Banning Bible from school libraries subject of Capitol Hill hearing
"How do we write and change this law to where books where a women naked over a man with a gun to his head is allowed in the libraries of your junior high, and the bible is not," asked Rep. Kera Birkeland.
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Can they, though? Sure, maybe most people can tell the difference, but misunderstanding of religious texts is a pretty common source of terrorism and terrorist acts. I think the thing they're overlooking is that it's easy for someone to read these books, take them literally, and come away with a very misguided sense of religious purpose. This is one of the reasons churches exist: to help people understand the foundational texts of their religions. Unfortunately, churches have also been used to foster arguably extremist viewpoints! Still, I don't think a teacher or librarian should be helping a student understand his/her/their religion. That's what parents, religious leaders, and Sunday school are for.
We've known for a long time that banning books is a slippery slope. For sure, certain books are (in)appropriate for certain ages. That's where librarians and school boards can play a part. Right now, they're talking about banning what they've defined as "offensive" and "pornographic." What about something like Das Kapital? That could easily be argued as anti-American - probably enough reason for many local school boards to ban it as "offensive" or "subversive". I would argue it points out potential pitfalls of capitalism that should be analyzed and discussed. Once a line is drawn, you can count on politicians and/or vocal minorities to move it at their whim.