Let’s ban fear, hate and ignorance, not books
Right-wing governments invite intolerance
We live in a divided, judgmental, and unforgiving age. No ideology is immune — the darkness seems to be wedded to the culture — and extremes of left and right are especially culpable.
As for religion, it’s disappointing but hardly surprising that conservative wings of all of the major faiths play their part in the sordid game. One would hope that books and literature would be free from attack but, alas, that’s simply not the case.
Just last week in Brandon, Man., for example the city school division had to deal with an attempt to impose censorship of books dealing with sexuality and gender. This was after a former trustee requested that a committee be established to remove, “any books that caused our kids to question whether they are in the wrong body.”
The meeting lasted a long time, was attended by a great many people, and while the proposal was eventually defeated, we can be sure that this won’t be the last such challenge in Canada.
According to PEN America, between July 2021, and March 2022 alone there were 1,568 book bans in the U.S. Texas and Florida were among the leaders, but it might surprise some to know that Pennsylvania was in second place. Most of the condemned books dealt with LGBTQ issues, or the origins and problems of racism.
While it’s deeply troubling that so many of the charge leaders are Christian, it’s also, if we observe the situation intelligently, also deeply inconsistent. Because in the 774,000 words of the Bible there’s an extraordinary amount of violence and depravity. And sex, perversion, ethnic cleansing, genocide, rape, infanticide, incest and pretty much everything else you can imagine. Much of it is condemned of course, but not all; there are heroes in the texts who behave in such a way that would see them thrown out of any self-respecting conservative church.
But for any authentic Christian this is a dreadful misunderstanding and twisting of what scripture is about. Christians should, if we follow it properly, believe it to be the inspired word of God, but not divine dictation. It’s a library of poetry, biography, history and philosophy.
Seemingly unaware of the irony, there are Christians who try to silence opinion that they fear will challenge their points of view or prejudices. Book banning is usually the step before people banning, just as book burning comes before people burning. If you doubt me, study even recent history.
There was a time, not very long ago, when I considered all of this a ghost of horrors past. Now it’s obviously one of present and future.
If right-wing governments are elected in the U.S. and in Canada, the gates of intolerance will be opened. Perhaps Canadian national leaders don’t support all this but they know their electoral base, and they empower all sorts of unsavoury ideas and actions.
Children need guidance and advice, and they’ll find it one way or another. Far better under the tutelage of a caring teacher or empathetic librarian than from the morally indifferent internet. Because find it they will.
If anything should be banned, it’s ignorance, fear, and hatred. That’s the sort of wisdom I learn every day when I read my Bible. Perhaps that’ll be next on the list of prohibited books, unless read with reactionary and dangerous blinkers.