Trying to Keep Our Freedoms

I had the strangest conversation with a group of people at the library the other day. It wasn't a planned meeting, yet it became a forum. This is Banned Books Week. Oh, I'd heard about it on the radio, but the librarians had set up a table of books that people, the government, or special interest groups had tried to ban.

I love my country, but it isn't free. Not really. Bigotry still exists. Religious freedom gets attacked every day. I don't even want to go into the issues of domestic air travel or a woman's right to choose.  Still, why do other people want to restrict the books I read? I'm an adult. My library exerts a huge effort to let me choose whether or not a book is appropriate for me. I don't think that any groups, religious or not, should determine what our librarians are allowed to put onto the shelves.

Pornography? Now, that's a tough question. Will it damage a child? Can that right be protected for some others without grossing me out whenever I walk through the library? I don't mind the boards over certain offensive magazine covers at the grocery store. But these books on the table were not pornography. That's usually what I had assumed when I'd thought of banning books.

As I stood in front of those banned books, I started to get angry. It held an array of wonderful books including the Koran, a book about Buddhism, and the Bible. It held best-sellers like 'Harry Potter' and 'Twilight' alongside high school classics like 'The Catcher in the Rye' and 'Animal Farm.'

I muttered something like, "The Bible, the Koran? You've got to be kidding!"

Other people were standing there next to me. An older woman picked up a book by F. Scott Fitzgerald and said, "I had to read this in high school. It's a classic."
One by one, we looked at the books and discussed them. A teenager joined in, animated, when we got to 'Twilight.'

"I didn't like the movies, but the books were okay. The way I figure it, if you don't approve of reading about vampires, then don't. Just don't assume you get to decide what my religious beliefs are."

You go girl, I thought. We all stood there looking. Another woman said, "It looks like a list of must-read books." The librarian walked over and joined us.

"If you check out a banned book and carry it around reading it, it will send a strong message." Then she offered us a list of websites where we could read about banned books and post our opinions.  I knew that when I got home, I'd look at these sites: The American Library Association, The American Civil Liberties Union, and the First Amendment Center.

Another table the librarians had set up showed some so-called reasons why groups had tried to ban particular books. The Bible was deemed inappropriate for children because it contained passages depicting murder and incest and thus should be reomoved from the library. A ban on a book about Buddhism was supported with "If you read this book, you might become a Buddhist." So what's wrong with showing the beauty of your beliefs? Those people knocking on my door with religious pamphlets on Christmas morning weren't breaking the law. They were just annoying. Oh, I wish I could remember the reasons for the other books.  It was fascinating.

So I've decided to to do my part by reading the Koran. I've never read it before, but I'll bet I'll love much of it. I'll bet I find more similarities than differences in the morals encouraged in my own Bible. I wonder if I'll find contradictions in it or the parts that have not kept up with modern life.  I'm curious. 

I'll read the Koran here in Tully's. I'll bring it to school when I join my Reading Buddy. I'll bring it to choir practice and end up telling someone in church something I learned from it. I imagine I'll carry some secret message from it in my heart wherever I go. That's what I'll do during Banned Books Week. What will you do?

Thank you for listening, jb