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I dislike how vague the term 'banned book' is. In the U.S., are there any books that are really banned, e.g. unable to be sold, purchased, possessed? My underst

I dislike how vague the term 'banned book' is. In the U.S., are there any books that are really banned, e.g. unable to be sold, purchased, possessed? My understanding is that a 'banned book' means that it's a book that's unable to be used in some (federal, state, local) government-funded capacity, like public school or public libraries. Some printed media, explicit pornographic material for example, probably shouldn't be in a public school. Most of these 'banned books' aren't so explicit, but many parents don't want their taxes to be put towards exposing children to ideas that they don't agree with. This isn't necessarily right, but I think it is understandable, especially in more conservative states like Texas. I personally feel that information (including books) should be open and free, but the majority of Texans (and people, really) probably don't hold that view.

shapefrog 4y ago
Many, many, many of those people you mention "dont agree with" maths, science, history, languages and much more. If they had their way, children graduating from high school would be functionally retarded.
mcphage 4y ago
> In the U.S., are there any books that are really banned, e.g. unable to be sold, purchased, possessed? How is that a useful definition? The term is vague, so don’t pick a definition that doesn’t contribute any useful understanding.
threatofrain 4y ago
> but many parents don't want their taxes to be put towards exposing children to ideas that they don't agree with Speaking of vagueness, perhaps we might elaborate on what books are being banned and what is so wrong about them. Presumably you brought up pornography because it is a fitting comparison, so let's flesh out the pornographic angle more concretely. Many here are interested in asking whether Cloudflare censors; under the context of these discussions it is not overly vague to ask whether Texas or Florida is banning. One is a company (market cap 17.8 billion) and the other is a state with monopoly power. It is not that people refuse to allow tax money to fund books; these books are simply not permitted in public libraries and schools. The source of funding is a distracting argument when some people simply want these books gone whether or not they're donated.
orwin 4y ago
I understand this is the slippery slope fallacy, but the public schools book ban easily become a public library book ban (didn't that already happened?), and that's a bit worrying, especially when you already have book burning events organized in the US. This honestly one topic i would really hate saying 'i told you so'. And for people who don't think it's possible that this will go this far, that's ok but please don't be dismissive and explain to your worried friends why you think it will stop at school libraries.
dylanhassinger 4y ago
The whole point of the United States is that we favor pluralism over fundamentalists or royalists. Making educational decisions for all kids because of one parent's complaints (or one political party's, or one religion's) is anti-American.

shapefrog 4y ago

Many, many, many of those people you mention "dont agree with" maths, science, history, languages and much more. If they had their way, children graduating from high school would be functionally retarded.

mcphage 4y ago

> In the U.S., are there any books that are really banned, e.g. unable to be sold, purchased, possessed? How is that a useful definition? The term is vague, so don’t pick a definition that doesn’t contribute any useful understanding.

threatofrain 4y ago

> but many parents don't want their taxes to be put towards exposing children to ideas that they don't agree with Speaking of vagueness, perhaps we might elaborate on what books are being banned and what is so wrong about them. Presumably you brought up pornography because it is a fitting comparison, so let's flesh out the pornographic angle more concretely. Many here are interested in asking whether Cloudflare censors; under the context of these discussions it is not overly vague to ask whether Texas or Florida is banning. One is a company (market cap 17.8 billion) and the other is a state with monopoly power. It is not that people refuse to allow tax money to fund books; these books are simply not permitted in public libraries and schools. The source of funding is a distracting argument when some people simply want these books gone whether or not they're donated.

orwin 4y ago

I understand this is the slippery slope fallacy, but the public schools book ban easily become a public library book ban (didn't that already happened?), and that's a bit worrying, especially when you already have book burning events organized in the US. This honestly one topic i would really hate saying 'i told you so'. And for people who don't think it's possible that this will go this far, that's ok but please don't be dismissive and explain to your worried friends why you think it will stop at school libraries.

dylanhassinger 4y ago

The whole point of the United States is that we favor pluralism over fundamentalists or royalists. Making educational decisions for all kids because of one parent's complaints (or one political party's, or one religion's) is anti-American.