I’m finally stepping out into the blogosphere. It was only a matter of time before an opinionated chap like me got his own forum from which to spout his is incessant ramblings. All in all I’m glad to be joining the fray. Here you’ll read my thoughts on sports, life, books, movies, TV, Shows, current events, and whatever else tickles my fancy.
Today I thought I’d talk a little bit about censorship. If you read the about section than you know about my vocation. I’m a Pastor and as such I do hold what some might consider “conservative” view points. I think there really are absolutes, I think the choices we make matter, I think we will be held accountable for our actions. But I also believe in the free expression of ideas and free dialog about those ideas. So as I read the news on yahoo.com this morning I was saddened to read that a parent group in Charleston West Virginia is asking the school board to ban the books of novelist Pat Conroy.
Let me just get my bias right out front. I’m a Pat Conroy fan. He’s one of my favorite authors so I won’t pretend that my interest in this story isn’t motivated by that to some degree. But even if the folks out in West Virginia were looking to ban the books of an author I despise I’d still be troubled. (Albeit less interested) In my view limiting access to books or information is bad for a free society period. Parents cited sex and violence in the novels of Mr. Conroy as grounds for not only removing them from an honors class curriculum but removing them from the shelves of School district libraries as well. While I agree that Conroy’s books might not be appropriate for all ages, or even for all students, but rather than banning books why not talk with our kids about how we decide to what to read? What if we had a dialogue about how Mr. Conroy see’s the world? Is the world as violent as his novel portrays? (I’d argue that it is) What is Mr. Conroy saying about, sex, or women, or love? And while I don’t agree with Mr. Conroy might say on those subjects, his novels I think do accurately portray the world as it is.
Would I write scenes such as those found in Beach Music, or Prince of Tides? Probably not, But I think they fit in those stories, for those characters, and I think they give us an opportunity to examine our own world view. Here’s the bottom line: I think literature when it’s good anyhow, can show us a glimpse of things as they are. We can then evaluate if that’s how things “should be.” In the end It’s up to parents to help their kids decide what’s healthy for them to read or not. And at 17 most kids are ready to make that call. Banning books is the resort of lazy parents and power hungry administrators. Oh and there’s a little thing called the first amendment too. *Story about Conroy and the West Virginia school district was published by the AP
