Bans Quote by Clarence Darrow
“If today you can take a thing like evolution and make it a crime to teach it in the public school, tomorrow you can make it a crime to teach it in the private school . . . At the next session you may ban books and newspapers. Soon you may set Catholic against Protestant and Protestant against Protestant, and try to foist your own religion upon the minds of men.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Defense of John T. Scopes, Dayton, Tennessee, 1925
Legal attempts to censor ideas start with schools and expand to broader media, threatening free thought.
In simple terms: Censoring ideas spreads and harms liberty.
Key Takeaway
Defend open inquiry and resist censorship.
Themes
freedom
education
politics
censorship
Mood
defiant
serious
Type
political
legal
When to use this quote
- schools
- libraries
- media platforms
Key Concepts
civil liberties
authoritarianism
Questions to Reflect On
- What safeguards protect academic freedom?
- How can citizens counteract censorship?
A Different Perspective
Opposition may underestimate public support for censorship.
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