When I read the story in USAToday about a week ago (my wife always brings back issues when she travels, since they're delivered free to her hotel room) I couldn't believe what I beheld: here we are at the end of the year 2010 and Americans across the nation are still on a book banning frenzy! When does it end, or will it ever?
Most of the banning naturally happens in high schools - but many of the books are college texts, especially in sociology, or economics where some fret that "liberal" or "socialistic" notions may poison the little minds of their darlings. Well, whatever the hell happened to critical thinking, assessing a topic or ideology for oneself, and then rejecting it or studying it further? Looks like that has gone by the backboards, because: 1) too many parents feel they have to over-meddle in all of their charges' doings, books, courses, even thoughts, and 2) the religious crazies feel they must keep a tight lid on free thought, else "corruption" may spread across the land and scuttle their plans to brainwash their progeny into believing and living like they do. Whatever happened to independence of thought?
Of course the bulk of these reactions can be explained by plain old American anti-intellectualism which - sad to say- has a long and storied history in this country. Even the power brokers and so-called Overclass contain elements that distrust a person "too smart for his own breeches" - and many of those who invest plenty of time in books, or are seen tugging them around and actually reading them are often dismissed as "oddballs" or worse. In the American mind, at least, a book is often discerned as something unnatural. Better, I guess, to be seen out there cow tipping while your i-pod is playing horrendous hayseed.....errrr bluegrass or country & western music...then be seen with a book.
Especially something like 'War and Peace', or Jean-Paul Sartre's 'Being and Nothingness'!
Author Richard Hofstadter in his terrific Anti-Intellectualism in American Life puts his finger (p. 133) on:
"such a thing as the generically-prejudiced mind. Studies of political tolerance and ethnic prejudice have shown that zealous church-going and rigid religious faith are among the most important correlates of political and ethnic animosity."
Well, I've certainly beheld that dynamic with a certain brother pastor who fancies himself the 2nd coming of Oral Roberts.
On this issue, Hofstadter adds (p. 135):
"The fundamentalist mind will have nothing to do with all this: it is essentially Manichean, it looks upon the world as an arena for conflict between absolute good and absolute evil, and accordingly it scorns compromises (who would compromise with Satan) and can tolerate no ambiguities."
What this tells us also, is that the typical fundie will wage war against ANY idea with which he isn't 100% comfortable - and that means pre-vetted in his King James Bible. Logically, then, that will include about 99% of all books - except those which are extensions of his KJV and written by those gunning for "atheistic" evolution, the Big Bang theorists, or provisional moralists (say, like Aristotle in his Nichomachean Ethics). Thus, the Christian fundie emerges as the natural book banner, and indeed, the Usatoday story pretty well bore this out...based on the people quoted therein.
The service Hofstadter has performed is in showing that prejudice, religious mania and fundamentalism as well as absence of critical thinking, are all of a piece in American Anti-Intellectualism and specifically the book banning (and even burning ) urge. Recall here how fundies gathered in the South nine years ago to burn thousands of Harry Potter books based on "Satanic wizardry" or some such rot.
Worse, the small-minded, bigoted provincialism that drive book banning and burning hasn't changed in nearly forty years (from the time the first edition came out). All that's happened is that anti-intellectualism now assumes more varied and sophisticated guises. But it is seen at many more levels of the whole society, beyond even the business enclave Hofstadter pillories as well (Chapter IX, 'Business and Intellect'). This also explains why many of the conglomerate publishers still won't publish hard hitting atheist books. One has to find a certain niche then exploit it.
What I am still not able to fathom is why these religious birdbrains just can't walk away, and allow others to read what they will. Okay, you want to control your kid's mind, fair enough- but why must you seek to control ALL the minds of other kids by banning the books for them too?
The only answer conceivable is that these fundies want to control the whole cognitive template of the society because they are terrified that its one of "godlessness" and is closing in on them.
So, until we can get them off to another planet, or give them brain transplants, this zealous book banning will continue ....like mom, apple pie and flag waving - when one can't even name three of the amendments in the Bill of Rights.
So American.
Most of the banning naturally happens in high schools - but many of the books are college texts, especially in sociology, or economics where some fret that "liberal" or "socialistic" notions may poison the little minds of their darlings. Well, whatever the hell happened to critical thinking, assessing a topic or ideology for oneself, and then rejecting it or studying it further? Looks like that has gone by the backboards, because: 1) too many parents feel they have to over-meddle in all of their charges' doings, books, courses, even thoughts, and 2) the religious crazies feel they must keep a tight lid on free thought, else "corruption" may spread across the land and scuttle their plans to brainwash their progeny into believing and living like they do. Whatever happened to independence of thought?
Of course the bulk of these reactions can be explained by plain old American anti-intellectualism which - sad to say- has a long and storied history in this country. Even the power brokers and so-called Overclass contain elements that distrust a person "too smart for his own breeches" - and many of those who invest plenty of time in books, or are seen tugging them around and actually reading them are often dismissed as "oddballs" or worse. In the American mind, at least, a book is often discerned as something unnatural. Better, I guess, to be seen out there cow tipping while your i-pod is playing horrendous hayseed.....errrr bluegrass or country & western music...then be seen with a book.
Especially something like 'War and Peace', or Jean-Paul Sartre's 'Being and Nothingness'!
Author Richard Hofstadter in his terrific Anti-Intellectualism in American Life puts his finger (p. 133) on:
"such a thing as the generically-prejudiced mind. Studies of political tolerance and ethnic prejudice have shown that zealous church-going and rigid religious faith are among the most important correlates of political and ethnic animosity."
Well, I've certainly beheld that dynamic with a certain brother pastor who fancies himself the 2nd coming of Oral Roberts.
On this issue, Hofstadter adds (p. 135):
"The fundamentalist mind will have nothing to do with all this: it is essentially Manichean, it looks upon the world as an arena for conflict between absolute good and absolute evil, and accordingly it scorns compromises (who would compromise with Satan) and can tolerate no ambiguities."
What this tells us also, is that the typical fundie will wage war against ANY idea with which he isn't 100% comfortable - and that means pre-vetted in his King James Bible. Logically, then, that will include about 99% of all books - except those which are extensions of his KJV and written by those gunning for "atheistic" evolution, the Big Bang theorists, or provisional moralists (say, like Aristotle in his Nichomachean Ethics). Thus, the Christian fundie emerges as the natural book banner, and indeed, the Usatoday story pretty well bore this out...based on the people quoted therein.
The service Hofstadter has performed is in showing that prejudice, religious mania and fundamentalism as well as absence of critical thinking, are all of a piece in American Anti-Intellectualism and specifically the book banning (and even burning ) urge. Recall here how fundies gathered in the South nine years ago to burn thousands of Harry Potter books based on "Satanic wizardry" or some such rot.
Worse, the small-minded, bigoted provincialism that drive book banning and burning hasn't changed in nearly forty years (from the time the first edition came out). All that's happened is that anti-intellectualism now assumes more varied and sophisticated guises. But it is seen at many more levels of the whole society, beyond even the business enclave Hofstadter pillories as well (Chapter IX, 'Business and Intellect'). This also explains why many of the conglomerate publishers still won't publish hard hitting atheist books. One has to find a certain niche then exploit it.
What I am still not able to fathom is why these religious birdbrains just can't walk away, and allow others to read what they will. Okay, you want to control your kid's mind, fair enough- but why must you seek to control ALL the minds of other kids by banning the books for them too?
The only answer conceivable is that these fundies want to control the whole cognitive template of the society because they are terrified that its one of "godlessness" and is closing in on them.
So, until we can get them off to another planet, or give them brain transplants, this zealous book banning will continue ....like mom, apple pie and flag waving - when one can't even name three of the amendments in the Bill of Rights.
So American.
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