Sunday, September 28, 2008

It's that time of year...

September 27 - October 4 is Banned Books Week.

Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451, said, "You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them." Here's this years list with where and why they were challenged and/or banned.

Check your shelves, head to a library, or purchase an ebook/book of one that intrigues you, then make up your own mind.

That's the beauty of living with the First Amendment

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm glad to say I own several books they tried to ban.

S. Palin was quite keen to ban books when she was mayor of Pisshole, Alaska. I wonder if she even knows what the first amendment is.

Tilly Greene said...

Hiya Nicholas!

Every year I'm surprised by the books that are challenged and the reasons why people don't want them on a shelf.

For goodness sakes, don't pick up the book if you don't want to read it and if you don't want your child to read it, then go with them and monitor their choices for yourself. It isn't the librarian or shopkeepers job to know what a parent does and doesn't want their child to read.

The First Amendment is important and it shouldn't be so easily dismissed. Grrr! This issue really fires up my blood.

Julia Phillips Smith said...

'Freedoms are most in danger when the government seeks to control thought or to justify its laws for that impermissible end.' This is a beautiful quote - I wish my Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper understood it. Unfortunately, he's of the thought-control variety. I'm doing everything in my power to remove him from office.

Tilly Greene said...

Yes, you're right, that is a great quote Julia. Because it's easier to corral the masses into one pen, it is for the people to demand their rights. Go get them :-)