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On Banning Books - Again

It seems as if certain states of the USA and certain right-wing political “leaders” are trying to control what people can read, watch, or listen to.

This is often a practice of conservative elements, particularly those espousing fundamentalist or Puritan religious beliefs or advocating neo-apartheid goals.

This kind of thing has been attempted in the past. It has not succeeded.

So let’s look at one such attempt by one of the era’s most dominant and controlling institutions, the Catholic Church before the Reformation.

The Lateran Council was began in 1512 and continued through 1517.

Among its decisions was the following. Books had to be examined by a high officer (a Bishop) of the church before publication. Failure to obtain such permission could result in one of the most draconian of sanctions, ex-communication.

Did it work? No.