wordcrush

Ever vigilant against the spread of knowledge, fighters for the cause of freedom across the world have struggled to ban the likes of Dr. Seuss and Shel Silversein. I know for sure that reading Silverstein when I was a child turned me into a life-hating satanist, and that just glancing at a copy of James and the Giant Peach on a library shelf one day instantly transformed me into a drug-injecting antiauthoritarian with bad morals. If only my tender young eyes had been barred from seeing these things, I might not be the book loving adult I am today. If only.

Here's a link to the banned and challenged books library, sponsored by Amazon.com, which offers an illuminating look into the rationale of stupidity. Don't call me an oxymoron, ya filthy reader. Among the more astounding and telling quotes is the 1987 argument of a Plymouth-Canton parent that D.T. Suzuki's Zen Buddhism: Selected Writings should be banned because it "details the teachings of the religion of Buddhism in such a way that the reader could very likely embrace its teachings and choose this as his religion." If you need me, I'll be in my panic room.

# posted by Lintropy @ 1:47 PM