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Banning Books Is Short-Sighted, Unkind, and Unfortunate on Many Levels
Banning books and other arts does harm to us all.
Why did I only just learn about Banned Books Week?
That doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I would like to share some thoughts I have on this topic.
Both as a writer and reader, I am totally against banning books. Censorship of this nature is specifically targeted in the name of “protecting” children or some such — but that’s never the truth of it.
Most of the banned books — past and present — represent something that makes someone in power uncomfortable. Be it race, gender, religion, sexual preference, class, or what-have-you — banning books is all about someone in power lashing out at someone or something making them uncomfortable.
Banning books doesn’t make the topic they cover- nor those they represent — go away. Instead, they narrow viewpoints and create unnecessary conflict and disparity.
This can lead to intolerance, unkindness, a lack of compassion, hatred, and at the word violence and death.
Why? All because somebody felt their power being threatened — so banning a book allowed them to react in some way.
