7 deadly books? Talk of ban hits burbs

7 deadly books? Talk of ban hits burbs

"A northwest suburban high school board member seeks to ban seven books from classroom use because she thinks the profanity, depiction of graphic sex, and drug and abortion references in the literature are inappropriate for teenagers.

"Leslie Pinney admits she only read passages of the controversial selections, including Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five and Toni Morrison's Beloved, which were on the American Library Association's 100 most challenged books list between 1990 and 2000."

I am particularly disturbed by the second paragraph of this story--the one in which the censor, Leslie Pinney, admitted to having only read parts of the books she wishes to ban. Censorship, book banning, what's next? Shall we return to the days when, in order to publish anything one had to have the blessing of the Church? Shall we burn the books of certain authors, of specific religions, orientations or points of view? What does Ms. Pinney think of parental intervention, of parental responsibility? What if I don't share Ms. Pinney's sense of moral outrage? Book banning is a slippery slope from which only dark consequences emerge.

7 deadly books? Talk of ban hits burbs:

Zoundry

Fahrenheit 451

Technorati : censorship, democracy, free speech
Del.icio.us : censorship, democracy, free speech