Comments
by Java Mann
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Weedley-Weedley-Wee
"There is no such thing as a dirty word. Nor is there a word so
powerful that it’s going to send the listener to the lake of fire upon
hearing it." Frank Zappa |
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That statement was made in the late 80’s when a group of politicians wives
took it upon themselves to protect the youth of America by insisting that
record companies place warning labels and ratings stickers on every piece
of recorded music sold. They failed. What they were preaching then was
censorship, the idea that an individual or group of individuals knows what
is good, bad or ugly, and that the American people are stupid and need
to be protected.
I’m not prepared to argue that Americans are not stupid. Sadly there’s
new evidence to prove this popping up daily. Today I choose to argue against
censorship. Just recently, two attempts at censorship were defeated
in Texas, one in Santa Fe, the other in Wichita Falls. In Satan Fe, three
conservative school board members sought to change the school districts
policy on literature, eliminating books that contain "vulgarity, profanity,
references to homosexuality or other deviant behavior".
I choose to make two points concerning the Santa Fe situation:
1. This is the community that requires students to acquire
parental approval before borrowing Harry Potter books from the public school
libraries, because (as we all know) Harry Potter books deal with the occult,
and may encourage children to start practicing magic in an uncontrolled
environment.
2. If their guidelines were strictly adhered to, the Bible would be
on the banned book list.
"Information doesn’t kill you." Frank Zappa
The Wichita Falls case was more specific, mentioning the now infamous
Heather
Has Two Mommies and Daddy’s Roommate,
which
share the distinction of being the most challenged books of the 1990s.
Both deal with homosexuality in the manner most children will encounter
it first, through their own parents or the parents of friends.
Dr. Robert Jeffress, the pastor of the First Baptist Church campaigned
against the books from the pulpit of the city’s largest congregation, demanding
they be deported from the city libraries. To appease Jeffress and his followers,
the city council agreed to a compromise that required the libraries to
remove any book from the children’s room, if petitioned by 300 library
cardholders. The ACLU, prompted by concerned parents, contested this compromise
in court and won.
"If you want to get laid, go to college, but if you want an education,
go to the library." Frank Zappa
I’m an advocate of the written word, and though I’ll admit there are
things I have written that I would consider inappropriate for a younger
person to read, I do not think it is my place, or the place of the government
or any other collective body to prevent a child or anyone else from reading
it. Information will not hurt you, but ignorance just might.
Libraries exist to serve their communities, to make information and
literature, and many other services, available to the public for a limited
fee or for free. If you find something offensive, please consider that
you are only one individual. That which you find offensive may be useful
or educational to someone else. It is available to you and everyone else.
No one is forcing you to read it.
I’ll concede that there might actually be concerned parents out there
who are afraid that their children might be exposed to ideas, concepts
or words that might confuse or offend them. To them I offer the following
advice: Stop asking the Librarian, School Board, City Hall or Federal Government
to raise your kids for you.
"Weedley-Weedley-Wee" Frank Zappa
JM
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