Last week was Banned Books Week, the American Library Association’s tribute to books they get complaints about. Now this observance is essentially bogus. None of the current books they list every year have actually been banned. Complaints are not the same as censorship. Libraries have a certain budget and select what books they want to purchase. The closest thing to censorship would be if librarians refuse to buy, say, conservative books or Christian books because they don’t agree with them and so prevent their patrons from reading them.
Nevertheless, it’s telling to see what books make the “Banned Book” lists, which are sort of a bellwether of the hot button issues from year to year.
Previously, most of the “banned books” raised objections because they contained sex scenes that parents considered unsuitable for children. But this year, five of the ten most “banned” books drew objections because of their religious perspective.
Number 6 on the list is the Bible. Secularists are wanting it to be banned because of its violence, intolerance, and because they think having it in a school or public library violates the separation of church and state.
Of the other titles that draw objections for religious reasons, they aren’t so Christian friendly: one is pro-Islam, one promotes atheism, and the other two deal with LGBT issues and are probably critical of conservative religion. Most of the other titles that raised objections had gay and transgender themes.
But those are the flash points today: LGBT and religion.
From The Banned Book List Hints At What Americans Find Offensive – Newsy Story:
This week is known as Banned Books Week, which was founded to support “the freedom to seek and to express ideas.” It also shows that some ideas face a lot more opposition than others.
Every year, the American Library Association makes a list of the books that receive the most challenges — in other words, the books people want to see pulled from library shelves.
In 2001, nine of the top 10 most challenged books were on the banned book list because opponents said they had offensive language, sexually explicit passages or both.
The only one that didn’t was Harry Potter. The series was challenged over its “religious viewpoint” — the only one of the top 10 to face that objection.
Fast forward to 2015, and five of the top 10 most challenged books faced opposition over their religious viewpoints. Librarians say it seems like people aren’t taking issue with specific passages being inappropriate, but are against diverse themes like gender, sexuality and religion.
[Keep reading. . .]
For a comparative list from year to year see this.
HT: Jackie
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