you want to step outside, beulah ?!
this week is national banned book week. i'm not sure of the purpose of this week-long endeavor; but, it may be something like this- those of us with functioning brains celebrate our cerebral triumph over book-burners by buying, talking about, and reading books that are supposed to lead us right into the devil's grasp. well, that's not exactly fair. under-informed religious zealots aren't the only morons desirous of book banning/burning. left-leaning pious busy-bodies think we're too stupid to think for ourselves, so they must protect us from ourselves ,too.
the books on the list of 100 most frequently challenged is unbelievable. a few of my favorites:
"the adventures of huckleberry finn" and "tom sawyer" because if we read the word "nigger" we will obviously be compelled to go lynch someone of color that same day. harry potter in all his incarnations. surely, if you read a fantasy book about kids who do magic; you'll be worshipping satan and having his child. "of mice and men" and "the grapes of wrath" use racial slurs and profanity and promote non- traditional values. sounds like a lovely evening at our house; what's the problem? books like "the outsiders", " catcher in the rye", "slaughter house five", and the works of judy bloom try to help teenagers examine their world though the eyes of characters who may be seeking solutions to the same feelings or problems as the reader. what a horrible concept. how dare they try to help kids through the utopia that is adolescence?
these are just a few of my favorite choices from the list.
a few years ago we went to cloudcroft, new mexico for christmas. jackson was 2 years old and as cute as ever. we stayed at the lodge at cloudcroft and it snowed everyday we were there. it was really ideal. one of the local newspapers is the alomogordo something-or-another and i read it each day. there was a 2 day series in the paper that week concerning an interview with a baptist preacher in town. his "church" was hosting a good old-fashioned book burning on the saturday immediately after christmas. what better way to celebrate the giver of light, than by producing a huge bonfire in his honor? in the interview, the preacher told how the material of choice for burning was harry potter , but all things produced by lucifer were welcomed. he told the reporter that although the books are filled with seemingly innocuous stories of self-discovery and fun; they contained stories of magic and witchcraft. apparently, even though they appear to be "good" wizards and witches; this is impossible because all magic is born of satan. whoops! i'm sure jk rowling is embarrassed to find this out only now. this good reporter asked the preacher about books like "the chronicles of narnia" and "the wizard of oz" both written by pretty well known christians. the heroes of both book series use "good" magic or magical talismans in their quests to set things right. she points out that both series are available in the library of the school run by said church. well, predictably, the good reverend -mental giant that he is- tells us that the magic used by these characters is good because it is used to defeat evil. huh? excuse me! wow, you really are as dumb as you look. heil hitler, herr himmler.
please, go get yourself a book to read. it doesn't matter what. the bible? read up, i will too. it's great. "lord of the flies?" good choice. just stay away from the pig, and make sure you hand over the conch as soon as i require it. i would recommend you stay away from "little black sambo." everyone knows that little boys in africa were never black, they didn't wear clothes, and they surely never went walking through the jungle at the suggestions of their mothers. besides, even if they did; it is categorically wrong to create a fable about fooling a tiger into chasing his own tail until he turned into butter. we all know black kids are too dumb to do anything good . right? i can only wish someone would have been there to save me from that blasphemous drivel when i was a kid. p. s. "little black sambo" was one of the first books i bought for my son when i found out my wife was pregnant. and he loves it.
the books on the list of 100 most frequently challenged is unbelievable. a few of my favorites:
"the adventures of huckleberry finn" and "tom sawyer" because if we read the word "nigger" we will obviously be compelled to go lynch someone of color that same day. harry potter in all his incarnations. surely, if you read a fantasy book about kids who do magic; you'll be worshipping satan and having his child. "of mice and men" and "the grapes of wrath" use racial slurs and profanity and promote non- traditional values. sounds like a lovely evening at our house; what's the problem? books like "the outsiders", " catcher in the rye", "slaughter house five", and the works of judy bloom try to help teenagers examine their world though the eyes of characters who may be seeking solutions to the same feelings or problems as the reader. what a horrible concept. how dare they try to help kids through the utopia that is adolescence?
these are just a few of my favorite choices from the list.
a few years ago we went to cloudcroft, new mexico for christmas. jackson was 2 years old and as cute as ever. we stayed at the lodge at cloudcroft and it snowed everyday we were there. it was really ideal. one of the local newspapers is the alomogordo something-or-another and i read it each day. there was a 2 day series in the paper that week concerning an interview with a baptist preacher in town. his "church" was hosting a good old-fashioned book burning on the saturday immediately after christmas. what better way to celebrate the giver of light, than by producing a huge bonfire in his honor? in the interview, the preacher told how the material of choice for burning was harry potter , but all things produced by lucifer were welcomed. he told the reporter that although the books are filled with seemingly innocuous stories of self-discovery and fun; they contained stories of magic and witchcraft. apparently, even though they appear to be "good" wizards and witches; this is impossible because all magic is born of satan. whoops! i'm sure jk rowling is embarrassed to find this out only now. this good reporter asked the preacher about books like "the chronicles of narnia" and "the wizard of oz" both written by pretty well known christians. the heroes of both book series use "good" magic or magical talismans in their quests to set things right. she points out that both series are available in the library of the school run by said church. well, predictably, the good reverend -mental giant that he is- tells us that the magic used by these characters is good because it is used to defeat evil. huh? excuse me! wow, you really are as dumb as you look. heil hitler, herr himmler.
please, go get yourself a book to read. it doesn't matter what. the bible? read up, i will too. it's great. "lord of the flies?" good choice. just stay away from the pig, and make sure you hand over the conch as soon as i require it. i would recommend you stay away from "little black sambo." everyone knows that little boys in africa were never black, they didn't wear clothes, and they surely never went walking through the jungle at the suggestions of their mothers. besides, even if they did; it is categorically wrong to create a fable about fooling a tiger into chasing his own tail until he turned into butter. we all know black kids are too dumb to do anything good . right? i can only wish someone would have been there to save me from that blasphemous drivel when i was a kid. p. s. "little black sambo" was one of the first books i bought for my son when i found out my wife was pregnant. and he loves it.
posted by cm at 9/29/2005
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