Banned Books

Anna Gregoline | August 12, 2004
Do you believe that banning certain books from public and school libraries is justified?

Scott Hardie | August 12, 2004
The only ones I can think of are books like the Anarchist's Cookbook, that could pose a real threat if certain individuals got their hands on them. If I were in charge of acquisitions for a library, I'd still put those books on the shelf; I'm just saying I could understand a justification for banning them.

Anna Gregoline | August 12, 2004
I'm sure there are plenty of science experiment books that could cause harm too - information is information?

Melissa Erin | August 12, 2004
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Scott Horowitz | August 13, 2004
Here is where my liberalism comes out. I do not believe in censorship in any form. The whole country peeved about Janet Jackson's breast being shown on TV for .21312423 seconds. But, they ignore the 3.5 minute erectile dysfunction commercial that aired during the superbowl. Kids know what a breast is, hell , for most they saw it as lunch when they were infants. When your son asks, "Daddy, What's ewectile dyswunction?" You know there's a problem.

People ban books for stupid reasons. Ban Harry Potter because it deals with sorcery and witchcraft? Give me a fucking break. If an author can make a 12 year old convince their parent to buy them a 900 page book and then read it. I think it is great. Too many children are being raised on television, and the more that read the better they are. The Harry Potter books are remarkable works of modern fiction. For parents to not want their children to read them because of sorcery and witchcraft, obviously don't know what these stories are really about. Growing up in a world you know little about, facing adversity, overcoming obstacles, etc.

I think I also remember hearing about parents trying to ban Catcher in the Rye because it had too many curses. Out of all the books I was "forced" to read in High School, that was in the top 3 (Along with Hamlet and To Kill a Mockingbird, these 3 followed closely by Fahrenheit 451). To stop kids from reading these novels is a travesty to our children, and shows the lack of progress our country is making.

Anna Gregoline | August 13, 2004
I agree about Harry Potter - there are other books in the library ABOUT witchcraft, but those aren't banned. It's strange to me.

Melissa Erin | August 13, 2004
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