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Post by sarahawesome on Mar 3, 2010 22:03:18 GMT -5
Six of the top ten books on the Modern Library List of 100 Best Novels have been removed or threatened with removal from stores, libraries or schools. Some of these books that have been removed or threatened include famous titles such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Looking for Alaska by John Green and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou for reasons such as racial slurs, sexual content and profanity.
What are your thoughts on this? Should books be censored or is it a violation of our (for those of you in America) First Amendment right?
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Nakor
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Non-Prophet
Posts: 991
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Post by Nakor on Mar 3, 2010 22:37:07 GMT -5
Complete censorship of books should be avoided at all costs. The only things I can think of that would warrant it would be books with knowledge that would directly threaten the country or its people. For example, I could see the government wanting to get its hands on any books giving away military plans!
What I can understand is wanting to keep books that are inappropriate for minors out of the hands of minors. Even that has gone overboard from time to time though. For example, a dictionary that was banned from schools in one area because of some of the sexual terms it defined.
In short, if a book is erotica or otherwise unfit for minors, I can see it being removed from schools (not the dictionary though... sheesh), but outright banning a book from everyone seems to me to be totally unacceptable except perhaps under the most extreme circumstances.
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Post by swan on Mar 3, 2010 22:38:47 GMT -5
No way should books be censored. I can understand why some people may not want certain books taught in school but to remove them completely is ridiculous.
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Post by nickgreyden on Mar 4, 2010 1:21:27 GMT -5
Fahrenheit 451
'nuff said
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Post by americanarchon on Mar 4, 2010 6:33:45 GMT -5
I agree with Nakor, attempts should be made to keep erotica and exceedingly violent books out of minors' hands.
Beyond that, though, any sort of censorship threatens freedom of the press, and is thusly unwarranted. Free-thinking, mentally competent adults can make their own decisions regarding what they should read. And if a school wants to use a book for a class that is not X-rated or "too-scary-for-theaters" gory, then I can see no good argument against teaching it if it's a classic, like Huckleberry Finn or The Color Purple.
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nova
Meteorite
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Post by nova on Mar 4, 2010 14:58:01 GMT -5
Nick is extremely correct with what he just said. I agree with Nakor, attempts should be made to keep erotica and exceedingly violent books out of minors' hands. Naturally, being very careful about how you do so. Keeping smut out of kindergarten libraries? Makes sense. Censoring teh intarnet? Noooo. On an unrelated note, this is the internet, which is all about no censorship. I doubt anyone in the pogotribe will agree with censorship.  |
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bleabot
Moon
Set phazors to dance, Mr. Warf.
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Post by bleabot on Mar 4, 2010 16:44:32 GMT -5
I've yet to read a book that is racist or profane without reasonable cause. To Kill a Mockingbird and Huckleberry Finn don't have racist bits because the authors were trying to tell people to be racist. They all have a purpose. Censoring them is pointless.
...then again, things that are censored tend to be looked at more often. If telling kids that they can't have Huckeberry Finn in school makes them think "wait a minute...why can't I read this?", they may actually go out and read it. In that case, I'm all for censoring it =P
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Post by MattGilb3rt on Mar 4, 2010 16:53:53 GMT -5
The Bible itself was censored, there are missing books that where once in the Bible hundereds of years ago.  So there will always be censorship, but I think there shouldnt be. but if there is then ok, but if you want to know then the information should be avalible so you can find this missing information out |
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Nakor
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Non-Prophet
Posts: 991
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Post by Nakor on Mar 4, 2010 18:55:24 GMT -5
If telling kids that they can't have Huckeberry Finn in school makes them think "wait a minute...why can't I read this?", they may actually go out and read it. In that case, I'm all for censoring it =P Hah, reverse psychology eh? It might just work lol. As someone above mentioned, having a discussion about censorship on the Internet will generally score the same result each time; very few Internet denizens are in favour of censorship beyond perhaps the child-friendly variety. |
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Post by americanarchon on Mar 4, 2010 20:05:37 GMT -5
I was refering to books, but, true, Internet censorship is undesirable and most likely impractical
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Nakor
Star
Non-Prophet
Posts: 991
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Post by Nakor on Mar 4, 2010 23:13:44 GMT -5
Oh I understand. I wasn't referring to the Internet being just anti-Internet-censorship, but rather that people on the Internet hate censorship in general -- be it censorship of the Internet, books, TV, games (another biggie on the web) or otherwise.
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grover
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whatever.
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Post by grover on Mar 4, 2010 23:20:06 GMT -5
More specfically, the author's note at the end of farenheit 451 'nuff said. |
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Post by Steven on Mar 4, 2010 23:24:43 GMT -5
Free-thinking, mentally competent adults can make their own decisions What do you think the point of censorship is?  |
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grover
Moon
whatever.
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Post by grover on Mar 4, 2010 23:32:45 GMT -5
Free-thinking, mentally competent adults can make their own decisions What do you think the point of censorship is? I wouldn't go that far. do you really those kind of agendas are that openly out there? |
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Post by nickgreyden on Mar 5, 2010 2:24:05 GMT -5
groverHad to pop out my old book that is looking quite shabby at all the reading time it has gotten to read the Coda again. You are right, he lays it all out there doesn't he :-)
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Philosoraptor
Moon
dangling prepositions is something up with which I shall not put
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Post by Philosoraptor on Mar 5, 2010 6:38:37 GMT -5
Information should never, ever, ever be censored. Emphasis on never, ever, ever.
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Post by zAkAtAk on Mar 5, 2010 9:36:13 GMT -5
I pretty much agree with everyone, and everything I wanted to say everyone else has already stated. Because a literary work has profane racist, sexual, explicit content does not mean it is a harm to the public. If we're not going to allow this in books, why should we even allow it in normal conversation. You can't just censor one medium and not the other.
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Post by uselessTies on Mar 5, 2010 16:38:27 GMT -5
"A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it." Love that book. But yeah, I basically agree that censorship of books is bad. |
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Post by Dimstow on Mar 11, 2010 8:30:02 GMT -5
In terms of reasonable censorship, any school that I've ever attended or been even seen has it's own personal library, and to censor that makes since, even some classics in the hands of those who aren't yet educated can lead to some disastrous choices.
But No public library in the U.S. should be allowed to censor their book choices, people have a right to read what the want and not have those works censored. Literature is not only one of the oldest but one of the truest forms of art, of philosophic expression and to censor that completely is a real crime.
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tj1673
Meteorite
Lightning (Final Fantasy XIII)
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Post by tj1673 on Mar 16, 2010 13:40:09 GMT -5
Books really shouldn't be censored at all. People will read what they want whether it's legal or not. It's like trying to get people to stop downloading stuff from the internet. Now that it is so easy, it will never stop. People have the right to read whatever they want. And as for in school censorship, sure it's helpful and all, but why, if the books need censored, does the school order them in the first place? And I agree with zAkAtAk in that if they want to censor books because of the racial slurs, sexual references, and explicit content, why is it allowed in everyday conversation? And also, isn't art supposed to be a free form of expressionism? (I have no idea if that's a word, but it sounds good.) Literature has been around way longer than any of these new censor laws, and people back then obviously found the books and literature to be a great part of society! Why are we trying to tear that from the society that has been building since then?
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