School District Bans Books "Contrary to the Bible"

[lilwriter85]

I hope those in Missouri opposed to the book ban find ways to participate in Banned Books Week in September.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/blogs/book_c ... 0f31a.html

[Mommy22alyns]

A homeschooler is all up in arms over what the PS is reading??? Who gives a shit? That's WHY you're homeschooling, right? That's just plain dumb. :roll:

[ElphabaGalinda]

On the positive side, i think banning books will actually make more kids want to read them...the lure of the forbidden, and all. But seriously, if you don't want to read certain books, don't read them. If you don't want your kids to read them, don't let them. Don't take away that decision from someone else by removing the books from the library. Especially if it's a public school library, and your children don't even go to public school.

[Childless]

Obviously, this homeschooling parent has to much time on his hands if he's worried about what other people are reading. Makes me wonder how good his so-called "homeschooling" is if he's got the free time to shove his nose in other's business.

[lilwriter85]

On the positive side, i think banning books will actually make more kids want to read them...the lure of the forbidden, and all. But seriously, if you don't want to read certain books, don't read them. If you don't want your kids to read them, don't let them. Don't take away that decision from someone else by removing the books from the library. Especially if it's a public school library, and your children don't even go to public school.

I also hope some kids in that town will want to read some of those books. You said it perfectly "the lure of the forbidden, has happend many times. Censorship also brings curiosity out. The homeschooler who managed to get those books banned didn't completely win. Kids can access those books in other ways. There are kids now in days have Kindles, iPads, laptops and other devices that can hold e-book and other public libraries often have at least Slaughterhouse-Five. I doubt that man thought about other ways for kids to access those books. Speak in recent years is sometimes in stock at some bookstores, partially because of the popularity surge that resulted from Kristen Stewart being in the movie version. I wouldn't be surprised if the other book 20 Boy Summer was made into a movie, the plot sounds like something that Hollywood want adapted. Any times movies are adapted from books, interest in the books surges. I'm willing to bet some people will complain in a couple of years when the film version of 13 Reasons Why is made and more kids want to read the book.

[lilwriter85]

The author of Twenty Boy Summer responded to the banning

http://sarahockler.com/2011/07/26/banne ... er-shamed/

[emesbe]

Aaaah! I can't wait until my kids are old enough to introduce to Vonnegut. Man. I would have enjoyed English classes so much more in highschool (public) if he'd been part of our reading requirements.

Religious homeschooler chiming in to say: This is incredibly stupid for so many reasons.

I can understand parents wanting their kids to wait a few years on certain books. And I obviously can understand homeschooling. :) But I don't understand thinking that a homeschooling parent gets to decide for an entire school district what is OK for public school students to study in terms of literature.

So for someone who has never read any Vonnegut, where would one suggest I start?

[demgirl]

I am horrified that this man is an associate professor at Missouri State. I am uplifted by the campus response to his insanity.

Speak should be required reading in every high school. The fact that he describes a rape as soft core porn is loathsome. I would feel uncomfortable having him as my teacher.

[bicyclecat]

Wow. Communism is alive and well.

The ironic part is that they'd have no problem shaming me for being raised in a Communist country.

[forever ago]

What a tool.

What a complete and utter, controlling, spoiled little tool.

[forever ago]

I am horrified that this man is an associate professor at Missouri State. I am uplifted by the campus response to his insanity.

Speak should be required reading in every high school. The fact that he describes a rape as soft core porn is loathsome. I would feel uncomfortable having him as my teacher.

The "soft core porn" he speaks of is

"he hurts me hurts me hurts me

and gets up

and zips his jeans

and smiles."

I actually did have to read Speak for my 9th grade English class. I remember that scene word-for-word. I just have to wonder if he's actually fucking read it.

Loathsome asshole.

[carolinabekah]

I agree. speak is one of my favorite young adult books and I can't imagine comparing a book about rape to soft core porn! Got another of the author's books on my ereader to read (wintergirls). But then I don't believe in censoring books at all...

[lilwriter85]

Some update on this. Sarah Ockler recently announced on her blog that she will be speaking in Springfield, Missouri for Banned Books Week and she said that people from Republic have contacted her in support. Also an anonymous donor and the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library recently pledged to donate 150 copies of Slaughterhouse Five to students in the district.

http://www.news-leader.com/article/2011 ... pringfield

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/0 ... 19455.html

[acutexenophobia]

This scares me. I think censorship and banning books is some of the scariest shit that could ever happen. It reminds me of every dystopian book I've ever read. It starts out small, like this, and then in a couple hundred years from now, all books are gone except for the ones THEY approve.

Wish I could tell these assholes that I read Lolita when I was 15 and turned out fine. Didn't make me want to do any dirty things. Stupid, ignorant douche bags. Not eloquent at all but these assholes piss me off so much.

And Speak was really fucking good, too. I had a friend that was raped in high school and Speak (along with therapy) helped her get through.

[Witsec6]

Some update on this. Sarah Ockler recently announced on her blog that she will be speaking in Springfield, Missouri for Banned Books Week and she said that people from Republic have contacted her in support. Also an anonymous donor and the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library recently pledged to donate 150 copies of Slaughterhouse Five to students in the district.

http://www.news-leader.com/article/2011 ... pringfield

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/0 ... 19455.html

I was going to post about the KVML giving free copies to students, but you beat me to it!

This kind of stuff makes me sick. Read what you want, don't read what you don't want but these "Think of the Children!" arguments are such BS. "Contrary to the Bible" my ass.

[mirele]

At my high school, there was a set of shelves back behind the counter in the library where "inappropriate books" were kept, only for teachers to check out. There was also a handwritten ledger where the books that had been removed were listed. The first books listed in there were the Jeeves books by P.G. Wodehouse (!?!?!!?!!?!).

Thing is, I knew they hadn't gotten all the books with "inappropriate" themes off the shelves, because I read them. One of those books was "Slaughterhouse-Five."

[clibbyjo]

I told my 15 year old about this post and he is very excited as he wants to read all the banned books listed and will find a list of all banned books for kids/teens. He says he will read them all, then describe why he thinks they were banned and what kids would have learned by reading them. I guess I should thank the school district that just gave my son a curriculum he thought up and is excited to do. Keep the banned books coming, we are heading to the library tomorrow. :dance:

[mirele]

I told my 15 year old about this post and he is very excited as he wants to read all the banned books listed and will find a list of all banned books for kids/teens. He says he will read them all, then describe why he thinks they were banned and what kids would have learned by reading them. I guess I should thank the school district that just gave my son a curriculum he thought up and is excited to do. Keep the banned books coming, we are heading to the library tomorrow. :dance:

If all homeschooling parents were like you, clibbyjo, I wouldn't worry about homeschooling cheating kids out of a decent education.

[annalena]

It's things like this that makes the general public in Europe perceive all Americans as crazy nutcases.

(Not me, though. But I know what a lot of others think.)

[lilwriter85]

Update on this story

http://www.news-leader.com/article/2011 ... on-library

Sarah Ockler's response

http://sarahockler.com/blog/

[AnnoDomini]

So, books counter to the Bible that *I* would like to ban. And since they're probably not taught in schools, let's ban them from being sent through the mail! That's a government service, too!

"To Train Up a Child"

"I Kissed Dating Goodbye"

the magazine Above Rubies

C'mon, let's get a new set of Comstock laws passed, we'll use Biblical exegesis to say what can't get sent through the mail to these patrios, and bust their "conventions" and "appearance" for what they are -covers for selling literature harmful to children.

;) I second the first one. Don't know Above Rubies. Why IKDG though? I read it and though I disagree with some of it (now anyway) I don't know why you'd call it harmful to children. It seems pretty tame for fundy literature.

[Rosa]

It encourages early marriage without really getting to know people, and claims that's the Biblical way to do things, which is of course a heretical lie (the Biblical ways include meeting at the village well, being sold by your father, kidnap-and-rape, and being seen bathing naked on a rooftop by someone with the power to have your husband killed in battle).

And I judge its harmfulness by seeing the effect it had on young people I knew, and the testimonies of folks like Sam Torode & Bethany Patchin.

[doggie]

the only moral dryrot he is talking about is between his ears.

[AnnoDomini]

It encourages early marriage without really getting to know people, and claims that's the Biblical way to do things, which is of course a heretical lie (the Biblical ways include meeting at the village well, being sold by your father, kidnap-and-rape, and being seen bathing naked on a rooftop by someone with the power to have your husband killed in battle).

And I judge its harmfulness by seeing the effect it had on young people I knew, and the testimonies of folks like Sam Torode & Bethany Patchin.

Hmm, ok I can see why you'd see it as destructive. I saw it differently.

[julie paradox]

I missed this first time round. Since it's been bumped, I thought I might as well answer

(pssst... statue of David is in the Uffizi not the Louvre. Different country.)

It's possible that PG Wodehouse's books were banned when he got into trouble for doing the broadcasts from Nazi Germany. Nowadays the consensus (indeed, according to Wikipedia the conclusion reached by MI5) seems to be that he was guilty of little more than naivety, but at the time there was a lot of anger.