Banned Books Week

I was reading with some interest the list of books that have been most likely to be banned. Harry Potter topped the list and the rest of the list included some pretty similar pop-cultural icons - hardly the sort of insidious cultural damage that I was expecting. Apparently, the types of books most people try to ban these days shows a clear lack of imagination on the part of the banning public. There are some truly horrid books out there that nobody is reading, much less banning. Our banning public needs to get out and read more.

I've read Harry Potter. It contains elements of witchcraft and dark magic. These things are warned about in the Bible as being bad. Apparently, the worry is that children reading these books, and being exposed to their teachings and glorifications of this lifestyle, would then become witches and warlocks as well - thus completely subverting Christianity and bringing about the end times (which are coming, no matter what, when we least expect it).

I'm currently reading a book from Oprah's book club called, "Say You're One Of Them" It is a collection of short stories by an African writer that, while fictional, are based on real-life horrors in Africa. The story I'm currently reading is about an uncle who agrees to sell his niece and nephew into the international sex trade in exchange for a new motorcycle. Hah, Magic and Witchcraft! Take that! I'll see your occult and raise you pedophilia and slavery! Can you imagine the outcry parents would have if their kids were asked to read this book in school? And yet, nobody is trying to ban this book.

I think it's clear that the people who wish to ban books are clearly not the best read people out there. If instead of fighting their ire by seriously considering their ill-formed requests, we simply agreed and replaced the Harry Potter books of the world with the Say You're One Of Them books of the world, I'm guessing that the banning public would demand Harry Potter back on the shelves and this nonsense would be over.

So next time you hear a parent ranting and raving about a particular book with bad words, inappropriate scenes, or some other mularkey, agree with them and suggest that the bookstore/library replace the offending book with a copy of Mein Kampf or some other such work. Quite frankly, it's about time we raised the literary level of our banned books.