And the Ban Played On

I've watched a ton of TV in my time, and not a lot of things stick with me. But there was one scene from The Waltons that I found so moving, I never forgot it.

an oft-banned favorite of mine

John Boy published a story in the local newspaper about the Nazis and how they were burning American books. A preacher, played by John Ritter, decided it would be fitting to take a stand by burning German books. One of the locals had gathered up several German books and tossed them into the fire.

At this point, John Boy stood up and told the preacher he was wrong. That we need to know what's written in books, even when we don't like it. That burning books is wrong no matter who does it. 

Then John Boy reached down, picked up a book that was headed for the flames, and gasped. 

"It's too bad no one here can speak German," he said quietly. One woman walked over. John Boy handed her the book and asked her to read a passage from it. She began reading in German. Then he asked her to say it in English. 

She reads "In the beginning God created heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God spoke, 'Let there be light.'"

I was reminded of this scene when Mr. Ginley and I were discussing an article in the paper about parents banning books in school. There is a frightening increase of books being removed from learning institutions because parents are threatened by what they say. One book was banned because it had a rainbow on the back cover, and one family out of the whole school was sure the book was about gay folks. (Spoiler alert, it wasn't.)

In the case of book banning/burning, ignorance is most certainly not bliss. 

How about this. Instead of trying to "protect" our children from thoughts we disagree with, how about we have a discussion with them. If a book like Huckleberry Finn has what modern-day folks view as racist stereotypes, let's talk about what life was like then and why it wasn't perceived as prejudiced at the time – but how we know better now. Let's discuss history in context. 

And let's talk about people who aren't exactly like us. Different skin colors, different faiths, different sexual orientation, different traditions. Let's explain that the world would be a lousy, boring place if everyone looked and felt the same. That everyone isn't going to agree with us or have the same upbringing as we had. That people love whom they love and it's all good. 

Mankind has a history of burning or banning reading materials they believed to be seditious, usually because it was in their best interest not to let people think for themselves. It was easier for them to push their own agenda if the masses had access to just one viewpoint.

And...we're back to the Nazis again. Of course, they didn't invent suppression of knowledge and propaganda, they just perfected it. And they weren't the first to do so. In fact, in the 4th Century when Constantine was setting up the Christian church, he whittled down the books of the Bible to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The rest, he seized and burned. 

So, here we are today. Fussing over whether Little Johnny should be reading a book about people who are different. 

And longing for a return to Dick and Jane and Spot. When Dick could be an astronaut or fireman or anything he wanted, but Jane was destined to be a housewife or a nurse or a teacher. Until she got herself a husband and got knocked up with her first kid.

Yep, them was the good old days.