Book banning is so medieval.
The American Library Association (ALA) has a wealth of information associated with Banned Books Week, which began on September 23 and continues through September 30.
The ALA has released a list of the most challenged books of the 21st century, and two guesses which book sits at the very top? That's right, our own Harry Potter. No doubt Christians led the charge against the series about an orphaned boy who learns that he's a wizard hunted by the most evil wizard in the world. Here's the list:
1. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
2. "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier
3. Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
4. "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck
5. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
6. "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers
7. "It's Perfectly Normal" by Robie Harris
8. Scary Stories series by Alvin Schwartz
9. Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey
10. "Forever" by Judy Blume
Christians would do well to remember that the Bible is also a challenged book. Remember Laura Mallory, the Gwinnett County, GA, woman who challenged the Harry Potter series? Here are my thoughts.
(Photo credit: Gwinnett Daily Post)
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Original WP theme Copyright Mike Little
September 26th, 2006 at 4:25 pm
This is interesting. Most of these books I think are just silly to be banning, the Harry Potter books among them. Then again… #7 on that list really jumped out at me. I have that book sitting right here on my desk, borrowed from the public library, and really had to do a double take when I saw it on the list.
This is the book that Planned Parenthood sells and advocates for children as young as 10. They really push it as a tool for parents to use when they feel "uncomfortable" about teaching their children about sex. I found it in the children's section.
It's a picture book full of somewhat realistic looking cartoons, and uses two animal characters to teach a child things that PP feels are important for them to know to be "healthy". (their words, not mine.)
What's so shocking about it? Well, there are the predictable images- of homosexuals cuddling and kissing, men and women having sex, adolescents masturbating, a child's head emerging from a stretched vagina, etc.
The most shocking images, I thought, were the ones that weren't there. In the entire chapter on abortion there was not one single image. It's the only chapter in the book, I might add, that was not fully illustrated. Nothing to explain what it was, how it was performed… there were a lot of mis-leading statements sprinkled in, disguised as fact.
I have reflexive, gut instinct that tells me that books should never be banned. This one however…. I don't know. I think it's dangerous to assume that because some books are unjustly banned, that there is never a situation when a book should be banned. (or at the very least, set aside for more adult readers.)
I work with children in a private school. I can tell you, that even in this setting, very few parents look closely at what their children read or watch on tv. Some trust that if it's labeled "for children" that it will be age appropriate. Personally, when it comes to books such as these, I think that parents should be made to look through them before they check them out for their son or daughter, at the very least.
September 27th, 2006 at 11:49 am
What do you mean by banning a book? It's one thing for a public library or a public school library not to purchase a book. It's another to refuse it if it's donated. It's yet another for a publisher to refuse to publish it. It's still another (or rather for other things) to make it illegal to publish it, to purchase it, to possess it, or to have it where it is publicly accessible.
September 27th, 2006 at 11:54 am
I should add that I don't think there's anything really wrong with not purchasing a book or a publisher refusing to publish something (unless the reasons involve an immoral attitude toward someone or something). It's less clear about refusing donated books. Sometimes that might be ok, but sometimes it's just stupid. I tend to think you need a really good reason to ban by law in any of the four ways I listed.
September 28th, 2006 at 8:21 pm
Usually when they say a book is "banned", what they really mean is that some concerned parents thought they should have the choice of what their children should read instead of having government-run schools and libraries force inappropriate material down their throats.
September 30th, 2006 at 10:45 pm
Not to put too fine a point on it, but the Bible is the most banned book of the century. Copies have been seized, and people imprisoned or executed, in countries from the old Soviet Union to present day Afghanistan.
November 20th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
Its not easy to simply give a statement that this book should be banned or not. It needs more research and insight in the subject considered as well as pyschological effects.
Adrienne
as 'Fan of Don Lapre'
webmaster@adriennebraswell.com
www.adriennebraswell.com