Happy Wednesday Scribblers. In case you missed it, the month is February, and the year is 2022 and yet here we are talking about banning books in libraries and schools. What the actual heck are we doing?! Are we sure this isn’t 1822 or 1922? I understand that not all books are for everyone. I understand that we all like and enjoy reading different things. Believe it or not, there are books I don’t like. There are books I had to read that I didn’t enjoy. There are books I run across today wondering how these works of literature ever made into print. But never, and I mean ever, have I thought we should ban a book. Never! That is insane.
You want to control a population start by controlling the media. Guess what folks; books are media. And I’m not pointing a finger at one party or another. Banning Books happens on both sides of the cultural divide. People are going to say and do things we don’t like. We don’t have to agree with them and we sure don’t have to like them. However, it’s not up to us to squash them and destroy them. It’s up to us to educate them and ourselves. Listen to their concerns and fears and try, as hard as it may be, to understand them. We do not give them a pass and we sure don’t let them ban books or censor our media. Look into history and see how well that has worked out for everyone in the past.
A quote from Stephen King sums up my thoughts on the entire Book Banning perfectly:
When books are run out-of-school classrooms and libraries. I’m never much disturbed. Not as a citizen, not as a writer, not even as a schoolteacher… which I used to be.
What I tell kids is, don’t get mad, get even.
Don’t spend time waving signs or carrying petitions around the neighborhood. Instead, run, don’t walk, to the nearest non-school library or the local bookstore and get whatever it was that they banned.
Read whatever they’re trying to keep out of your eyes and your brain, because that’ exactly what you need to know.
I think what Stephen King says sums it all up perfectly, and I’m thrilled to see Maus on the New York Time’s Best-Selling list, because that shows we are voting with our wallets and sending a loud message to those who want and support censorship, aka Banning Books.
In short, don’t let them control you. Don’t get angry or protest, do what Stephen King suggests, go out, buy the book and read it, see if you agree or disagree, but the choice of what you like or don’t like should and always be with you. The Reader.
Until next time, have a great week.