[uodqhyzy] Art Spiegelman and Jonathan Guerra Blanco

in approximately the same week, two censorships hit the news:

a Tennessee school district (McMinn County Schools) removed Art Spiegelman's "Maus" from its curriculum, and there was huge public outcry.

in Florida, Jonathan Guerra Blanco was convicted of translating and distributing materials supporting ISIS (Islamic State), and no one cared.

the coincidence is striking because it appears that speech supporting Judaism may not be censored, but speech supporting Islam may be.

persuasive speech decrying historical mistreatment by a dominant power, with the effect of increasing political support for a militarized religious state.

it seems the government convicted Guerra Blanco on the grounds that speech supporting an organization officially classified as a terrorist organization is terrorism, and that trumps freedom of speech.

however, a prohibition of speech politically supporting a terrorist organization makes it impossible for that organization to gain political support to get itself unclassified as a terrorist organization.  this is a Catch-22.

similarly, a religious organization enjoying freedom of speech can use freedom of speech to maintain political support to avoid getting itself classified a terrorist organization.

hopefully, Guerra Blanco's lawyers will appeal the conviction on First Amendment grounds.  hopefully the Tennessee school district, and everyone else in the United States, can regain the right to read or write about Judaism, Islam, or any other religion, and the injustices that have been perpetrated against religions.