I just recently finished The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. The book is incredibly complicated and I am not going to explain the entire plot to you! The book does take place in a fantasy world in which the church runs basically everything, and they appear to be very corrupt and controlling. This is a really controversial topic. Philip Pullman paints the church as an awful politically motivated body that tries to eliminate anything that could remove their power.
When the book was published, I know this caused a lot of controversy. People said that they didn’t want their children reading this because of what it implied about religion and the legitimacy of God as a perfect being. People said they didn’t want a child reading the book because they didn’t think it was “appropriate content” for kids. This is ridiculous. All of the content in this book is appropriate for any child over the age of eight. The real reason that people don’t want their kids reading this is because it gives a world-view different from their own. People who refuse to listen to the other side of an argument are never going to have their views evolve and become more complex and sophisticated. This is why I am against banning books because of the ideas contained in them. It is important to read books from all different points of view.
When we refuse to listen to an idea we disagree with, we deny ourselves the chance to understand that idea a little better. Our nation is so divided right now that our legal system can barely get anything done. If we stopped trying to sensor ideas we disagreed with, we might be able to more easily work together. I am not saying whether or not I agree with the ideas in The Golden Compass, but I appreciate the book for its great writing, great characters and interesting ideas. That should be enough to get it put in any library.
thats an interesting discussion--like the gay penguin book. It is a sweet book with an important idea which the author put out there and it was messed up that it got banned. But I think some books might go too far, because I am sure that you wouldnt want to here a book that COMpletely tore on about how all mirandas in the world were disgusting demeaning smelly and many other things. You can put an idea out there, but dont go too far....good post
ReplyDeleteWell actually I think that if someone wanted to put that book out into the world as long as it is not a non-fiction book then that is fine. People have a right to express their opinions and if someone wants to write that, who am I to stop them? I am not saying that non-fictional books should be published saying the sky is orange because that is indisputably untrue. But in fictional books you can write about any ideas you want to.
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