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Religious censorship is a form ofcensorship wherefreedom of expression is controlled or limited using religious authority or on the basis of the teachings of thereligion. This form of censorship has a long history and is practiced in many societies and by many religions. Examples include theEdict of Compiègne, theIndex Librorum Prohibitorum (list of prohibited books) and the condemnation ofSalman Rushdie's novelThe Satanic Verses byIranian leaderAyatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Religious censorship can also take form in the destruction of monuments and texts that contradict or conflict with the religion practiced by the oppressors, such as attempts to censor theHarry Potter book series.[1] Destruction of historic places is another form of religious censorship. One cited incident of religious censorship was the destruction of theBuddhas of Bamiyan statues in Afghanistan by radical Islamists as part of their religious goal of oppressing another religion.[2]
Religious censorship is defined as the act of suppressing views that are contrary of those of anorganized religion. It is usually performed on the grounds ofblasphemy,heresy,sacrilege orimpiety – the censored work being viewed asobscene, challenging adogma, or violating a religioustaboo. Defending against these charges is often difficult as some religious traditions permit only the religious authorities (clergy) to interpretdoctrine and the interpretation is usuallydogmatic. For instance, theCatholic Church banned hundreds of books on such grounds and maintained theIndex Librorum Prohibitorum (list of prohibited books), most of which were writings that the Church'sHoly Office had deemed dangerous, until the Index's abolishment in 1965.
TheBaháʼí Faith has a requirement that Baháʼí authors should seek review of their works by theNational Spiritual Assembly of the country in which it will be printed. The requirement was initiated byʻAbdu'l-Bahá and intended to sunset when the religion grows in numbers. The publication review requirement does not apply to most online content or local promotional material. According to theUniversal House of Justice, the highest governing body of the religion,
The purpose of review is to protect the Faith against misrepresentation by its own followers at this early stage of its existence when comparatively few people have any knowledge of it. An erroneous presentation of the Teachings by a Baháʼí who is accounted a scholar, in a scholarly journal, would by that very fact, do far more harm than an erroneous presentation made by an obscure Baháʼí author with no pretensions to scholarship.[3]
The review requirement has been criticized by a few academic Baháʼís as censorship.Juan Cole, professor of history at the University of Michigana, had conflicts over the issue and withdrew his membership as a Baháʼí, claiming that it "has provoked many conflicts between Baháʼí officials and writers over the years."[4]Denis MacEoin similarly resigned his membership and said that the review stifled research inBaháʼí studies.[5]Moojan Momen, another academic in the field ofBaháʼí studies who has called MacEoin and Cole "apostates", disagrees and states that "there is no more 'censorship' involved in this process than with any other academic journal."[6]
Art was censored extensively under themilitary government inMyanmar at the end of the 20th century. Nudity was not permitted, and art was also censored when it was deemed thatBuddhism was portrayed in a non-typical fashion. Following thegovernmental transition in 2011, relevant censorship laws remained in effect but were enforced more loosely.[7]
In 2015, the filmArbat was banned inThailand due to its portrayal ofBuddhist monks. Criticisms included a scene involving kissing and another in which a monk engaged in drug use.[8]
The invention of theprinting press byJohannes Gutenberg around 1440 changed the nature of book publishing.[9] As of the 16th century, in most European countries both the church and governments attempted to regulate and control printing. Governments established controls over printers across Europe, requiring them to have official licenses to trade and produce books.[10][11] In 1557 theEnglish Crown aimed to stem the flow of dissent by chartering theStationers' Company. The right to print was restricted to the two universities (Oxford andCambridge) and the 21 existing printers in theCity of London. In France, the 1551Edict of Châteaubriant included provisions for unpacking and inspecting all books brought into France.[12][13] The 1557Edict of Compiègne applied the death penalty to heretics and resulted in theburning of a noblewoman at the stake.[14]
A first version of theIndex Librorum Prohibitorum ("List of Prohibited Books") was promulgated byPope Paul IV in 1559, and multiple revisions were made to it over the years.
Some works named in theIndex Librorum Prohibitorum are the writings ofDesiderius Erasmus, a Catholic scholar who argued that theComma Johanneum was probably forged andDe revolutionibus orbium coelestium, a treatise byNicolaus Copernicus arguing for aheliocentric orbit of the earth, both works that at the time contradicted the Church's official stance on particular issues.
The final (20th) edition appeared in 1948, and it was formally abolished on 14 June 1966 byPope Paul VI.[15][16] However, the moral obligation of the Index was not abolished, according to theCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.[17] Furthermore, the1983 Code of Canon Law states that bishops have the duty and right to review material concerning faith or morals before it may be published.[18]
Thehistorical ban on public Protestant services inSpain until 1967 was an act of that country's censorship.[19]
In 1992José Saramago's "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ" entry in the Aristeion European Literary Prize was blocked by the Portuguese Under Secretary of State for Culture due to pressures from the Catholic Church.[20]
Quran 2:256 prohibits compulsion.[22] SomeIslamictheocracies andfatwas have applied censorship, for example (religious judgment) againstThe Satanic Verses (a novel), ordering that the author be executed forblasphemy. SomeIslamic religious police have seized banned consumer products and media regarded as un-Islamic, such as CDs/DVDs of various Western musical groups, television shows and film.[23] InSaudi Arabia, religious police actively prevent the practice or proselytizing of non-Islamic religions within Arabia, where they are banned.[23] This included the ban of the film,The Passion of the Christ.
Examples of Muslim censorship:
Throughout the history of the publishing of Jewish books, various works have been censored or banned. These can be divided into two main categories: Censorship by a non-Jewish government, and self-censorship. Self-censorship could be done either by the author himself, or by the publisher, out of fear from the gentiles or public reaction. Another important distinction that has to be made is between the censorship which existed already on manuscripts, before the printing press was invented, and the more official censorship after the printing press was invented.
Many studies have been written on censorship and its influence on the publishing of Jewish books. For example, studies have appeared on the censorship of Jewish books when they were first starting to be published, inItaly in the fifteenth and sixteenth century. Other studies have been written on the censorship of the Czarist government inRussia in the nineteenth century.
Many of the "official" Christian government censors of Jewish books were Jewish apostates. The main reason for this was due to their knowledge of Hebrew, especially Rabbinic Hebrew.
In Czarist Russia in the nineteenth century, it was decreed that Jewish books could only be published in two cities,Vilnius andZhitomir.
Thehistorical ban on public Jewish services in Spain was also censorship.[19]
TheMishnah (Sanhedrin 10:1) prohibits the reading ofextra-biblical books (ספרים חיצונים). TheTalmud explains this to mean the book of Ben Sirah (Sirach).In the early thirteenth century the philosophical bookThe Guide for the Perplexed byMaimonides was prohibited to be read until one was older by some French and Spanish Jewish leaders, because of the perceived danger ofphilosophy. Philosophy was prohibited to be learned until the age of forty. The same restriction was later applied toKabbalah, in the fifteenth century.In the 1720s, the kabbalistic works of RabbiMoshe Chaim Luzzato were banned by religious leaders. In the 1690s, the bookPri Chadash was banned in Egypt for arguing on earlier authorities.[24]
In the modern era, when government censorship of Jewish books is uncommon, books are mainly self-censored, or banned by Orthodox Jewish religious authorities.Marc Shapiro points out that not all books considered heretical by Orthodox Jews are banned; only those books on which there is a risk that Orthodox Jews may read them are banned.[25]Some examples:
