Censorship for Christmas: A Reflection on Freedom, Responsibility, and Inheritance
As Christmas approaches, the tempo of public life usually slows. The arguments soften, the headlines fade, and many of us instinctively turn our attention back toward family, tradition, and what we’re passing on.
It’s in that spirit that I was invited to write the cover article for the Christmas edition ofThe Light Australia.
The piece is titled“Censorship for Christmas”, and it reflects on something deeper than any single policy or platform. It asks what it means to restrict, to protect, and to govern — particularly when those decisions intersect with children, culture, and the quiet assumptions we make about authority and trust.
This wasn’t written as a reaction to breaking news. It was written as a seasonal reflection — one that looks backward to what shaped us, outward to what’s changing, and forward to what kind of society we’re preparing the next generation to inherit.
At its heart, the article explores a tension that often goes unexamined: the difference between protecting children andreplacingthe judgement of families with systems, rules, and compliance architectures. It reflects on how easily responsibility is outsourced upward, and how difficult it is to recover once that habit sets in.
Christmas is a natural moment to ask these questions.
Not because the answers are easy — but because the season itself reminds us that formation happens slowly, relationally, and close to home. Long before institutions intervene, values are passed on around tables, in stories, and through example.
I’ve shared the article here in full for anyone who would like a quiet read over the Christmas period.
👉The Light Australia Newspaper Issue 21
Whatever your views, my hope is that the piece invites reflection rather than reaction — and that it contributes, in a small way, to a more careful conversation about freedom, responsibility, and what we owe those who come after us.
Wishing you and your family a peaceful Christmas.
—
Paul G. Conlon
If you’d like personalised help applying the ideas in my work — for your family, your work, or your online presence — I offer a small number of private advisory sessions.
