We need to talk about the Tennessee Book Burning

I shouldn't be surprised that the latest book burning happened in Tennessee and was led by a Conservative pastor who's terrified that Harry Potter is going to turn the youth toward the occult. Which is evidently a bigger problem to him than the murder, incest and hatred contained in the book that he preaches from probably every day. But, hey, wingardium leviosa is clearly the gateway to hell, right?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/book-burning-tennessee-harry-

Putting aside the painful wastage and environmental impact a book burning causes, all this communicates to me is that those who partake are afraid. This comes after the graphic novel Maus by Art Spiegelman was banned from Texan schools due to worries about causing feelings of distress, or so they claim. Maus is a nonfiction book about the holocaust. Coming from someone who's class watched The Boy in the Striped Pajamas when she was nine and who then studied the novel in High School when she was fourteen, I find the reasoning for this ban rather weak. Was watching and reading The Boy in The Striped Pajamas uncomfortable? Absolutely. It's supposed to be uncomfortable.

History is uncomfortable.

What happened during the war was cruel and distressing and is a stain on humanity. Does that mean we should pretend it didn't happen? Absolutely not. Do I mean going to my five year old nephew and telling him about concentration camps and the attempt at Jewish genocide? No. But that's exactly what media like Maus and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is for; introducing younger people to history. It is a spit in the face to the victims of the holocaust to pretend it didn't happen, and that is exactly what book burning and banning is trying to do.

Ironically, the book burning in Tennessee exactly mirrors the Nazi book burnings in 1930. I also believe the Nazis were afraid when they did this. Afraid of information, of free thinking that they could not control, of influence that didn't line up with Hitler's own beliefs. This pastor and his congregation are simply repeating history. I believe their motives are the same, disguised beneath concern for the young. I was raised Catholic, and Harry Potter and Twilight didn't turn me away from the Church. Do you know what did? The behaviour of the Priests and their elitist congregations.

Nobody can control what anyone else thinks. You can influence, but only to an extent. And we are influenced by everything around us, particularly media. Burning books isn't going to change the views of those you're claiming to be saving; more will be printed. Banning books from schools won't stop students from learning; they will find the information elsewhere. We're not exactly in a Fahrenheit 451 scenario just yet, but we're not as far away as we think. Stories find a way; information finds a way; influence finds a way. It can't be burned away. Attempting to do so only invigorates people to seek it out further.

It's archaic, its counterproductive, its pointless.

If you know me, you know that I love books. I support the free movement of stories, no matter the subject. Everything has a right to exist, to be learned, to be presented to a reader in whatever form it comes in. And, yes, that also means ideologies that don't line up with my own. Beliefs that go against my very existence are still the God given right of the believer to have. I have my right to dispute it, and to argue, but I will never support the removal of the believer's right to hate me. It's difficult, very difficult, but it is part of supporting the freedom of speech and expression. As long as it is not inciting violence or putting someone in danger, that person's beliefs are theirs, as are mine.

Books are beautiful, and seeing them destroyed so callously is painful. This pastor is trying to control the narrative for his congregation and while those who took part in the bonfire with him are just as naïve, the only thing they will achieve is pushing their younger generation closer to what they're attempting to destroy. It's human nature to be lured towards something that's been forbidden.

All I see for their future is more young Texans seeking out Maus, and Harry Potter, and Twilight. The only thing this book burning has achieved is a disgusting waste of paper.

I bet they don't even recycle, either.

Keep creating,

Erin Curran

Linktr.ee/erincurran