This new invention of Gutenberg’s will be the end of civilization as we know it. I realize that many champion his invention as “progress”, but just wait, this metallic hulk signifies the end of moral society. I ask you to think about the far reaching implications of such a device.

Now that books are so easy and cheap to print, everyone will be able to afford books. Can you imagine the common, uneducated man reading religious texts on his own, attempting to interpret for himself the deeper meanings and moral lessons contained therein? We have educated moral leaders for a reason. Religion and morality are complicated topics that easily confuse the average person with their many paths and interpretations. Why make life, which is already hard, even more difficult? People need religion taught to them so that they can’t come to their own erroneous conclusions and damage the rest of us with their false ideas about God and His will for them on earth.

In addition, printing has provided more people with the ability to spread their ideas to the public. Scientists have already used print as a ready method of propagating their pernicious treatises on the nature of the universe outside the will of God. Now more people have access to their dangerous ideas, and many people are falling for their lies. Before print, only highly educated and holy men, men tested by both religious and political structures, men whose words were about the message and not about common popularity, could see their words in a book. Books were reliable because their sources were reliable. Now anyone with enough change to pay the printer can have his ideas disseminated. Where can an honest person go for the truth in a world of so many competing ideas?

I have also heard that printing is available in the common vernacular. No longer will Latin be the prevailing language of literature; no, now every vulgar man will have access to this onslaught of trash in his doggerel tongue. And do you know what that will lead to? A higher literacy rate. And why is this bad? Because a little learning, as we all know, is a dangerous thing. Someone who is not willing to dedicate the proper time to study should not be given small pieces of the truth to mismanage as he chooses without access to the bigger picture. No, education is a process that requires time and effort to be meaningful. With only bits and pieces of clap-trap and potentially inaccurate information, we create a new class of people who only think they know what they are talking about. And then with their newfound “knowledge” they’ll believe they have the right to help make decisions about law and society that affect all of us. I think we can all understand the danger in that.

I am certain that Gutenberg meant well when he created his invention, but clearly we can see that it will only lead to moral depravity, ignorance, and anarchy. This type of progress must be stopped for the good of society, particularly for the good of our children who will grow up in a more confusing and muddled world due to the chaos in the wake of printing. I propose that we retire the printing press, and all inventions like it, to the annals of failed history and turn away from so called “progress” before it is too late.