“Esoteric” Content Censorship…. Coming Soon to a Website Near You!!
2nd October 2013
Co-Founder of Wake Up World
Graphic and introduction courtesy of reachinglight.com
Introduction:
Can you imagine a world where access to esoteric and spiritual information was blocked by the government? What if you stopped by an internet café only to find that your favourite website was banned by a public web filter? … Or your friend’s natural health website was blocked because it mentioned ‘spiritual healing’ techniques?
A disturbing movement to censor legal spiritual and esoteric information is growing – right now in the UK, and other countries are poised to jump on the bandwagon – and will continue unchecked unless people become aware of the problem and protest it.
Esoteric, anyone?
The word “esoteric” is defined by OxfordDictionaries.com as:
adjective: intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest.
Now carefully consider the implications of this definition, just as the UK government considered them in preparation for their proposal to block UK readers from accessing “esoteric” material online.
This measure would provide the UK government powers to censor information from or about any individual or group it sees as “special interest”… or in other words, “not mainstream”. In essence, the government is seeking the legal right to censor opposing streams of thought… and ancient knowledge… and new innovative ideas… then continue on in its theatre of narrow-minded corporate politicking.
If you have specialized knowledge or a ‘minority’ interest of any kind in the UK, you and the “small number of people” who share your minority standing may lose your legal right to share information online about your experiences, thoughts, learnings and practices.
And remember, by definition, “esoteric” doesn’t limit itself only to religious or “spiritual” knowledge; so consider whether your right to share information relating to your culture, language, nationality, race, sexuality, gender identity, interests, expertise, research, discoveries, history or political opinions might also be at risk.
So then, what is the intention of this legislation?
Knowledge is power
Attempting to restrict access to such information demonstrates the UK government’s intent is not to represent its people and administer services on their behalf. This move is a grasp by government at control.
If successful, this law preserves in time the status quo of majority “mainstream” thinking. It limits the public’s access to new ideas, and will therefore limit public thinking, to the ideas and ideals already embraced or unquestioned by the mainstream… and to those the non-”esoteric” media (regulated by government) will continue to peddle. By effectively outlawing access to philosophies and concepts that question or even extend upon currently “accepted” knowledge, the UK government is deliberately engendering a culture of narrow thinking and throwing fuel on a failing old control paradigm.
Welcome to the new “underground” folks!
If this proposition is successful, content from Wake Up World and hundreds of other “alternative” news and information websites will be censored from UK screens. In fact, our UK readers probably wouldn’t even be able to read this article.
So where does it stop? And does it set a dangerous precedent for other “developed” nations?
At the end of the day, knowledge is power. And call me cynical, but I don’t assume benevolence of a government that attempts to hinder its citizens from freely seeking out knowledge and information. By its definition, much “esoteric” knowledge is in fact ancient knowledge – which should be learned and preserved, not banned and hidden under the guise of protective governance.
By proposing laws that strip its people’s right to access lawful information, the UK government is not only seeking control of what people may know today, but control of what future generations may ever know. This kind of censorship is unacceptable in – and dangerous to – a true democracy.
One can reasonably assume the UK government has something to hide.
You can find out more about the UK filter and how it will affect you below.
I also recommend you visit facebook.com/esotericmaterialcensorship for more information, and to get involved.
Original graphic published at www.reachinglight.com
from: http://wakeup-world.com/2013/10/02/esoteric-content-censorship-coming-to-a-website-near-you/