The memory of 9/11 is something that most would agree is a sacred part of the national consciousness. Like Pearl Harbor, it is a day of infamy that will stand for years to come as a defining moment of a generation. And like the JFK assassination, it will be controversial for years. However, one controversy that should never be allowed to touch Ground Zero is a disgrace to the memories of those who died and their families. However, it has, and was brought by the Rev. Don Wildmon and his American Family Association, who have now collectively urinated on Ground Zero.

Wildmon’s AFA is a fundamentalist Christian organization that has, among other things, taken on the mantle of defending “traditional” values through monitoring the media. “The American Family Association represents and stands for traditional family values, focusing primarily on the influence of television and other media – including pornography – on our society”, according to their website. To this end, they sponsor letter writing campaigns to the FCC and other media groups, a cause has had a growing base since the Janet Jackson Super Bowl breast-baring incident, and has led to the FCC increasing both the scope of their extremely cryptic and monoithic regulations and the fines for violation.

As part of the steps CBS has taken to commemorate the five year anniversary of September 11, they announced on August 30th that the network would rebroadcast the Emmy and Peabody-winning documentary “9-11” un-edited and without commercial interruptions, adding to it a new introduction by previous host Robert DeNiro and updates on the various participants of the film. As such, the film being shown would contain violence and profanity that is more explicit than normally allowed on television. When Wildmon learned this, he spearheaded a campaign to either have the film banned from broadcast or censored, even though the film has been broadcast twice without tampering, writing on his website “Do your local CBS affiliate a favor. Ask them to refuse to air 9/11 [sic], or at least, air it after 10:00pm local time…Your CBS affiliate could end up paying millions of dollars in fines…We…believe that CBS should play by the rules.” As a result of the AFA’s actions, over twenty-four stations have decided not to run the film, and on September 5 the Columbia Journalism Review reported that CBS had decided to censor the film.

Ariana Huffington phrased it best in her blog recently, writing “Let me get this straight: It is perfectly okay for children to watch a documentary on 9-11 and see planes crash into the WTC; view footage of people jumping out of burning buildings…but it is NOT okay for them to hear curse words?” I echo this sentiment, and so do many others I have talked to about this issue.

Michael Willhoite, controversial children’s author, has had his own scrapples with the Religious Right over his career. His book Daddy’s Roommate, about a boy’s relationship with his gay father, is one of the most often banned books in America, which he spoke about last spring here at the RIC campus. He told me “It’s freedom of speech, and freedom of speech includes swearing, and everyone heard it, there’s no reason to delete it at all. Furthermore, people can be expected to swear in emotionally fraught times. [The Religious Right] should be ignored, they have too much power, giving them a forum is playing into their hands.”

Tim Goodwin, a RIC alumnus, was originally enrolled in Manhattan College as a freshman in 2001, and was a rescue worker at Ground Zero. He said “The events of that day sucked…People reacted in their own ways, and I don’t think they were wrong. I can see a point for censoring at certain times, but there’s no argument if they put a disclaimer before it. Censoring won’t change that day.” He added that he felt the film was extremely accurate in portraying the feeling of what it was like to be there and that to group the Janet Jackson incident in with 9-11 was inappropriate.

There are many things that are wrong with this. First, this is not a theocracy, and it is unjust and unconstitutional that a religious figure such as Wildmon should exert this much pressure on anything, let alone the mainstream media. In other countries, such as Britain or Canada, it is entirely acceptable to have swearing, nudity, and violence on television. But beyond the inherent discussion of media relations and the freedom of expression versus appropriateness and values, there are two much darker questions this raises. First, what next? If a film about an experience like 9-11 is subject to the bullying whim of Puritanical zealots, what will they take to the editing bench next? When I have discussed this with people, they raised the 1997 example of NBC’s “Schindler’s List” broadcast, which was also shown without any interruption or editing. Will Spielberg’s masterpiece now be subject to the razorblade and mute button? What about a film that challenges the authority or questions the actions of officials? Will Green Day no longer be allowed to play their music videos that criticize the war in Iraq because they are disheartening and deemed demeaning to morale?

Second, what of the past? In George Orwell’s “1984”, one of the jobs of Winston Smith is to “correct errors” in the historical record so to help make it more aligned with the ruling party’s view. This includes “un-personing” former heroes and re-aligning wartime allegiances. There is something extremely similar to the plight of Mr. Smith occurring now at CBS. They are changing history so to make it more “acceptable”. Wildmon may like to live with his head in the sand all he likes, but he is forcing the rest of us to do it with him. And when you put your head in the sand long enough, you’ll suffocate. This is a disgrace to the names of those who died. They were murdered senselessly by lunatics who hated the freedoms of expression, religion, and speech we have in America. With people like Wildmon, I am reminded of another line from Orwell, this time from “Animal Farm”. “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” Be careful what you say from now on, Big Brother is indeed seeing a lot of things these days.