I don't like banning things--unless it is something like passing a law such as the texting while driving ban. That seems sensible and necessary. Most often in my experience, however, when I think of banning eforts it regards censorship of art or books. I remember when I was in college and we were reading "The Last Temptation of Christ" by Nikos Kazantzakas. This was around the same time that the Willem Dafoe movie was being banned by the Catholic Church. But I don't know if the work ever ended up denting the people that would have gone to see the movie in the first place. It seems that doing so doesn't truly stem the desire to do the thing being banned. Rather, it makes the thing being banned more desirable.
In recent years, I have heard about Banned Books Week (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm), where authors who have had their books banned by (most often conservative) protestors who find the book's content objectionable.
Because I follow a few authors via Twitter and YouTube, I've heard the arguments of banning from the point of view of those being banned. So, I suppose my opinion is one-sided. But . . . I'm not in favor of banning things. I do monitor the things that my children watch, because I feel that is my responsibility as a parent to them. But eventually they will grow up enough to make those content decisions for themselves. And in the meantime, I'm not in the business of telling other kids what they should or should not do. As a result, I don't work to ban books.
To hear an author's position on book banning--as well as the opinion of the official Nerdfighter wizard, read this blog post by YA author (and Nerdfighter) Maureen Johnson. She wrote this and posted the YouTube video a few years ago when participating in the Brotherhood 2.0 project with John and Hank Green. While the video might be a bit dated, the mysterious views of this Central Park wizard is more entertaining than anything I could write right now.
So, there is my answer.
Thanks for asking.
In recent years, I have heard about Banned Books Week (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm), where authors who have had their books banned by (most often conservative) protestors who find the book's content objectionable.
Because I follow a few authors via Twitter and YouTube, I've heard the arguments of banning from the point of view of those being banned. So, I suppose my opinion is one-sided. But . . . I'm not in favor of banning things. I do monitor the things that my children watch, because I feel that is my responsibility as a parent to them. But eventually they will grow up enough to make those content decisions for themselves. And in the meantime, I'm not in the business of telling other kids what they should or should not do. As a result, I don't work to ban books.
To hear an author's position on book banning--as well as the opinion of the official Nerdfighter wizard, read this blog post by YA author (and Nerdfighter) Maureen Johnson. She wrote this and posted the YouTube video a few years ago when participating in the Brotherhood 2.0 project with John and Hank Green. While the video might be a bit dated, the mysterious views of this Central Park wizard is more entertaining than anything I could write right now.
So, there is my answer.
Thanks for asking.
2 comments:
WHATEVER! You banned solid foods from your diet for 2 weeks--just 50weeks shy of your insane goal of eating soup, and only soup, for one year.
Just sayin'.
So, wait... You're banning bans?
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