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Sunday, September 30, 2012

Banned Books Week: 50 Shades Book Burning

If you were like me, you had to read Fahrenheit 451 in school.  If you haven't read it since then, I heartily encourage everyone to give it a read again, or even better listen to the audiobook.  It'll make a big impression about the topic of burning books.

Kari and I learned that there were organizations calling for book burnings of 50 Shades of Grey.  Now, we aren't fans of that book, however we're more strongly opposed to book burning and the consequences it can bring.  We can both sympathize with the reasoning of domestic abuse counselors that the book might encourage more violence against women.  However, readers and abusers have to take responsibility into their own hands. 

This article from the UK Daily Mail makes and excellent point that once you start with one book, where do you stop?  This woman is all up in arms about this one particular book series, but honestly there are hundreds more out there at are ten times worse.  Why not burn those too? 

Hopefully, this woman will continue her good work dedicated to abused women and not make a career out of burning books.  Her resources would be better used eradicating losers who beat their partners, rather than taking tacky books out of the hands of desperate housewives.

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