In yesterday's diary I pointed out that our country has made great strides from it's era of literary censorship, although one comment did bring up a very good point: we are just 20 years removed from Edwin Meese's obsession with rooting out 'filth'. In fact, one of the contributing members to the Meese Report was James Dobson. While I believe that my commentor from yesterday had a good point, I would also like to point out that today's diary is about 'fight[ing] to preserve that [freedom of literary expression] freedom' (the concluding section of that sentence).
The issue at hand is a simple one: the passage of time has turned James Dobson into a liar.
Our critics have alleged that the Commission wishes to usher in a new era of sexual repression ... that we favor governmental interference in America's bedrooms and even in our thoughts. That is nonsense.
James Dobsons personal comments on the Meese Report
We need only to look at some of the most frequently challenged books from 1990-1999 to prove it. The sensationalized findings of the Meese report certainly necessitated action, because we can all agree that the exploitation of children is something that must be stopped in whatever form it takes -- be it by forced labor (which Dr. Dobsons good friend Tom DeLay might not agree with), or pornography. However, to my (admittedly limited) knowledge Harry Potter does not have:
Photographs of nude young women being penetrated by broom handles, smeared with feces, urinated upon, covered in blood or kneeling submissively in the act of fellatio
And after reading each book in the series cover to cover over the past 7 years, I would be fascinated to find out where a description of such activites resides. I also suspect that the other 250 million people who purchased the book would be too.
This is where the purported noble intentions of Dobson and his friends come crashing down. They do in fact intend to legislate what goes on in the bedrooms, and in 2001 when Arizona repealed it's sodomy ban in 2001 that same community of crazies decided to be very vocal in voicing their displeasure.
Not only do Dobson and his followers wish to regulate normal relationships using the exaggerations and sensationalizations of the Meese report, but they also wish to regulate thoughts in this country. So, as I said yesterday, we might not need false book jackets anymore -- but the fight still continues.
In recognition of this continued fight, I suggest three potential courses of action, because Harry Potter isn't the only book being challenged -- it's just the one everybody hears about (and there really are some great diaries done on the subject; like these two recommended diaries written two months ago by irishwitch, and this excellent series by Zil), another thought provoking book is The Giver. We have to keep fighting for these books, otherwise, we run the risk of losing them, so the next time a national conversation about literary censorship starts up, write to your Congresscritters and tell them your thoughts -- because over the past 20 years we have seen the noblest of intentions (removing child pornography from existence) turn into the very worst breaches of public trust.