Banned Books

I think banning of books is a crime against humanity.

Someone worked very hard to write that book and/or create illustrations for it. Then there is the person who lays out the book to be printed. The plates for the printing press have to be created (and these things aren't cheap people), the book has to be printed, bound, and then shipped.

Book making is a very costly process. To produce let's say 1,000 copies of a children's book that may be 8 pages, it could cost around $20,000 depending on the materials used. Paper quality, press time, bindery time, plate materials, proofs, etc.

Then there is the loss of information since that's what books are. Information. Say a preacher down south banned Harry Potter due to its 'satanic' influences. All those books got shelved/locked up and kids miss out on the underlying message of good vs. evil and friendship written in those books since a few people couldn't look past the witchcraft element of the books.

It is not only a violation of 'Freedom of Speech' but also 'Freedom of the Press.'

 

there's a poster that i've seen in every middle school/ high school that has 100 banned books on it, and states reasons.

one was "the diary of anne frank". it was banned for social reasons.

 

That's screwed up. It's a good book.

But, yeah. It seems that the fundies will have more reason to ban Harry Potter... J.K. Rowling revealed that Dumbledore was gay. She did that to teach kids tolerance, which is very good.

 

What do I think of banned books? I really don't see the point because people still read them. Example A:

I was put into Honors English 9 and we had to read three books over the summer. Well one of the books was The Chocolate War. I read it and I really liked it. Well one month into the school year and then my mother shows me that its on a banned book list. I showed the teacher and she said she had no idea. So her honors classes read banned books...

So I don't think its really stopping anyone....

 

My thoughts exactly.

In the state of Washington, we don't ban books, and we have a thing called banned books week where they encourage students to actually read the banned books. I've read all of em.

It really annoys me how they ban things like Harry Potter and Captain Underpants. I mean, for god's sake, if you don't like it, don't read it.
You'd think slapping ratings on everything would be enough.

And another thing that makes me immensly proud - Death Note is banned in China >:3 And I read that with pride and obsession.​

 

I don't believe books should be banned as it is part of the Amendments to have freedom of speech, beliefs, etc. Ratings help for people to know whether they would prefer to read it or not, and other states might have their own laws that we can't change, no matter how unfair it may be, but America is supposed to be the country of freedom.

Although some books, such as the one on how to create bombs and such, might be well off banned or better yet, destroyed completely, as it can show people the best way to murder others, and thus, become a criminal. Not everyone is wanting to be a criminal I know - some might just want to know cause' it's intriguing, or something. But I suppose America does not want to take that chance, and well, if if banning it creates the opportunity for at least just a tiny bet fewer criminals/terrorists, then sure, by all means, ban those, make it harder for people to get through to find and obtain knowledge from them.

However, for the other banned books that won't create any chance of felonious activity, those should be made available to the public, with a warning/rating of some kind. As others say, people manage to get through the banned system and read them anyway, so what's the point? And as long as it doesn't influence you to do anything wrong, there's nothing wrong with these sort of banned books.

 

The problem is knowledge on its own is not good or bad, it's just there. It's what people do with it that is the problem. Destroying knowledge just because some people have, in the past, done bad things with it is wrong =/ You should destroy all books on military strategy as well, people kill people with that too.

 

That's true...although I suppose America or someone thinks that the books about creatings bombs, etc. is more dangerous than military strategy, if they are striving to ban it. Although that may not be the reason, that's just an assumption....I could be wrong, and they could just want to ban it for an entirely different reason. However, I suppose that if it's banned, people really shouldn't try to get through the system to read it. There isn't any point to reading those kinds of books, and the government must want it banned for a purpose. What that is, I can't quite fathom, but I just believe that the governmet must have a good enough reason for that.

Of course, that sentence does kind of contradict my other statement, of how I believed other sort of books are alright to read despite being banned. The government must have a reason to ban those as well, but I suppose I believe their knowledge aren't as potential towards something as precarious the one the other books can bring.

 

Banned books are ridiculous. In all honesty, if a book is banned, I just want to read it more. Becuase usually banned books have interesting stuff in them that I would enjoy reading. I do not think any books should be banned. If what the book has in it bothers you, than don't read it, but don't force your views upon other people who may have thought it was good but didn't end up reading it becuase of some stupid reason.
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