It’s shameful that anyone could call to burn a book
ON APRIL 8, 1933, the German Student Union proudly and fervently announced that there was to be nationwide celebration; the purpose of which was to publicly rejoice at the burning of books which did not meet the standards of the National Socialist Third Reich. The books to be burned included, but were not limited to, books of religion, authors who presented humanitarian and researched points of view, authors who were Jewish, and those who were thought of as socialists or communists. Or any and all books that dealt with sex and sex education, or books about history that were viewed as being subversive or that were presenting ideologies opposed to Nazism. The rest of the world was — and rightly so — shocked by this call and the reality of books being burnt. These actions of burning books were vehemently condemned. On September 16, 2020, it was reported in the Irish press that the Irish ‘pop duo’ Jedward have invited fans of J.K. Rowling to burn the Harry potter author’s books amid outcry over comments she made regarding the trans community. One could argue that, in principle, there is no difference between these two circumstances. However, the call to burn books by Jedward — Dublinborn twins John and Edward Grimes, 28, who found fame on The X Factor — is arguably worse because the world already knows what took place on april 8, 1933, and what followed. If ethics and morals mean anything, the Irish government should call upon Jedward to visit parliament House and apologise. Not only in relation to their shameful call to burn books, and their other associated comments, but also to say sorry to the rest of the world who fought against this type of intolerance, which led to book-burning in the first place. The next step should be for Jedward to be held accountable for their incitement to burn books. Which is, as noted and recorded in their own words to their followers on social media: ‘Does anyone need firewood this winter?... JK’s new book is perfect to burn next to a Romantic fire.’ I would argue that the duo should also be placed before the courts, and hopefully a finding would be made where they would be required to serve the Irish community upon which they have wrought shame. DR RAGNAR PURJE PHD, University of Queensland, australia.