Censorship Is Unconstitutional
Trina L.C. Sonnenberg
In a day and age where everyone is giving lip service to the Constitution, I am amazed at the censorship being permitted by our government. Actually, the government is responsible for this censorship. What I am referring to is the ban on books by public schools and libraries. I just read a list of currently banned books and it blew me away! Some of these books were required reading when I was a high school student.
I am not talking about cheap dime-store romance novels here, but classics. I cannot get over the fact that books by authors such as Ernest Hemingway ( A Farewell to Arms) and Truman Capote (In Cold Blood) are banned from these public places.
Here is a partial list according to AARP, of books currently banned in the United States school/library system: (not in all states, but even one is too many for this kind of censorship)
1. Uncle Tom's Cabin (Harriet Beecher)
2. All is Quiet on the Western Front
3. A Farewell to Arms (Hemingway)
4. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
5. Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck)
6. Animal Farm (George Orwell)
7. To Kill a Mocking Bird (Harper Lee)
8. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
9. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Tolkein)
10. James and the Giant Peach (Ronald Dahl)
Can you belive this? I can't One of my favorite books is on this list: To Kill a Mocking Bird. That book was required reading when I was in 8th grade!
In an age where we should be encouraging our youth to read, the censors have taken away most of what is interesting to read. Even Judy Blume has been banned. Most girls I grew up with depended upon Judy's books to get through puberty.
You can certainly tell that Christian zealots have had a hand in creating this list. There are books on it that are listed as irreligious. Books like: The Origin of Species, The Lord of the Rings and The Last Temptation of Christ.
I would honestly like to see these religious zealots keep their noses out of our public school system. If my child is wanting to read something that I don't think he should read, I am the one who should have the power to say so, not the school boards of the U.S..
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The Trii-Zine Ezine
About the Author:
Trina L.C. Sonnenberg
Publisher - The Trii-Zine Ezine - Your Trusted Source for Internet Business and Marketing Information. EST 2001. ISSN# 1555-2276
Author of: My Journey A Lifetime of Verse, ISBN: 978-0-61516405-2
Forever and Always... A True Love Story ISBN: 978-0-567-4311-3
Comments
Interestingly enough, another of the books on the list is Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. I think that is interesting because of the subject matter of that book. Book burning to control original thought. Hmmm...
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