Last week I happened upon an article that gave a history of banning books and the perils that historically soon follow. These days it is possible to begin reading an article from a news feed without paying a lot of attention to the source of the article. For some people articles might tend to come from one particular side of the political spectrum. For others the range would be wider. I assume that I am in the second category, as I aim to read sources from the left and from the right. Some friends of mine might say that this is a generous self-evaluation.
Anyway, I started reading the banned books article without noting particularly where it came from. If it came from the political left, what do you think it might have said about book banning? If it came from the political right, what might the general content be?
It came from the political right.
The books in question, highlighted and mentioned as terrible, were being banned for the sake of social sensibility and inclusion. You may have heard of this, things like making significant changes to Roald Dahl books or boycotting the work of JK Rowling. It was actually when I saw the examples given that I was more able to discern where the author was generally on the political spectrum.
My question then is, is it possible to see how your particular political company, those with whom you resonate, tend to do the very things that you criticize the other side for doing? Where do I do the very same things that I so easily condemn others for? How might political and religious discourse move forward, if we had the maturity and willingness to admit that we often fail to see among ourselves the very same things we so readily accuse of existing among others?
There was a great commentary on this in a recent New Yorker article, “Might as Well Ban It All.”
Here is an extended excerpt;
Ban TikTok dancing. Ban TikTok in the state of Montana. Ban dancing in the town of Bozeman. Ban Baryshnikov. Ban Dancer. Ban Prancer. Ban Vixen. Ban Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. Ban the most famous reindeer of all. Ban saying “Merry Christmas.” Ban saying “Happy holidays.” Ban the Queen of Christmas (Mariah Carey). Ban the King of Christmas (Jesus).
Ban dancing like nobody’s watching. Ban drag shows. Ban drag queens. Ban books. Ban books about drag queens. Ban abortion at eighteen weeks. Ban it at twelve weeks. Ban it at six weeks. Ban mifepristone. In fact, ban women. Ban abortion by banning women. Ban the men, too, if they’re involved. Ban transgender women. Ban transgender men. Ban being a little fruity. Ban the heterosexuals. Ban being “a bachelor.” Ban “The Bachelor.” Ban not getting a rose. Ban love for not being real.
Ban the President. Ban him just from social media (he can still be President). Ban anyone voting for the other guy. Ban voting. Ban my enemy. Ban my enemy’s enemy. Ban my friend. Ban thy neighbor. Ban Disney World. Ban anyone doing anything I don’t like. Ban me for doing anything you don’t like. Ban being offended. Ban not being offended. Ban the best defense (a good offense—ban that, too).
Wasn’t there an old saying for this? Something about the pot criticizing the kettle?
What would you ban?
I'd ban the word and the banning.
Great article. We human are such interesting creatures, aren't we???