# Book banning **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 19, 2026, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-banning/1032434 "2026-08-19T16:16:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-banning/1032434/21 "2026-08-20T02:59:03Z")
Anyone care to see a list of banned books? [PEN America Index of School Book Bans – 2024-2025 - PEN America](https://pen.org/book-bans/pen-america-index-of-school-book-bans-2024-2025/) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-banning/1032434/22 "2026-08-20T03:38:17Z")
Good old Ezekiel 23:20! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-banning/1032434/23 "2026-08-20T04:01:58Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > Attempts to remove books based on people’s opinion of what is ‘objectionable’ rather than facts often backfire. When I served on the county Library Foundation, we had a local group decide to remove books they objected to – mostly teen books with LGBT characters – by checking them out, and extending their checkouts, thus keeping the books off the library shelves for some time. That is kinda funny, thanks. 😀 > [@Czarcasm](#): > > Anyone care to see a list of banned books? [PEN America Index of School Book Bans – 2024-2025 - PEN America](https://pen.org/book-bans/pen-america-index-of-school-book-bans-2024-2025/) See, they list Maus, which was NOT “banned” it was simply replaced in one schools 8th grade reading list- it was still available in the school library. > PEN America defines a school book ban as any action taken against a book based on its content and as a result of parent or community challenges, administrative decisions, or in response to direct or threatened action by lawmakers or other governmental > officials, that leads to a previously accessible book being either completely removed from availability to students, or where access to a book is restricted or diminished. See, that is not being banned. being replaced on one grades reading list- is not a ban. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-banning/1032434/24 "2026-08-20T04:06:57Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > See, that is not being banned. being replaced on one grades reading list- is not a ban. And now, for the _rest_ of the story: [Art Spiegelman on Banning ‘Maus’ - PEN America](https://pen.org/art-spiegelman-on-banning-maus-2/) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-banning/1032434/25 "2026-08-20T04:26:56Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > And now, for the _rest_ of the story: So, is he refusing the massive increase in sales that occurred due to the “banning”? The Nazis actually banned books- they burned them and made those books illegal to sell or own. Same with the Soviets and many Dictatorships. Some school removing a book from the official reading list for one grade- where the book is right there in the school library- is not “banning”. Any kid could read it- but they were no longer required to do so. How is that being banned? Besides Maus- with its depictions of the Polish as pigs- was massively bigoted. The Polish were treated very badly in WW2. Calling someone a “pig” (_świnia_) in Polish culture and European anti-Semitic idioms is a severe, deeply offensive insult > **[Poles-as-Pigs-in-MAUS-The-Problems-with-Spiegelmans-MAUS-REV-May-2019.pdf](https://kpk-toronto.org/wp-content/uploads/Poles-as-Pigs-in-MAUS-The-Problems-with-Spiegelmans-MAUS-REV-May-2019.pdf)** > MAUS does not teach students about the complexities of > the Holocaust but rather oversimplifies such complexities. The reality is that the > students’ level of understanding of these issues is generally rather poor or almost > non-existent. In addition, neither they nor the teachers possess the necessary tools > to properly assess the flaws of this book. > In a nutshell, the case against MAUS is that, despite its veneer of sophistication, > the book is a rather primitive expression of the author’s prejudices in choosing to > portray the Poles as a nation of swine. Furthermore, its portrayal of Poles contains > serious misrepresentations regarding their alleged role in the Holocaust. This is > contemptible, and unacceptable by any standards. The notion that teachers can and > will expose the biases and misrepresentations regarding Poles found in this book is > unlikely in the extreme…\> .• Ordinary Poles are portrayed as Nazi sympathizers. > 13 > • Poles are shown as occupying virtually all positions of brutal Kapos in Nazi > German camps Note that some 60 Polish were recognized as “Righteous Among the Nations" [https://www.yadvashem.org/righteous](https://www.yadvashem.org/righteous) > Heavy punishment – sometimes even death – was imposed on every Pole, Ukrainian or Byelorussian caught hiding Jews or aiding them in any way. In contrast, foodstuffs and bottles of Vodka – valuable products in those troubled years – were handed out to anyone revealing a Jew or passing on information that would lead to the exposure of Jewish hiding places. Assistance by Poles to Jews was both organized and individual. Organized help came, in the main, from the “Council to Aid the Jews,” known by its underground name as _Zegota_. The Polish were heroes, not Pigs. And the author refuses to apologize. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-banning/1032434/26 "2026-08-20T05:04:44Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > the Bible absolutely belongs on the shelves of school libraries. Well, depending on how you feel about separation between church and state. Because… > [@echoreply](#): > > I’m sure there are also some who think that the full King James version, or whatever, of the Bible is the only holy version As it turns out, even Gideon Bibles piss people off: > **[Bible Distribution to Public School Students - ACLU of Michigan](https://www.aclumich.org/cases/bible-distribution-public-school-students/)** > > In March 2017 the ACLU of Michigan received a complaint that representatives of Gideons International were permitted to enter Union City Middle School to distribute bibles and “Life Books” with religious teachings to fifth grade students in their... There were riots in Philadelphia not over the presence of the Bible but the particular version to use: > **[Nativist Riots of 1844 - Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia](https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/nativist-riots-of-1844/)** > > In Philadelphia in 1844, anti-immigrant mobs attacked Irish-American homes and Roman Catholic churches before being suppressed by the militia. I think a reasonable compromise would be to say that the school is not going to stock bibles in the library (or is going to stock every different kind) because we don’t all agree on which one is the Truth. So if you want to read the Bible at school, bring your own and the school will respect that, just as they respect the Mormon kid over there reading a Book of Mormon or the Muslim kid over there reading from the Holy Quran. > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Good old Ezekiel 23:20! The path of the righteous man? No wait, I think that’s a different one. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-banning/1032434/27 "2026-08-20T05:16:06Z")
Regarding the 1844 riots: Around the same time, the Catholics founded their own private schools because they disagreed with the Bible translation that was used in schools at the time. The McGuffey Reader is still in print, but it can’t be used in public schools because it contains Bible quotes. Having it, or Bibles, the Quran, etc. in the library? That, I have no problem with. I live a few blocks from a high school, and I’ve seen the Gideons there, just off campus, after school giving out Bibles. Free speech, folks. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-banning/1032434/28 "2026-08-20T05:17:55Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > Well, depending on how you feel about separation between church and state Having a Bible in the school library is fine- as long as it is included for educational, historical, or literary reference . As your ACLU cite shows, handing out Bibles and other religious tracts to each and every student is not. > **[BIBLE IN PUBLIC SCHOOL LIBRARY. | Washington State](https://www.atg.wa.gov/ago-opinions/bible-public-school-library)** > > BIBLE IN PUBLIC SCHOOL LIBRARY. If you read Asimov’s Guide to the Bible (He was not religious at all), you would see that many literary references originate in the Bible. > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > The McGuffey Reader is still in print, but it can’t be used in public schools because it contains Bible quotes. Having it, or Bibles, the Quran, etc. in the library? That, I have no problem with. Right. Or in a Comparative religion class. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-banning/1032434/29 "2026-08-20T07:12:36Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > Well, depending on how you feel about separation between church and state. The issue with separation of church and state and things like stocking the Bible or teaching religion isn’t the “teaching religion” or “Bible” part; it’s that in order to adhere to SoCaS a school would have to teach about religion in general, and carry a general selection of religious books. Something that the people pushing for “religion in school” find anathema. They want their religion and _only_ theirs taught in school, and dissenters to be violently persecuted. So, schools simply avoid the subject altogether, and people interpret that as meaning SoCaS forbidding religion in school at all. So you end up with performative nonsense like believers praying around the flagpole “in defiance” of a rule that doesn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-banning/1032434/30 "2026-08-20T10:03:09Z")
Of course they could fall back to the Bowdler’s edition, which omitted anything which could not be read out loud in the family drawing room. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-banning/1032434/31 "2026-08-20T12:53:04Z")
That’s very much like the cycle I described here: > [@Book banning](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-banning/1032434/17): > > Reminds me of this cycle: Rule: No non-school-related announcements go home with students Some parents: We’d like to the school to announce that our church is having a fun festival open to all next Saturday. It’s mean of the school not to let that be announced. School: Okay, announcements of community events open to all are okay Parents (the same parents as above): Johnny heard an announcement at school about a fun fair at the local mosque! This must me stopped. School: No non-school-related a… ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-banning/1032434/32 "2026-08-20T16:31:48Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Attempts to ban the Bible are performances meant to call attention to the hypocrisy of book banning. We all get it: keeping the Bible on the shelves while banning _Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret_ is hypocritical in the extreme, and also anti-intellectual, misogynistic, and words like that. So the attempts to ban the Bible had the effect intended - calling attention to the hypocrisy of book banning. Glad you got it! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-banning/1032434.md?page=1)