It's amazing what you trip over when you're not looking for anything in particular...

While wasting a few minutes on the internet I saw an article title that intrigued me. It read "The Top Ten Banned Books" ... Naturally I wanted to know when I moved to Nazi Germany.

Seriously, when did we start banning books again? Has this been going on all along? REALLY? If so, I was not aware of it... Which was evident when I began reading the list. I've read AND ENJOYED 6 of the top ten. Several of the featured titles REALLY shocked me... Here is the list of books, authors, and reasons the books are frequently banned by assorted schools and organizations IN THE USA! (When they say "challenged" they mean people demand that they be banned.)

The books, in order of most frequently challenged, are:
1. "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier for sexual content, offensive language, religious viewpoint, being unsuited to age group and violence.
2. "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers, for racism, offensive language and violence.
3. "Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture" by Michael A. Bellesiles, for inaccuracy and political viewpoint.
4. "Captain Underpants" series by Dav Pilkey, for offensive language and modeling bad behavior.
5. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky, for homosexuality, sexual content and offensive language.
6. "What My Mother Doesn't Know" by Sonya Sones, for sexual content and offensive language.
7. "In the Night Kitchen" by Maurice Sendak, for nudity and offensive language.
8. "King & King" by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland, for homosexuality.
9. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou, for racism, homosexuality, sexual content, offensive language and unsuited to age group.
10. "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck, for racism, offensive language and violence.

The top 10 "challenged" authors from 1990 to 2004 are (in order): Alvin Schwartz, Judy Blume, Robert Cormier, J.K. Rowling, Michael Willhoite, Katherine Paterson, Stephen King, Maya Angelou, R.L. Stine and John Steinbeck.


Is anyone else absolutely appalled by this? Angelou and Steinbeck CLASSICS on a banned list? REALLY? Who are these people? Where do they live? And why on earth would anyone want to ban these books?

What is worse is that being as riled up as I was about this list, I found a thread of comments discussing it. The first book that came under fire which didn't appear on the list was Lois Lowry's "The Giver." I had to read this book in 6th grade for Mrs Wright's Literature class, and I can honestly say that even now it's one of my favorite books. The person who found this book offensive noted that there were certain aspects that she thought were inappropriate for her 6th grader. (If you've read the book you're going to understand this with a little more insight, whereas if you haven't you might be a little lost for a minute...) She was offended that a young girl should bathe an old man. (*It should be noted that bathing and caring for the old was what this girl was good at, and so caring for the old was her job in the society, and thus she was learning how to do it properly.) She was also offended that there were themes of celebrating euthanasia of the elderly, and suppression of sexual urges in young people. (*I'm guessing that this woman only read the parts that some other mother said were offensive, rather than reading the whole book, because if she had taken the time to read the whole book, she would know that both of those things are meant to make the reader think...) The reader is presented with this supposed idyllic, utopian society, and yet they have these certain things that we don't morally agree with by our present society's standards. So the reader can accept that the morality of different societies are more or less accepting of certain things, or you can learn to make your own moral judgment on the matter and form your own opinion on the moral issue. Personally I don't think that a child in the 6th grade is too young to begin forming their own morals and moral opinions on important issues which do, in reality, exist in their world.

These poor kids are entering their adolescence, which are arguably some of the most important formative years of their lives, during which time they will be expected to start figuring out who they are and what they want for themselves, and yet we don't want them to read a book about a futuristic society that doesn't even exist so that they can get a little morality in the deeper meaning? A BOOK?

So what would this woman have them read instead? I don't know, she didn't leave any suggestions for a replacement, suffice it to say she wasn't happy with this choice in the curriculum.

I'm appalled that people are trying to shield other people, be it child or adult, from a book of any sort. And the reasoning for the banning of the books on the list? Homosexuality? Bad language? Violence? Religious viewpoint? Inaccuracy? Sex? Politics? Racism?

Are these people trying to pretend like these problems don't exist? These are things that we all see EVERY DAY.

HAVE THESE PEOPLE EVER WATCHED THE EVENING NEWS??

Seriously...

Ok, I'm going to do this rationally. I'm going to go through and address each one of these "issues" one at a time.

1. Homosexuality - Ok, granted, I'm very comfortable with homosexual people, and I know a lot of people aren't, but I have to ask, WHY? They are PEOPLE. They are human beings who have feelings, and wants, and needs just like anyone else. They are wonderful individuals who contribute to society. They are just like anyone else... The only difference between the straight soccer mom advocating banning a book and the lesbian soccer mom who just wants her kid to be able to live a life where that kid can be whoever it wants to be is the gender of the person they are intimate with. They aren't asking you to watch. They aren't asking you to participate. They are only asking that you accept them for being the human being that they are. It is their choice to love whomever they deem worthy of their affection, and it's a valid choice, whether you like it or not. Homosexuality is a reality people. Conservative estimates show that at least 10% of the population is homosexual. It's a part of your reality whether you like it or not, so you might as well get used to it.
   
2. Bad language - This one really amuses me. Bad language? Really? I'll tell you something. I never learned a curse word from reading it in a book, and you know why that is? Because I'd already heard my dad use about a dozen "bad words" a day since my birth. (I think that rate has steadily increased over the years... But we won't get into that.) The fact is that so-called "bad words" are on every TV show, and street corner you come across these days. And what exactly is so bad about these words? THEY ARE WORDS. Words are not inherently subversive or wrong unless you teach your child that they are wrong. What you teach your child is your own business, but I guarantee you, if you're not the one exposing them to these things, little Andrew Miller down the street will do it for you, and I can promise his version won't be to your liking.
   
3. Violence - This one is just ridiculous. In an age where parents are afraid to send their children off to school because some child in their class might have an AK-47 in their backpack, we're afraid to expose little Sally to violence in text? Seriously people, there are massacres, wars, shootings, hostage situations, international terrorism, DOMESTIC terrorism, bombings, stabbings, hate crimes, drive-by shootings, rapes, muggings, beatings, murders, and other assorted violence reported EVERY SINGLE NIGHT on the local news. It is literally inescapable. Every society on the face of this earth has some violent aspect... And it just so happens that we live in a particularly violent and hostile one. I'm not suggesting that you go out and track down clips of beheadings or hangings, or anything of that nature to teach your kid about violence, but do you honestly think that keeping your kid from reading it in a book will keep them safe?
4. Religious viewpoint - Religion is always a touchy subject, and one I often avoid here. I don't want to alienate anyone by getting to preachy about anything, but this one bothers me because banning a book for a religious viewpoint is like saying that the religious viewpoint isn't valid, or doesn't exist. That is ludicrous. When you start teaching your children to ignore other religious viewpoints is when you start teaching religious fanaticism... And that's where we get the kinds of religious intolerance that has spawned the terrorists that we face now. This isn't to say that western religions are any better or worse than the religions elsewhere in the world. They aren't. Nobody's gotten it right yet. Any religion, any faith, when taken to extremes is wrong. Hell, LOOK AT TOM CRUISE! Religion is great, until we use it as a tool to alienate others... And unfortunately too many of us do just that, use our religion to separate and alienate, rather than celebrate and unify.
5. Inaccuracy - Ok, this is an easy one to fix. Your complaining a book is inaccurate, so let your kid read the book, and then give them another book that has contradictory information in it, and let the kid check some facts. They're going to learn sooner or later that not everything they read is true. They are going to learn that people write with other motives and agenda in mind. Let them learn it now, and let them learn how to form an informed opinion.
   
6. Sex - The kids see it every day on TV. And if they're not seeing it on TV at your house, they are seeing it at some other kid's house. It's natural, and it happens. How the hell do you think the kids got here in the first place? THE STORK SURE AS HELL DIDN'T BRING EM. Go ahead and teach them about it. Get into only as much detail as you need, and only as much as is age appropriate. They're going to find out sooner or later anyway... It's better that they learn from you, in a safe environment where they can feel safe and secure about asking the important questions, and learning how to go about things safely.
   
7. Political viewpoint - Oh for the love of Pete! Once again, just like religion, people use politics as a tool to divide people. Teach tolerance. Teach your kids about the bill of rights. Teach your kids that different people are free to believe whatever they choose to believe, and that is one of the things that makes this country so great. The fact that someone else is free to believe in something that you would spend a lifetime opposing is one of the reasons this country became an independent nation to begin with. It's a part of what makes this country great. Teach your kids that.
   
8. Racism - This is another one that I don't get. I fail to see the point in shielding your kid from a topic like racism. Are we pretending like it doesn't exist? Are we pretending that whole civil rights thing never happened? Are we pretending that racism doesn't happen? The fact is that we are not all homogeneous. We are different. We are different colors, and different cultures. And that is beautiful. And it's something that should be respected and revered. Are we still a people who are content to judge others as a second-class citizen because their skin is a different color? To that I just have to ask, what color is your spleen? What color is your liver? What color is your pancreas? What color is your heart? And what does color have to do with it?

I know I've rambled on for quite some time about all of this, but it was something that really got under my skin. It really bothered me that people are willing to ban books because they are too lazy to actually do any parenting for the children they've spawned. Rather than doing any actual parenting they are content to ban books and teach their children that there is only one "right way" rather than teaching tolerance and acceptance of opposition.

Hell my mom was a damn good parent to me... And while I might be an asshole, the only thing that I am intolerant of is ignorance.

You might not agree with any or all of what I've written today, and that's fine with me. I encourage you to articulate your opinon as you see fit. That's why the commenting is open to everyone. I encourage the opinions of others because I am tolerant of other ways of thinking, and other cultural norms... I just ask that you be tolerant of me and mine.




And here I was worried I wouldn't have anything to write about today!