Freedom to read

UBC Bookstore recently hosted a Freedom to Read display, which was very interesting. I find it rather amusing that so many people can advocate freedom of speech, yet there are many books (and movies for that matter) that are off-limits because some group or organisation feels the content is inappropriate. I recall from a list of "bannings and burnings" that Harry Potter and the Philoshopher's Stone (or Sorcerer's Stone, depending on where the book was printed) was banned in some US states because it contained themes of black magic. I also recall that in 1983 The Diary of Anne Frank was banned in Alabama schools because it was "A real downer", and in the 1980's, Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny was banned from London (UK) schools because it depicted only what are perceived as middle-class rabbits. In 1931, Alice in Wonderland was banned in the Hunan province of China, because 'animal should not use human language'.

And to think I was bombarded with these trashy books growing up!

Now, according to a Sydney Morning Herald report, the Vatican is currently trying to prevent people from reading the incredibly popular Da Vinci Code because it contains themes that are not consistent with Catholic doctrine:

Da Vinci Code's 'lies'
March 16, 2005 - 7:56AM

The Catholic Church has come out swinging against The Da Vinci Code, dismissing US author Dan Brown's worldwide bestseller about the Vatican supressing the 'truth' that Jesus had a child, as a collection of "shameful and unfounded lies".
"Don't read it, and above all, don't even buy the Da Vinci Code," Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, deputy head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Doctrine of the Faith, told Vatican radio.
Bertone, who is archbishop of Genoa and seen as a possible successor to Pope John Paul II, is leading the Vatican's assault on the book, which has become a publishing sensation since it was released in 2003.
Bertone admitted in an interview with Italian daily Il Giornale, that the Catholic Church was worried because "the book is everywhere. There is a very real risk that many people who read it will believe that the fables it contains are true."
The main theme of the book, which has been in the Italian best-seller lists for more than a year, is that the Church has long suppressed the "fact" that Jesus had a child with Mary Magdalene.
"You don't do a novel mystifying historic dates or speaking badly or defaming a historic person who has his prestige and his fame in the history of the Church, in the story of humanity," Bertone said in an interview with Vatican Radio today.
He also criticised Catholic bookshops which have been stocking the popular title.
"I regret that Catholic bookshops, which for reasons of profit, have stacks of this book," said Bertone.
AFP

I suspect that this campaign may have something to do with Cardinal Bertone's ambitions to further his career.