The Right to Read

"I cannot live without books" -Thomas Jefferson

"The best of my education has come from the public library... my tuition fee is a bus fare and once in a while, five cents a day for an overdue book. You don't need to know very much to start with, if you know the way to the public library" -  Lesley Conger

"The books that help you the most are those which make you think the most" -  Theodore Parker

"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them." - Mark Twain

"The proper study of mankind is books." -  Aldous Huxley

"How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book." - Henry David Thoreau

I'm a book junkie. I don't mean a Kindle or iPad junkie. I mean paper and ink bound in a manner in which you can hold the substance of it in your hand. I like the way a book feels on the fingers and the way they can be arranged on a shelf. And a good book is a true joy. Credit this quote to me...because I just said it now.


In honor of Banned Books Week, I have decided to share these quotes with anyone willing to read them. In each one of these quotes I find a truth that tugs at my heart. I cannot imagine a life spent without books. We are blessed in America to have a practically limitless access to books. It is also true that books have had a profound impact on my thinking, my understanding of myself and others, my faith, my political views, my outlook on being a father and a husband, my competency in my career - just say "everything". It all evolved out of books.


I'd love to finger-point, place blame, line up the usual suspects for identification. But I'm not going to. Simple and to the point banning books cannot be of benefit to our society. Period. If we are committed to free speech, intellectual honesty, open exchange of ideas and any sense of a meaningful education, we cannot limit access to books and the impact they have on our life.


There are many excuses that people use to try to stifle the voice of people they disagree with. But in the end, that is all that can be produced - excuses. I've spent the last few minutes scanning a list of the most commonly challenged books in America and was proud to see how many of them I have read and even more proud to see some of my sons' favorites on the list as well. Hopefully they are going to grow up to know that all good books have been banned somewhere at some time.


A quick example - The greatest book ever penned in the South, and therefore on this continent, was "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. People have lobbied to ban it from various locales because, true to the setting and the era of the book, people used "the 'n' word" when referring to black people. There were also several depictions of a shameful era in our history where people were mistreated, denied justice, oppressed, even killed because of their skin color. I'm glad that my kids will have such literature that will show them how ignorant our forebears were and how far we have come. I also want them to be able to wear Tom's shoes and sit in the defendant's chair at the Macomb County Courthouse and know why it is so very important that we never go back. "TKAM" is one of the most important books ever penned in the South. Banning is ignorance on the same level as the Ewell clan.


I have, in the past, decided to read books that have been challenged or banned to get to the real root of why they are so evil.. If you care to do the same I'll include links to lists of banned and challenged books. See for yourself if you have been partaking of filth and see if you'd like to imbibe further:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-commonly_challenged_books_in_the_United_States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_books_banned_by_governments

http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/index.cfm

Dangerous stuff. Happy reading and remember, you don't have to burn a book to destroy it. You merely have to make sure no one reads it.