Henrietta Hay's Column

Censorship. I'm agin it.

SOMETIMES IT IS SILLY.

Ten silliest reasons to ban a book:

1. Encourages children to break dishes so they won't have to dry them (Light in the Attic, by Shel Silverstein)

2. Uses the words "breast" and "bosom" (the poem, Trees, by Joyce Kilmer)

3. If there is a possibility something might be controversial why not eliminate it? (Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown)

4. Tarzan was living in sin with Jane (Tarzan, by Edgar Rice Burroughs)

5. It's a real downer (Diary of Anne Frank, by Anne Frank)

6. The basket carried by Little Red Riding Hood contained a bottle of wine, which condones the use of alcohol. (Little Red Riding Hood, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm)

7. One bunny is white and the other is black and this brainwashes readers into accepting interracial marriage (The Rabbit's Wedding, by Garth Williams.)

8. It is a religious book and public funds should not be used to purchase religious books. (Evangelical commentary on the Bible, by Walter A. Elwell, ed.)

9. A female dog is called a bitch. (My Friend Flicka, by Mary O'Hara)

10. An unofficial version of Noah's Ark will confuse children. (Many Waters, by Madeleine L'Engle.)

These reasons have actually been given in attempts to ban these books.

SOMETIMES CENSORSHIP IS PERSONAL.

My neighbor thinks the books I read are awful, and I think the books she reads are dull. But we each sigh and say, "Oh well, whatever. Let's go to lunch."

But the censor says "You can't read the books you like because I do not approve of them, and I alone know what is right for everyone."

BUT MOSTLY CENSORSHIP IS DANGEROUS TO FREEDOM.

It is a threat to our way of life and our form of government. Censorship and freedom cannot exist together. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas said that, "Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could easily defeat us." Fortunately the Founding Fathers were wise enough to see the danger and chose to protect the freedom ideas with the First Amendment, "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech or of the press."

Censorship is not something invented in America, although we have become quite expert at it. Homer's Odyssey was protested because it expressed Greek ideas of freedom. Socrates was condemned for "corrupting the young with ideas of freedom." Galileo was forced to recant on his knees his thesis that the planets circulate around the sun.

Next week is Banned Books Week, a week designed to make us aware of the dangers of censorship. The real target of the censor is the free flow of ideas. His/her goal is to restrict information. Books are the chief target.

Attempts at censorship come from all directions. In the past the motives were usually political or religious, but now sexuality, politically correct language and the occult have been added to the mix. With all that, Little Bo Peep had better watch more than her sheep.

And then there are the children. The new phrase-of-the-day is, "we must protect our children." Certainly we must, but not by censoring the books other parents' children want to read. Clare Boothe Luce said, "Censorship, like charity, should begin at home, but unlike charity, it should end there

Of course there are some pretty awful ideas and books and theories and pictures and statues out there. But no self-appointed censor has the right to tell me which is awful and which is good. It is my responsibility to figure it out for myself.

The world is full of bad books, along with the fine ones. Nobody ever censored a book for bad writing. There are books I wouldn't touch with gloves on. But I have no right, patriotic, religious or moral to deny any of them to you. Henry Steele Commager said it well. "The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion."

Read a banned book next week.

Censorship. I'm agin it.