Censorship Challenge: Texas Pastor Seeks Restrictions On `Dangerous' Library Books
Rob Boston printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Mon Aug 25, 2014 at 03:32:20 PM EST

Back in the 1990s, some Religious Right activists in Virginia got the bright idea to begin attacking America's public libraries. The idea was to demonize public libraries in the same way that public schools have been successfully demonized by fundamentalists in some parts of the country.

The effort, dubbed "Family Friendly Libraries," fell flat. Americans simply weren't interested in allowing a bunch of far-right Christian fundamentalists to determine what books they or their children could read.

That doesn't mean the effort is dead. Public libraries remain in the Religious Right's crosshairs, as a recent story from Cleveland, Texas, proves.

KTRK-TV in Houston reports that Pastor Phillip Missick of King of Saints Tabernacle, is complaining about several books in the Austin Memorial Library. Not surprisingly, the tomes Missick has targeted deal with supernatural themes.

Apparently, the vampire craze that populates much young-adult fiction is still going strong. This bothers Missick. He is especially disturbed by the Twilight series and similar books titled Blood Promise and Vampire Knight.

Missick is coming to this a little late. The Twilight books are nine years old. (Ironically, the woman who authored them is a Mormon, and many people believe the underlying message of the series is conservative.) But he has decided to jump right in.  

"This is dark," Missick said. "There's a sexual element. You have creatures that aren't human. I think it's dangerous for our kids."

Sorry, pastor, but I think ignorance is more dangerous for our kids. I'll admit I haven't read any of these books - but I don't have to in order to defend them on the general grounds that religious zealots shouldn't have the right to determine what other people read.

I don't doubt that some of these books aren't appropriate for younger readers. That's why I'm all for parents exercising sensible control over their own children. In fact, I think that's the perfect solution: Go to the library with your kids. Steer them toward the books you believe are appropriate and away from those you don't think are right for them.

Also, keep the lines of communication open. Introduce your children to the books you enjoyed when you were a kid. Keep doing that as they get older. Talk with them about what they're reading.

What I'm not for - what I am adamantly against, in fact - is someone else, especially a narrow-minded fundamentalist, making that decision for me or my children. And I'll never accept someone's interpretation of dogma becoming the yardstick for an entire community's literary access.

This is an old story. Back in the day, religious zealots attacked L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. They've blasted classics such as John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, J.D. Salingers's The Catcher in the Rye and (ironically) Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.

More recently, they've assailed the Harry Potter series, Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" books, Lois Lowry's The Giver several Judy Blume tomes and countless others.  

Every time, it's the same tired argument: Young people need to be "protected" from themes such as "the occult," human sexuality, modern science and so on. I think it's pretty obvious what the Religious Right is up to here: They want to "protect" children from critical thinking, self-reflection and the type of curiosity about our world that an immersion into literature can give us.

People who read are often people who ask questions. They are people who think. They are people who ask for evidence instead of just accepting claims on faith. They are people who are less likely to swallow the rigid dogma and simplistic politics peddled by extremists.

I think you can see why that's such a big threat to the Religious Right.

P.S. The American Library Association's "Banned Books Week" takes place Sept. 21-27. A fun way to mark this occasion (and annoy the Religious Right) is to read a banned book. If you want to get a head start, you might find this list handy.

 

 




Display:
I must say if I could be on any list and be proud of it is their's. Interesting to see Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" which shows a possible out come of these Dominionists if they succeed in their long term overlapping endeavor to change the USA. The movie of the same name in 1990. Worth a watch. The novel started me on my research to see just how likely such a thing could happen here. The more time that passes since 1986, the closer it seems to become.

To them only their ideas must exist, any other would weaken and contaminate their word, and cause. They aren't the only ones to think that way, but they are definitely indefatigable in promoting it here and elsewhere in the world.

Semper virgilus

by Nightgaunt on Sun Sep 07, 2014 at 10:19:36 PM EST



WWW Talk To Action


Cognitive Dissonance & Dominionism Denial
There is new research on why people are averse to hearing or learning about the views of ideological opponents. Based on evaluation of five......
By Frederick Clarkson (374 comments)
Will the Air Force Do Anything To Rein In Its Dynamic Duo of Gay-Bashing, Misogynistic Bloggers?
"I always get nervous when I see female pastors/chaplains. Here is why everyone should as well: "First, women are not called to be pastors,......
By Chris Rodda (195 comments)
The Legacy of Big Oil
The media is ablaze with the upcoming publication of David Grann's book, Killers of the Flower Moon. The shocking non fiction account of the......
By wilkyjr (110 comments)
Gimme That Old Time Dominionism Denial
Over the years, I have written a great deal here and in other venues about the explicitly theocratic movement called dominionism -- which has......
By Frederick Clarkson (101 comments)
History Advisor to Members of Congress Completely Twists Jefferson's Words to Support Muslim Ban
Pseudo-historian David Barton, best known for his misquoting of our country's founders to promote the notion that America was founded as a Christian nation,......
By Chris Rodda (113 comments)
"Christian Fighter Pilot" Calls First Lesbian Air Force Academy Commandant a Liar
In a new post on his "Christian Fighter Pilot" blog titled "BGen Kristin Goodwin and the USAFA Honor Code," Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan......
By Chris Rodda (144 comments)
Catholic Right Leader Unapologetic about Call for 'Death to Liberal Professors' -- UPDATED
Today, Donald Trump appointed C-FAM Executive Vice President Lisa Correnti to the US Delegation To UN Commission On Status Of Women. (C-FAM is a......
By Frederick Clarkson (126 comments)
Controlling Information
     Yesterday I listened to Russ Limbaugh.  Rush advised listeners it would be best that they not listen to CNN,MSNBC, ABC, CBS and......
By wilkyjr (118 comments)
Is Bannon Fifth-Columning the Pope?
In December 2016 I wrote about how White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who likes to flash his Catholic credentials when it comes to......
By Frank Cocozzelli (250 comments)
Ross Douthat's Hackery on the Seemingly Incongruous Alliance of Bannon & Burke
Conservative Catholic writer Ross Douthat has dissembled again. This time, in a February 15, 2017 New York Times op-ed titled The Trump Era's Catholic......
By Frank Cocozzelli (64 comments)
`So-Called Patriots' Attack The Rule Of Law
Every so often, right-wing commentator Pat Buchanan lurches out of the far-right fever swamp where he has resided for the past 50 years to......
By Rob Boston (161 comments)
Bad Faith from Focus on the Family
Here is one from the archives, Feb 12, 2011, that serves as a reminder of how deeply disingenuous people can be. Appeals to seek......
By Frederick Clarkson (176 comments)
The Legacy of George Wallace
"One need not accept any of those views to agree that they had appealed to real concerns of real people, not to mindless, unreasoning......
By wilkyjr (70 comments)
Betsy DeVos's Mudsill View of Public Education
My Talk to Action colleague Rachel Tabachnick has been doing yeoman's work in explaining Betsy DeVos's long-term strategy for decimating universal public education. If......
By Frank Cocozzelli (80 comments)
Prince and DeVos Families at Intersection of Radical Free Market Privatizers and Religious Right
This post from 2011 surfaces important information about President-Elect Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. -- FC Erik Prince, Brother of Betsy......
By Rachel Tabachnick (218 comments)

Respect for Others? or Political Correctness?
The term "political correctness" as used by Conservatives and Republicans has often puzzled me: what exactly do they mean by it? After reading Chip Berlin's piece here-- http://www.talk2action.org/story/2016/7/21/04356/9417 I thought about what he explained......
MTOLincoln (253 comments)
Fear
What I'm feeling now is fear.  I swear that it seems my nightmares are coming true with this new "president".  I'm also frustrated because so many people are not connecting all the dots! I've......
ArchaeoBob (107 comments)
"America - love it or LEAVE!"
I've been hearing that and similar sentiments fairly frequently in the last few days - far FAR more often than ever before.  Hearing about "consequences for burning the flag (actions) from Trump is chilling!......
ArchaeoBob (211 comments)
"Faked!" Meme
Keep your eyes and ears open for a possible move to try to discredit the people openly opposing Trump and the bigots, especially people who have experienced terrorism from the "Right"  (Christian Terrorism is......
ArchaeoBob (165 comments)
More aggressive proselytizing
My wife told me today of an experience she had this last week, where she was proselytized by a McDonald's employee while in the store. ......
ArchaeoBob (163 comments)
See if you recognize names on this list
This comes from the local newspaper, which was conservative before and took a hard right turn after it was sold. Hint: Sarah Palin's name is on it!  (It's also connected to Trump.) ......
ArchaeoBob (169 comments)
Unions: A Labor Day Discussion
This is a revision of an article which I posted on my personal board and also on Dailykos. I had an interesting discussion on a discussion board concerning Unions. I tried to piece it......
Xulon (156 comments)
Extremely obnoxious protesters at WitchsFest NYC: connected to NAR?
In July of this year, some extremely loud, obnoxious Christian-identified protesters showed up at WitchsFest, an annual Pagan street fair here in NYC.  Here's an account of the protest by Pagan writer Heather Greene......
Diane Vera (130 comments)
Capitalism and the Attack on the Imago Dei
I joined this site today, having been linked here by Crooksandliars' Blog Roundup. I thought I'd put up something I put up previously on my Wordpress blog and also at the DailyKos. As will......
Xulon (329 comments)
History of attitudes towards poverty and the churches.
Jesus is said to have stated that "The Poor will always be with you" and some Christians have used that to refuse to try to help the poor, because "they will always be with......
ArchaeoBob (148 comments)
Alternate economy medical treatment
Dogemperor wrote several times about the alternate economy structure that dominionists have built.  Well, it's actually made the news.  Pretty good article, although it doesn't get into how bad people could be (have been)......
ArchaeoBob (90 comments)
Evidence violence is more common than believed
Think I've been making things up about experiencing Christian Terrorism or exaggerating, or that it was an isolated incident?  I suggest you read this article (linked below in body), which is about our great......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)

More Diaries...




All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments, posts, stories, and all other content are owned by the authors. Everything else © 2005 Talk to Action, LLC.