censorship – Deep Left Field

It’s safe to say that Stephen King is one of the most well-known and widely read novelists in the world. Many of his books have been made into blockbuster movies, and he has sold more than 400 million copies of his work across the globe.

But if you happen to be a student in Florida, you may never get to read one of King’s books, because the state has just banned 23 of his most famous tomes from schools in the Sunshine State.

King’s books have been pulled from library shelves as the result of a 2022 law passed by the GOP-controlled state legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), according to Newsweek.

“The decision was driven by complaints from groups like Moms for Liberty. Republicans, including DeSantis, have said the legislation prevents students from obtaining books that are not age-appropriate, but critics view the law as an attempt to stifle discussion about issues including race and the LGBTQ+ community in public schools, raising concerns that this law may censor many topics.”

King is getting support to overturn the 2022 book-banning law from six book publishers, but he also decided to express his own disdain for what’s taking place in Florida in a post on Twitter/X that has been viewed several million times.

Florida has banned 23 pf my books.
What the fuck?
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) August 31, 2024

Others also joined the online debate and expressed their outrage over the blatant censorship being imposed by Florida.

I heard the stories of book burning and other atrocities that happened in Nazi occupied Germany during WW2 from my 100 year old neighbor who lived through it as young girl. She worried about it starting here under someone like @realDonaldTrump. The cancer is spreading!
— Christine Jenson (@Ok2BHuman) August 31, 2024

If this is the Collier County Public Schools ban then apparently they've banned Updike, Hemingway, Vonnegut, Neil Gaiman, Arthur C. Clarke, and novels likes Catch-22 and Brave New World. You're in great company, Mr King.
— Jonathan Toussaint (@BoyFromMelodia) August 31, 2024

MAGA: "Reading is dangerous. It's like math but with letters."
— 💙🌊 Zero Dark Twenty-Nine 🌊🌊🖋️🧫 (@herotimeszero) August 31, 2024

One of many reasons some of us who used to live there call it Flori-duh.
— Shawn Peirce (@_silversmith) August 31, 2024

Can we ban Florida?
— The Proud Blue Texan 🇺🇸🏳️‍🌈🇺🇦 (@ProgressiveTex) August 31, 2024

All over the country, conservatives and right wingers are trying to have certain books banned from classrooms and school libraries because they insist the content of the books is inappropriate for young people.

NBC News compiled a list of 50 books that parents in Texas want removed from schools, including some that have impeccable literary credentials. Here’s a couple of examples:

“The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison: This classic novel by the Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison should be banned from schools, according to a parent in the Fort Worth suburb of Birdville, because it includes a graphic description of rape.
“White Bird: A Wonder Story” by R.J. Palacio: A parent in the Spring Branch ISD said this graphic novel — about a Jewish teen living in France after Nazis seized power — should be banned because it’s “biased” and could lead to the “skewing of a young child’s mind.”

So exactly what is “acceptable” for young readers? The only possible solution would seem to be refusing to let young people read anything at all because they might encounter something that offends their parents.

But would the Bible be acceptable to those parents? Nope. Not even the “Good Book” gets a thumbs up from people who were interviewed by a group that calls itself the Good Liars, which consists of two guys, Jason Selvig and Davram Stiefler. They asked people if they thought the story of two daughters who get their father drunk (the story of Lot) and then have sex with him was something young people should read, according to the Daily Dot:

“There’s a book that we’ve seen that’s in libraries in lots of schools that features a story of two daughters having sex with their dad,” Jason Selvig said to a couple, one of whom was wearing a MAGA hat.
In another clip, Davram Stiefler elaborates to a different women wearing an American flag pin: “They get their dad drunk to have sex with him.”
The reactions of all three people are strictly negative, with the couple immediately agreeing the book in question needs to be banned from schools.
“Why do kids need to read that?” MAGA Hat asks.
“That book is actually the Bible,” Stiefler tells the woman in the other clip, and suddenly, her whole demeanor changes.

There’s a lot of talk about banning books in schools, but we were surprised these republicans wanted to ban the Bible. pic.twitter.com/gq4b89x2PO
— The Good Liars (@TheGoodLiars) February 1, 2022

Here’s a good summary of the bible story they’re talking about pic.twitter.com/DkBbIWiqBa
— DB (@m4agndrfn) February 2, 2022

Think about it: Do you want your kids reading about incest and stoning people to death? Probably not. Which means you need to keep the Bible out of your house, the library, all churches, etc. Because someone might get the wrong idea and try to imitate that kind of behavior.

How sweet to see so much irony and hypocrisy wrapped in a neat package for the right-wing zealots to choke on.