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''Sex, Sin, and Blasphemy: A Guide to America's Censorship Wars'' is a non-fiction book by lawyer and civil libertarian Marjorie Heins, about freedom of speech and the censorship of works of art in the early 1990s by the U.S. government. The book was published in 1993 by The New Press. Heins provides an overview of the history of censorship, including the 1873 Comstock laws, before moving on to more topical case studies of attempts at suppression of free expression. The book argues that artists have been scapegoated by those advocating censorship, as a method of deflecting debate away from the suppression of human rights. The author asserts that censorship of works deemed obscene has been used as a tactic throughout history to suppress women's rights. Heins argues that even if the perceived negative impacts of pornography, hip hop music, and violent films were factually accurate (and she asserts they are not), the ends would not justify the means of degrading the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. She emphasizes that education should be used to help guard against potentially dangerous notions, instead of censorship and suppression of dissent. ''Sex, Sin, and Blasphemy'' received a favorable reception from the ''Women's Review of Books'', which praised the author's clear writing style and ability to present complex legal information in an understandable format for the reader. The book received additional positive reviews from ''The News & Observer'', ''San Francisco Chronicle'', and ''The Gazette''. ''American Book Review'' criticized the author for arguing for an absolute right to free speech in virtually all circumstances. ==Background== Marjorie Heins is an attorney with a focus on civil liberties. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University in 1967.〔 Heins graduated from Harvard Law School with a ''magna cum laude'' distinction, receiving her juris doctor degree in 1978.〔 At the time of the book's publication in 1993, Heins served as the founding director and chief lawyer for the Arts Censorship Project.〔 The project was formed as a division of the American Civil Liberties Union in 1991 during societal conflict in the U.S. over attempts to decrease financing for the National Endowment for the Arts, and to censor the musicians 2 Live Crew.〔 In 2000, Heins became the founding director of the Free Expression Policy Project at the National Coalition Against Censorship. Her published books prior to ''Sex, Sin, and Blasphemy'' include: ''Strictly Ghetto Property: The Story of Los Siete de la Raza'' (1972), and ''Cutting the Mustard: Affirmative Action and the Nature of Excellence'' (1987). Subsequent to the publication of ''Sex, Sin, and Blasphemy'', Heins wrote ''Not in Front of the Children: "Indecency," Censorship, and the Innocence of Youth'' in 2001, which received the 2002 Eli M. Oboler Award from the American Library Association; and ''Priests of Our Democracy: The Supreme Court, Academic Freedom, and the Anti-Communist Purge'' in 2013, which received the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award. ''Sex, Sin, and Blasphemy: A Guide to America's Censorship Wars'' was first published in 1993 by The New Press. The book was re-published by The New Press in 1998. In September 1993, Heins was the featured speaker at two events at the fifth annual Uncensored Celebration, sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon, where she spoke about her book and her work for the Arts Censorship Project. She was a special guest at the Free Speech Lunch on September 18, 1993, as part of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association's Trade Show Northwest. On October 6, 1993, the Newark, New Jersey art gallery Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art held a reception in honor of Heins' work where she spoke about her book and her efforts to defend works of art from censorship. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sex, Sin, and Blasphemy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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