The stories we tell ourselves help us understand ourselves and each other. To take away those stories is to deny the truth of who we are as a society. It’s a damaging philosophy of silencing the voices and denying people the right to speak their truth. But the truth is the truth, whether or not you see it reflected in art—and anyone’s attempt to hide goes against what the forefathers saw as a very necessary piece of a democracy.
Most of us have read a banned or challenged book. Here are a few of the ones I’ve read—
- Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
- To Kill a Mockingbird – by Harper Lee
- 1984 – by George Orwell
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – by J.K. Rowling
- The Hunger Games – by Suzanne Collins
- I know Why the Caged Birds Sing – by Maya Angelou
- Wicked – by Gregory Maguire
- A Clash of Kings – by George R.R. Martin
Think back to the books you’ve read that have been banned. What did you experience when you read them? Did reading them make you a worse citizen? None of these did that to me. What I got out of them was entertainment, explanations to social questions, and warnings about what happens when our freedoms are taken away, as in 1984, and what a book ban can lead to, as in Fahrenheit 451.
I do have to wonder why Adolph Hitler’s Mein Kampf is overlooked by the folks who want to ban books in the name of protecting society. It seems to me that one should be at the top of anyone’s list of books that are bad for society. So, who is making up these lists? People who desire to control your thoughts and what information you can receive, that’s who. And, that’s always bad for society.
The Freedom of Expression and the right to read is protected under the very first amendment of the U.S. Constitution. I’ve written about why our forefathers decided it was the most important part of the foundation of “a government by the people and for the people” in an article I wrote for Chanticleer Book Reviews. You can read it by clicking on the button—
