Last week, Americans United dedicated the blog to a special series of posts highlighting the connection between church-state separation and democracy. But we didn’t want to let Banned Books Week pass without sharing some observations on the freedom to read and learn.
With that thought in mind, here are responses to five Christian Nationalist myths about book banning in America.
Book banning isn’t really a problem because many challenges fail. Some challenges to books are successful, while others are not. But a challenge doesn’t have to be successful to have a chilling effect. A teacher may think twice about teaching a book, and a librarian might hesitate to add a title to a collection if they know it has been under attack.
Christian Nationalists are only trying to keep pornographic books out of the hands of children. According to the American Library Association, the majority of books targeted by book banners deal with LGBTQ+ themes or feature LGBTQ+ characters. While these titles may offend Christian Nationalists, none of them are pornographic or meet the legal definition of obscenity. The charge that children are being exposed to pornographic material is designed to inflame public opinion, but it has no connection to reality.
It’s reasonable to give parents an opt-out from their children being exposed to certain materials. It isn’t always possible to give opt-outs; often they can be disruptive and impossible to implement in the classroom. If an entire class is reading a certain novel, it may not be possible for a teacher to give individualized instruction to the one student who doesn’t want to read it. In addition, establishing a precedent for opt-outs opens the door for students to make other unreasonable demands, such as refusing to learn about evolution in science class or skipping lessons about non-Christian religions in social studies classes.
Regarding book banning, Americans agree with groups like Moms for Liberty. Americans do not support banning books. Polls make this clear. Voters also expressed their displeasure with Moms for Liberty’s agenda at the ballot box last year when the group’s candidates failed in many races.
Students should not have to read books that make them feel bad. Great literature can do many things – it can challenge us, force us to reconsider our assumptions and, yes, disturb us. But chiefly, it can make us think. By the time they reach high school, young people should be able to handle the idea that the purpose of great books isn’t just to tell an entertaining story but to challenge us. If you choose to tackle serious literature, you will be disturbed by what you read on occasion – that’s kind of the point.
Banned Books Week may be over, but you can keep its spirit alive all year. Support your local public library. Oppose the censors. And read a banned book!
