fairyrune | On the Death of Imagination

For those of you who may be unaware, (I hope it's very few of you), the American Library Association is currently celebrating Banned Books Week. (Today is the last day. I've been trying to get this posted for three days, but *some* people are very distracting.)

I am a really big fan of a person's right to choose, and not just when it comes to the abortion issue. When a book is banned it doesn't only affect the people who complained about it; every single other person in the school or community, regardless of whether or not they have an objection to the book, has their ability to choose to expose themselves to the contents of said book affected.

Don't get me wrong; I'm all for age-appropriate reading material. Exposing your seven year old to something like The Joy of Sex may not be a good plan. However, "age appropriate" varies with the individual. I was reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings when my classmates were drooling over the complete Berenstein Bears collection one of the girls had brought in. (Nothing against the bears, of course. I'm just illustrating a point.)

The fact that today, in the year 2008, in America, books are still being banned pisses me off to no end. They're banned for the silliest of reasons!

"Oh no! We can't let our children read a book that mentions SLAVERY! The wee little black kids will be upset!"
"My child must NEVER be exposed to any mention of homosexuality!"
"Harry Potter is going to turn my good little Christian child into a heathen Wiccan!"
"My kid thinks babies come from the cabbage patch. I don't want to have to explain sex to her after she reads that book!"

What is the result of "protecting" children from all of this, of only letting them be exposed to things that are "safe" and easy to explain? They don't learn to think for themselves. They don't learn to imagine. Think about it for a second; if you're not exposed to anything outside of your little bubble, how do you learn to process it? You don't.

This is why America is falling behind in science and technology. We over-protect ourselves into stupidity. "Don't think, don't question, just sleep...shhhhhh....shhhhh...."

I think we should be encouraging not just children, but EVERYONE to read controversial works. Read them. Think about them. Decide what it is that pisses people off, and why. The talk about it. Talk about WHY slavery and racism are wrong. Talk about WHY Harry Potter is different from real life. LEARN FROM IT.

(This post was much longer and better in my head, but then I ran out of time. Bah. Perhaps I shall edit it at a later date.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

a mind is like a door, it only works best when opened.

I always liked that simile with "parachute" instead of "door."

Banning and destruction of books has got to be one of the largest holdovers our country mindlessly clings to from our nice, heathen Puritan days. This mindset that the average, do-gooder American knows what's best for me and mine to take in as ideological discourse annoys and angers me.

I'm not concerned with coddling children in a culture of safety (as it pertains to this discussion... I have a whole other rant about THAT kind of shit). I despise how children are scapegoated as the reason more Federal and State regulation on my life is passed with nary a thought, but to the resounding chorus of cheering. "The Children," as they stand, can go be sold on an open Thai sex market for all the good they've done the actual psychosocial development of children in this country.

Of course, I'm always against any action by the powers that be to restrict freedom. People, children too, should always have the freedom to do as they will, no matter if you like it or not, as long as it respects the rights of others.

See? This is why we get along.

Also, you have a kitten!Cthullu icon, and that is awesome.

I found it on the internet this morning! I want one!

Well, no, actually. I don't.

Whether or not I want one depends on whether or not it *actually* tries to eat your soul, or if it's similar to Cthullu in the same way that housecats are similar to tigers.

I could definitely be down for a chibi Elder God.

Exactly!

I agree with you, very much so.
The banning of books is an issue that can really piss me off, I do not understand it. I imagine that the people doing the banning must be the most insecure people ever...I mean really, if you do a good job raising your children and instilling good values & etc (of course one of my "good values" is an open mind, and another is tolerance), then it won't matter what they read. Yes, they may have questions, and "oh no" they could be tough ones! But what better way to expand the mind, understand the past, understand different cultures (and that means counter cultures as well as foreign ones) etc. etc.

In other words, I really agree with you!!!

I think part of the problem is that they don't actually want to raise their children. They don't want to do the work, so they feel they need to make up for it by "protecting" them from anything that might corrupt them.

One of the local school districts won't use Dan Gutman's "Jackie and Me" because 'it contains the N word.' Yeah, it does. To correctly portray the time that Jackie Robinson lived in. How about using that for a logical discussion, along the lines of how racial epithets and discrimination are not now, nor have they ever been right, but was considered acceptable at that moment in time?

And don't even get me started on "And Tango Makes Three!"

You are SO RIGHT. Things like that make me want to stab people. They won't learn about these things properly if they're not taught!

Totally agree, Right on, Bubbles.

On the Death of Imagination

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject