Mother wants Catcher in the Rye banned from school

[Mari333]

"I want you to understand the awkwardness this puts my child in, and me in," Minnon told the board. She was going to read passages from the book she found distasteful and inappropriate, but was asked not to by board members who said it would not add to her case



http://www4.fosters.com/December_2004/12.03.04/news/mn_nb12.02.04a.asp

Ill bet you a dollar she never read it..someone should tell her about some of the sexual passages in the Bible...

[Midlodemocrat]

1. Here we go again, good old censorship.

Will these people never learn?

on edit: Maybe we should just go ahead and ban all books, make it easy for them. Idiots.

[BeHereNow]

4. No, they can't learn

The majority of them are illiterate.
That's the irony.
They want to ban books they can't even read.
Weird, huh?
BHN

[shondradawson]

23. No, They Will Never Learn

But books have already been banned, love. Through television, movies, video games, and pornography.

Books have been banned since the Guttenberg press printed the very first one: that is, The Holy Bible.

Banned through their lack of availability; their lack of agreeability; and now through their lack of advertising. (smile)

Books of every kind have always been attacked by ignorant bystanders and snore on and snore on...

[AliciaKeyedUp]

47. It's not censorship

Parents are allowed input into their child's education. While I would agree it's a good book (maybe a great book), I still defend her right to object to it.

[ornotna]

52. Then all she has to do is

Tell her child not to read it. Problem solved, right.

[Sandpiper]

2. Am I still living in the United States?

Sometimes I wonder.

With Bush winning, the brownshirts have definitely gotten bolder.

[Ishoutandscream]

37. Exactly! Bolder and much more arrogant

They have their "mandate." Now it's time for some good ol' time revivalism.

[Viking12]

3. You would win your bet...

from the article,

"Minnon explained she never read the book..."


On edit: As is usually the case, the publiity will result in more kids reading this book, 'forbidden fruit phenomenon, so unless the school board actually agrees with this nutcase, the controversy may have a net positive.

[BeHereNow]

8. I could have told ya that!

These people are illiterate.
No, seriously, they are. Look it up
if you don't believe me.
That's why they don't know what their bibles
actually say.
BHN

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

5. This was probably the best book I read in High School

Fucking jackoff overprotective parents with not a goddamn clue in their fucking thick skulls! GODDAMN THIS PISSES ME OFF!!! <extra profanity used intentionally for assholes like Minot that might be reading this>

[bossfish]

12. I was about the post the same thing...

...and guess who recommended it to me?

MY MOM...she said it was her favorite book as a teenager.

Just like the book "Ball Four" was going to turn a bunch of kids away from baseball. I read it in the 7th/8th grade and have loved baseball even more ever since.

[BeHereNow]

15. A few years ago...

I was in a parent meeting at my daughter's
high school. There had been a HUGE ruckus
over the weekend about..."THE COLOR PURPLE."
Gasp, horror, SIN!!!!!
Seems one of the fundie moms had called
all of the other fundie moms at 6:00 in the morning
on Sunday after discovering the document
of SIN in her daughter's backpack.
They called a special meeting to demand
the teacher's head on a stake. Presumably
to because they wanted to burn it in the town square?
Dunno...
Anyway, I sat riveted in the meeting and listened
as a frigid, tight lipped, card carrying moral majority mom
read the offensive passages to the rest of us, to point out
their satanic nature.
I laughed so hard I peed my pants.
bhn

[SheepyMcSheepster]

36. yeah, same here

one of the first books i really enjoyed and could kind of relate to.

[Blue Wally]

44. It was assigned reading in my freshman English class in college

I thought it was a rather lame piece of trash though my English prof always had one hand in his pocket every time he discussed the book.

[DrWeird]

6. Nothing new there.

The thing to watch is whether or not she succeeds.

Btw, how you been?

[Mari333]

11. so so..trying to keep busy to avoid panic attacks..

delayed stress....=)

[juajen]

54. Hi Mari

Been thinking about you. Hope you're coping ok. As if that's even possible. I need to know how Michael is and where he is. Please tell me he is not back in Iraq! Love to you both.

Juajen

[underpants]

7. GREAT! Just great she's a Lesbian parent to boot

And no she has never read it

[DrWeird]

13. Um, you mean Lebanese?

I guess I missed the Lesbian part.

[underpants]

25. O yeah sorry about that

:bounce:

[PeteGammons]

56. She's not Lebanese, either.

She lives in Lebanon. Lebanon, ME. A couple of towns over from Berwick...

[LSdemocrat]

9. Yup. She never read the book.

"Minnon explained she never read the book but scanned through it and researched it using SparkNotes."

[BeHereNow]

16. spark notes and a dictionary?

those two syllable words can be a bitch
when you can't read!
bhn

[gWbush is Mabus]

10. and there is no sex in the Bible?

[PeteGammons]

57. For the purposes of this discussion,

what difference does it make? They aren't reading Ezekiel in the high school class...

[damntexdem]

14. CITR is one of the books most-often targeted for banning.

Maybe someone should raise a stink about all of the porno in the Bible.

[Viking12]

19. The Harry Potter series has moved to the top of the lists

of banned books, but CITR is old favorite of book banners.

[dubyaD40web]

17. Again? They tried this when I was in H.S. too. And failed.

All it did was make all us kids want to read it even more to see what was so interesting in it that they were trying to ban it.

[MsAnthropy]

18. Why do they insist on fighting stuff that was resolved 40 years ago?

How is it she's just getting around to that book now? Between this and the never-ending Scopes trial, I think we're stuck in the Wayback Machine.

[fairfaxvadem]

20. Geez, not the CITR hoopla again...

I swear, all school boards should have a rule "We have suffered through 375 protests over this book and parents need to find a new whipping boy other than Holden Caulfield."

I know several posters say they really liked this book but it failed to move me. He got on my nerves. But these parents and the annual hue and cry over this book is really, really, getting old.

This fear of the written word in the 21st Centruy is something, isn't it? Kind of like when Rome went ballistic over the bible actually being distributed. People might start to think for themselves. Oh No!

[PeteGammons]

51. The single most overrated work of fiction...

... in the American canon. Bar none. Utter dreck.

Not that it should be banned, and this woman's an idiot to stand up and call for it to be banned when she hasn't read it.

But, while it shouldn't be banned in schools, it shouldn't be taught, either, because it has no educational value, no literary value. Nada, nothing. It's crap.

[nostamj]

21. frankly, that's pretty mild compared to THIS:

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1101896768316400.xml

Gay book ban goal of state lawmaker
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
KIM CHANDLER News staff writer

MONTGOMERY - An Alabama lawmaker who sought to ban gay marriages now wants to ban novels with gay characters from public libraries, including university libraries.

A bill by Rep. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, would prohibit the use of public funds for "the purchase of textbooks or library materials that recognize or promote homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle." Allen said he filed the bill to protect children from the "homosexual agenda."

yup! they want to ERASE homosexuality from (GOD LOVES) AMERICA!

[dubyaD40web]

24. They tried this when I was in H.S. too. Got laughed at in the '70's

Unfortunately we've gone backwards in time since then, so it will likely gain traction this time. Of course, with shows like Will and Grace and Queer Eye For the Straight Guy showing the world that gay people aren't horrible scary monsters, there will be places that ban them, and those places will be the butt of jokes by all the places that refuse such censorship.
Just like when Kansas decided to teach creationism in science classes.

Sometimes a little public humiliation goes a lot further than reasoned debate. Which is why I prefer to publicly humiliate morons who propose such things. Saves time that could be more effectively spent drinking beer.

[gaia_gardener]

35. Is that a real bumper sticker?

I would love to have a couple hundred of those. I could stick them to cars that have Bush/Cheney stickers on them. Minor vandalism (which I do believe is wrong) though ... hmmm ...

Maybe instead I should make a couple thousand copies and stick them on windshields.

[nostamj]

41. it's real, but not in bumper sticker format yet

I have it as a t-shirt design in my store, but I could put it on stickers....

[Keirsey]

49. Hey, Gerald

Ban this if you really want some attention!

This story of a Washington wife who leaves her powerful husband to join a womyn's commune is charged with the kind of eroticism you just don't expect from the Second Lady of the United States of America. I was amazed at how graphically Ms. Cheney details the commune's daily "massage classes" and their predictable free-for-all aftermaths, while at the same time delivering a devastating critique of phallocentric discourse in modern culture. I can't wait for the sequel, in which the Sisters declare war against the male-dominated multinational corporation that is threatening to foreclose on their commune. Four Stars!

Deputy Leader's wife did a bang up job on this book, but I wonder why it had all that sex in it. Conservatives don't do those things she wrote about--it's sinful. And the part about the women having sex with each other was just pure fantasy. Everyone knows women can't do that. They don't have "little soldiers."

Okay wait, this is a book about lesbians written by the 2nd lady of the United States whose husband is embarrassed by his lesbian daughter and whose boss is a homophobe. LOL, LOL, LOL, oh my God I can't control my laughter!

In an age of loose cannons such as Teresa Heinz Kerry, it's refreshing to see a potential first lady such as Lynne Cheney create a novel sure to please everyone from fun loving fundamentalist Christians to plaid flannel dykes, from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine.

Sure, Lynne is married to handsome, virile and dashing Dick Cheney, but even wonderful Dick can get tedious at times.

Lynne proves that even the cutest red dress wearing Republican lady craves a little gal on gal action at times- and as long as the gals don't want to get married- who's to mind?

Lynne's book was said to inspire her daughter Mary to sing a favorite childhood song: "I want a girl just like the girl that married dear old dad."

I look forward to Lynne's new book she plans to write once her husband retires in November. I heard the working title is, "Ellen: Do to me what hubby told Leahy to do to himself."

This vile book is filled with lurid allusions to carnal and unnatural perversion, including but not limited to lusty mammary-centric orgies and gluttonous girl-on-girl feasting at the hairy taco buffet. Truly disgusting!

Comments courtesy of Amazon. :)


Representative Gerald Allen was elected in 1994. He was born on February 8, 1950, and received B.S. Degree in Education from the University of Alabama. He and his wife, Sheila, are the parents of three children: Wes, Kellie, and Jill. Representative Allen serves as owner of CASHCO Marketing and is a Deacon for Gilgal Baptist Church. A member of the West Alabama Chamber of Commerce and Civitan Club, Representative Allen is a member of the University of Alabama Alumni Association, works as a booster for Holt High School, and is part of the PTA for Cottondale Elementary and Holt High School.

State House: Room 531
11 S. Union Street
Montgomery, AL 36130

[phone]

District: Post Office Box 71001
Tuscaloosa, AL 35407
Work Phone: [phone] Home Phone: [phone]

http://www.legislature.state.al.us/house/representatives/housebios/hd062.html

[ixat]

59. Well, actually, there was an article about Sisters on DU,

and it appears there isn't "all that sex." Actually, there's precious little sex in there.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/plaidder/04/37.html

Maybe the Adder is reading a little too much into this... But an interesting article nonetheless.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

22. You'd think

the least she could do is read the book so she put her concerns in context. I'm surprised the school board even gives her the time of day. But then, you know what Mark Twain said about school boards....

[MountainLaurel]

30. They NEVER Do

This has been an ongoing issue in my county, where an organized group of parents and "concerned community members" has been methodically going through reading lists and challenging books. In testimony before the school board, most of these Talibornagains admitted that they hadn't read 90 percent of the books involved, except for specific "dirty" passages.

Reminded me of when my cousin and I would go through our moms' romance novels and dogear the "heaving bosom" scenes so that we could act them out with out Barbies.

[prayin4rain]

26. What a bunch of phonies!!!! n/t

[Left Is Write]

28. Perfect!

:thumbsup:

[Left Is Write]

27. People need to get over the damn swearing in that book!

ARRRRGGGH.

Every time censorship of this particular book comes up, it pisses me off.

Have these people READ THE BOOK? Do they just not understand?

[davsand]

29. Get used to it.

This shit has been going on forever, and will not stop in this lifetime. As much as we want to pitch a fit here about the conservative mindset, NEVER forget that our side has been guilty of it too. Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer are two prime examples. People tried to get those banned for being negative portrayals of minorities.

The conservatives freak out over sex, and language, and witchcraft, and every other bit of crap you can think of (I love the story about the lady who wanted to pull Where's Waldo off the shelves because, "On some pages there are dirty things.") The liberals freak over the protrayal of minorities and language that is derogatory. Either way, people forget that censorship stinks any way you look at it.


Laura

[ixat]

60. "Our side has been guilty of it too."

And it sucks. Banning Huck Finn, ffs....

[noiretextatique]

31. i never understand the fear of people like this woman...

but it borders on insanity. what kind of people are they trying to create? someone who has no exposure to anything that's not pre-approved by them? how will their children learn to handle things that they don't pre-approve? it's creepy.

[mainer]

32. Whoa -- that Ezekiel is hot stuff

You inspired me to read Ezekiel 23. Now I want to read the rest of the Bible for the racy parts.

[Hieronymus]

42. You know it..........

I just read Ezekial 23 again, that's hot stuff.:smoke:

[SmokingJacket]

33. Books make stupid people feel stupid.

That's why they hate them so much.

[Steely_Dan]

34. ...for Chrissakes...

A body meet a body a comin through the Rye
A body catch a body, need a body cry

My all-time favorite book...

...carried by both Hinkley and Chapman...

-Paige

PS - I miss Pheobe...I can still see her reaching for the brass ring...

-P

[genieroze]

38. Same type of nuts that wanted harry Potter banned. eom

[BigMcLargehuge]

39. some asswipe hits on that book every year

it always makes the most challenged books lists.

[MsTryska]

40. there's sex in Catcher in the Rye?

i don't remember that.


must not have been good sex.

[SmileyBoy]

43. Everybody start your torches!!!

Sieg Heil!!!

[Kat45]

45. We read that in my English class in junior high, in the late '60s

It was the only one of our books that I liked, but I had already read it on my own anyway.

[edbermac]

46. As Holden might say "She's a dirty stupid sonovabitch of a moron"

[dr.strangelove]

48. I understand - Its got that WORD in it

[supernova]

50. Never fear... Catcher in the Rye is a perennial favorite

of book banners and it's still around.

She's really on well-worn out territory. This must be her first book-banning try. :eyes:

[antigone382]

53. Brave New World was banned in my school the year after I read it

damn shame.

Oh my, we wouldn't want to actually CHALLENGE our children by exposing them to anything unpleasant...that might...shudder...teach them to think for THEMSELVES!!! Gasp! Groan! Gnashing of Teeth!

[billie_]

55. "Catcher in the Rye" is my favorite book of all times....

when ppl don't want their children to read something, can't they just ban it from their own children argh

[FlyByNight]

58. "Minnon explained she never read the book..."

How shocking.

Mrs. Minnon, might I suggest actually reading it? It's a book about... being awkward. Try it, you may like it.