First, they came for the books on homosexuality

July 28, 2007

Guest Post by Morbo

Everyone has the right to speak to the government. Elected officials should always listen politely — but should reject ideas that offend our constitutional values put forth by silly and not very bright people.

Case in point: In Palm Beach County, Fla., a mom with kids in the public schools wants to remove a bunch of books from school libraries because they deal with topics that offend her. The challenged books deal with topics like homosexuality, atheism and abortion.

For good measure, the woman, Laura Lopez, also explained to the board that the Earth is only 6,000 years old, so all of this evolution nonsense will have to go.

According to the Palm Beach Post, Lopez found the books she wants to ban through a keyword search on library computers at Dreyfoos School of the Arts and Royal Palm Beach High School. (I wonder which Religious Right group put her on to this stunt?) She admitted she has not actually read the books.

The school board gave Lopez 15 minutes to speak. One member tried to explain to her why book banning is a bad idea. As The Post reported:

Board member Monroe Benaim talked about students who struggle with their sexuality or contemplate suicide and might be afraid to talk to someone but could find some solace in a library book.”

Said Benaim, “As a school board member, I’m a school board member to all children whether they are heterosexual or homosexual, pregnant or not pregnant and no matter what they believe religiously.”

But that’s not my favorite part of the story.

This is: Lopez hasn’t even been able to persuade her own kids that her view is correct. Her younger son accompanied her to the meeting and denounced the books as “evil,” but her older soon, she admitted, does not agree with her push to ban books.

Palm Beach County is an affluent area where a lot of people are well educated and hold progressive views. The arts are valued there, and I’m not surprised Lopez’s book-banning crusade failed to take hold. But I don’t imagine you would have to drive too far away to find parts of Florida where it would receive a warmer reception.

That’s a shame. I support the right of people to remain ignorant if they choose, although I think it’s a poor choice. What I will never support is their right to drag others down there with them.

It’s not like one day that some psychotic atheist (and I’m not so blinded to assume there aren’t any) might return the favor by trying to ban the Bible, Koran or Torah.

There’s lot of stuff in the library I don’t like, but I don’t go into library board meetings asking them to ban People Magazine, Self Help Books and Dr. Phil. I just choose not to read them.

  • If this nonsense continues to come up perhaps these school board attorneys should reference Pico vs. Island Trees Board of Education. A US Supreme Court case right on point. I went to Island Trees with Steve Pico and am now a laywer myself. The board banned a series of books from the schools’ libraries based on excerpts distilled from various books and handed out at some nutty conservative convention. The case is about 20 years old now and may have faded from some memory. The Supremes, back when they had some sense, said Nope, the books must go back….

  • We have a lot of silly commemorative days, weeks and months in this country, but one of my favorite acknowledges the silliness with seriousness: Banned Books Week sponsored by the American Library Association. For 25 years, the ALA has encouraged citizens to read books targeted for banning and in the process reminds us of the need to be vigilant in standing up for the free exchange of ideas. From the ALA web site:

    More than a book a day faces expulsion from free and open public access in U.S. schools and libraries every year. There have been more than 8,700 attempts since the American Library Association (ALA) began electronically compiling and publishing information on book challenges in 1990.

    This September, when Banned Books Week rolls around, live dangerously. Check the ALA site for the latest list of dangerous books and be sure to read one.

  • When I was in highschool back in the seventies in a small town in Maine, a devoutly religious Catholic mother demanded that our school board ban – among other books –Flowers for Algernon. I went with other students to the board meeting to provide a dissenting point of view. She was a very fearful woman, and came across, I fear, as not a very bright one. She also was attempting, by writing scary letters to the editor of the local newspaper, to incite parents in a neighboring school district to seek to ban Lord of the Flies. Of her two children then old enough to attend highschool, the daughter was trying to live her life in her mother’s image. The son was rebelling in every conceivable way. The board resolved the matter by allowing this woman to “opt out” her children from the teaching of literature that she found offensive. But, they did not allow her to impose her fears and fanaticism on the rest of us. The folks have been with us a long time and will always be with us.

  • It’s not necessary to ban a book from the library shelves; a book that’s never checked out gets withdrawn, eventually (which is why I make a point of checking some books out once a year, to keep their circulation record “clean”).

    Our (public) library head was under pressure for a while to withdraw some books to do with sex-ed and reproductive system. She refused but moved them to the adult part of the stacks. What really got my goat is that I used to see kids there, sitting on the floor, reading, but not daring to check them out and take them home. So, perhaps, eventually, those books got withdrawn anyway, which is a shame.

  • I’m with Former Dan here. Are there any more dangerous books than the Bible, Koran and Torah?

  • I found this about the Harry Potter books:

    Harry Potter books have consistently been among the most challenged books in schools and libraries for the past several years, according to the American Library Association. The ALA defines a “challenge” to a book as any attempt to “remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group.” Harry Potter books topped the list of most challenged books for four years in a row: 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002. It was the second most challenged book in 2003 and dropped off the list in 2004. The Harry Potter series managed to be the 7th most challenged books for the entire decade of 1990 through 2000.
    Here are some ways groups have tried to censor books:

    * In York, Pennsylvania, Deb DiEugenio tried to get the Eastern York School District to ban the Harry Potter books from its schools. According to DiEugenio, the books were “against my daughter’s constitution, it’s evil, it’s witchcraft. I’m not paying taxes to teach my child witchcraft.” Tony Leanza, a pastor and elementary school teacher who joined DiEugenio, argued that the Harry Potter books promote Wicca, a religion, and that therefore the presence of the books violates the separation of church and state.

    * In July 2002 in Cromwell, Connecticut, parents tried to get the Harry Potter books taken out of their middle school. They claimed the books promoted witchcraft and portrayed Christians badly. Dr. J. Michael Bates, a local pastor, said that even people without children in the schools should join the protest against Harry Potter books.

    * A Florida library stopped giving out certificates for Harry Potter’s wizadry school as part of a promotion of reading because of parental objections. According to one parent, “If they are going to pass out witchcraft certificates they should also promote the Bible and pass out certificates of righteousness.”

    * The Christ Community Church in Alamogordo, New Mexico held a book burning on December 30, 2001. Pastor Jack Brock’s “holy bonfire” burned not just Harry Potter books, but also music, videos, and other objectionable material. Hundred participated in the event.

    Most libraries and schools have instituted “opt-out” policies which allow parents to exclude their children from being exposed to material they object to. This has been an important factor in the decline in the overall number of challenges to material in schools, including challenges to Harry Potter books.

    At the same time, though, it’s also likely that teachers and librarians have engaged in self-censorship. One of the dangers of the protests launched by the Christian Right isn’t so much that the government will step in to enforce their standards, but that people will privately enforce their standards merely to avoid conflicts; as a consequence, everyone loses out on the opportunity to be exposed to ideas merely because one religious group objects for religious reasons.

  • Yes vasey***that is what is so troubling. Here in MO books just keep coming up as “missing” but thanks to improved security measures the problem is diminishing.

    These are the same people(ban Harry Potter people) that make such a fuss about Halloween every year but the opposition is overwhelming so they just get kids to go to “special” church celebrations on that day where they pass out candy.

    The two qualities these people all seem to have in common is that they aren’t particularly bright and have something ‘wrong’ with them which isolates them socially except from others who share these same qualities. One just has to look closely to see it. Just saying…

  • Actually, the older son wouldn’t have attended the school board meeting under penalty of death: he’s an atheist! (I suspect that is why she did what she did – something turned his head away from her faith…it must have been those godless books in the library!) To be precise, she stated “he doesn’t believe…” She must be desperate to save her younger son from the taint of the older one – the one that got away.

    I hope they turn her down flat. Left up to fundamentalists, we’d all be dumb critters.

  • “Dreyfoos School of the Arts and Royal Palm Beach High School” –

    If they listen to this nitwit, they’ll have to rename it the Doofus School of the Arts and Royal Pain-In-The-A** High School, LOL.

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