This is a great post. I think people are figuring out the difference between spirituality and religion, realizing that you don’t have to throw the baby out with the bathwater. And of course the most certain way to have anyone all over something is to make it “taboo”.

I know they are banning books to protect their children from harmful influence, but I sure do think they’re protecting them from the wrong things.

I’ve always felt that any belief worth having is one that will stand up to thoughtful, considered scrutiny. Unfortunately, a great many people look upon the reasons that led them to believe or disbelieve something as being reasons that will convince others in exactly the same way. I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve been in an argument with someone who kept repeating the same thing over and over again, as if I only disagreed with them because I didn’t understand their reasons. People get all kinds of angry and uncomfortable when there’s a difference of opinion; personally, I think life would be terribly boring if everyone agreed with me on everything.

Then again, there’s also people who simply refuse to read anything that runs counter to their beliefs, and they don’t want anyone else to read those things, either. I’m sorry, but if your beliefs are such delicate, fragile snowflakes that reading anything whatsoever to the contrary is a dire threat to their existence, then perhaps you aren’t as invested in those beliefs as you want to convince yourself you are.

For example, I’m an atheist, but I’ve also spent a lot of time reading books on various religions along with their holy books. The knowledge I gained about those religions caused me to scrutinize my own beliefs, and they came out the stronger for it. I’ve also known several people who have read many of the same texts and ended up feeling stronger in their Christian/Jewish/etc. beliefs or even switched their religious affiliation entirely to something that felt more correct to them. I love how the exact same knowledge can lead people down such entirely different paths, and I wouldn’t for the world want to ban a single word of it.

Oof, this turned out far longer than I thought it would. My apologies.

Marta, I agree completely. Although I must admit to having to fight my controlling and fearful nature in my children’s upbringing, which is ironic admitting that in a post about others’ controlling and fearful natures. With a different upbringing, I could be one of the book banners. hehe

May he be able to read everything he wants to. May he be able to know what is out there.

Thank you for the original insightful post. You always make me think.

Me, I believe in diety, and yet I can accept that I might be wrong. That my concept is likely nobody else’s concept. And that’s okay. I dont’ need to defend it, because to do so is (to me) the same as trying to defend my perception of the color red. It just won’t work, won’t translate fully, and in teh end doesn’t matter. ;)