The hubristic and philosophically, un-American practice of book censorship has been the critical subject of several of our past writings. The purported justification for its chronic continuance appears to be attributed, (or diagnosed as) to a ( neurotic,) self-appointed, elevated, “lay ministry,” arrogating to itself, a perceived, “moral,” duty, to the protection and perpetuation of its own ethnocentric, and reductive perception of human affairs. It may be more likely, that many of such miscreants, in reality, are merely seeking power and influence, by the sham representation of the dutiful enforcement of a construed code of morality. In any event, as appears to us, that, with respect to all-stereotypical, iterations of evangelical style enterprises, the motivations are all reductive, smugly arrogant and objectionable.
The creative and aesthetic literature of exceptionally talented and insightful authors constitute their beneficial legacy to an ever- continuing progress of human advancement. The hubristic book censor, by the bogus assumption of singular duty, arrogantly, purports to possess a more responsible moral compass than does the brilliant book author, or his readers, and whose arrogant determinations are relegated to a published “banned book list,” for determined, reader avoidance or, perhaps more effective, Gestapo style, burning.
Before we go further, on this revolting, “Dark Ages,” atavistic, dynamic, we would, revealingly, furnish a sample, of the high quality literature, now doing undeserved time on the current, banned list. It is felt, that an informed, note, of the recognized authors and their book titles, alone, would suffice as a cogent argument against book censorship:” The Great Gatsby,” F. Scott Fitzgerald,” To Kill a Mockingbird,” Harper Lee, “Grapes of Wrath”- John Steinbeck, “Ulysses”- James Joyce, “Catcher In The Rye,”- J.D. Salinger, “ Beloved”-Tony Morrison, “Of Mice and Men,”- John Steinbeck, “Brave New World,”- Aldous Huxley, “American Tragedy,”- Theodore Dreiser, “1954,”- George Orwell, “As I Lay Dying,”- William Faulkner,” Call of the Wild,”-Jack London, “For Whom the Bell Tolls,”-Ernest Hemingway, “Gone With The Wind,”- Margaret Mitchell,” Blue Eyes,”- Toni Morrison. We could, without special difficulty, fill this page, and yet, another, with a continued list of great works of literature, which were relegated, ignorantly, or due to un-American, bias, to the dreaded, “Banned Books” list; the reading of which, salubriously, should be encouraged rather than abandoned, to the book Gestapo. As can be observed from the proffered sample, the same are among the plethora of fine written works that make for commendable and enlightening reading. Additionally, it has been shown that reading books, encapsulating all viewpoints, is a necessary stimulant to the development of a maturely somewhat, educated mind.
In all candor, we are, somewhat, inclined to doubt, that the “censors” and, certainly, the assemblage of compliant dupes, that support their pernicious, autocratic discipline, are (serious) readers, at all. We are confident, in our presumption, that the adherents to such Gestapo policy, thoughtlessly and loyally, ascribe to such “group think,” determinations, as the officially, shared, position of their unholy tribe.
It appears undeniable that primary among the various alleged purposes, the strategic policy of banning books has as its proponents’ ulterior motive, the autocratic control of individual thought, the universal and fundamental dynamic of reprehensible, totalitarian rule.
–p.
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