constitutes paid political advertising. As with all letters and advertising content, the newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publisher, general manager and editor, reserves the right to reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above criteria. Send letters to: dsherwood@cgsentinel.com HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS Oregon state representatives • Sen. Floyd Prozanski District 4 State Senator PO Box 11511 Eugene, Ore. 97440 Phone: 541-342-2447 Email : sen.floydprozanski@ state.or.us • Rep. Cedric Hayden Republican District 7 State Representative 900 Court St. NE Salem, Ore. 97301 Phone: 503-986-1407 Email: rep.cedrichayden@ state.or.us • Rep. Peter DeFazio (House of Representatives) 405 East 8th Ave. #2030 Eugene, Ore. 97401 Oregon federal representatives Email: defazio.house.gov/ contact/email-peter Phone: 541-465-6732 • Sen. Ron Wyden 405 East 8th Ave., Suite 2020 Eugene, Ore. 97401 Email: wyden.senate.gov Phone: (541) 431-0229 • Sen. Jeff Merkley Email: merkley.senate.gov Phone: 541-465-6750 • Heather Buch Lane County Commissioner - District 5 Email: Heather.Buch@lane countyorg.gov 125 E. Eighth Ave. Eugene, OR 97401 Or call 541-682-4203 S entinel C ottage G rove 541-942-3325 Administration Jenna Bartlett, Group Publisher Gary Manly, General Manager... Ext. 1207 gmanly@cgsentinel.com Advertising Gerald Santana, Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1216 gsantana@cgsentinel.com Carla Skeel, Inside Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1203 csummers@cgsentinel.com Editorial Damien Sherwood, Editor... Ext. 1212 dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Kendrick Murphy, Sports Reporter... Ext 1204 kmurphy@cgsentinel.com Sophia Edelblute, Features Intern sedelblute@cgsentinel.com Customer Service Office Manager, Legals, Classifieds... Ext. 1200 mfringer@cgsentinel.com Kurt Krueger, Circulation... Ext. 1213 kkrueger@cgsentinel.com Production Ron Annis, Production Supervisor... Ext.1215 graphics@cgsentinel.com Subscription Mail Rates in Lane and Portions of Douglas Counties: 10 Weeks ....................................................................................$11.50 One year .....................................................................................$43.50 Senior 62+ .................................................................................$35.00 e-Edition year ............................................................................$35.00 Rates in all other areas of United States: 10 weeks, $16; 1 year, $56.50; e-Edition $35. In foreign countries, postage extra. No subscription for less than 10 weeks. Subscription rates are subject to change upon 30 days’ notice. All subscritptions must be paid prior to beginning the subscription and are non-refundable. Periodicals postage paid at Cottage Grove, Oregon. Postmaster: Send address changes to P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424. Local Mail Service: If you don’t receive your Cottage Grove Sentinel on the THURSDAY of publication, please let us know. Call 541-942-3325 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Advertising Ownership: All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by the Cottage Grove Sentinel become the property of the Cottage Grove Sentinel and may not be reproduced for any other use without explicit written prior approval. Copyright Notice: Entire contents ©2021 Cottage Grove Sentinel