When I was about 9 or 10, I read the now infamous book ROOTS from cover to cover.
Was I a precocious little thing? YES.
But, was I also bound and determined to finish all 700-something pages whether I understood what was happening or not? Also, yes.
I’m assuming that this, in itself, is unique. To be such a young, white, suburban, sheltered girl making the choice to read a long-winded tome about slavery and its evils instead of, I don’t know, The Babysitter’s Club. But what made it a tad bit more unusual is that I chose to read it day after day, on a poolside loungchair during free swim at Christian summer camp.
Yes. That’s right. I read it at a Christian camp.
I can still picture it plain as day, my gawky pre-teen self all angles and bones, curled up on one of those blue and white striped deathtrap lounge chairs of the 80s. Uncomfortably trying to keep my butt from sliding through the separating straps, with deep creases forming on my thighs where they were digging in and holding on for dear life. That giant lug of a book perched on my tented knees, seeking protection from cannonball splashes and watermarks, without a hint of sunscreen on my little body. This was the 1980s after all.
I was subversive before subversive was cool.
At the time I’m sure the counselors, mostly teenagers and young adults, didn’t know what to do with this weird kid more intent on reading than playing. This was also the same summer where I innocently chose to wear a “Protect Mother Earth” shirt to this camp and set minor shockwaves out around me. Because HOW DARE I?
Today, I’m certain this would have been met with more than an eye roll at my weirdness. In this circle of devout demon-casting-out counselors, my parents would have been accused of indoctrination for allowing me to read such clearly biased works of literature at such a young and impressionable age. They probably would have been called (incorrectly) socialists or communists and labeled anti-American. But indoctrination would have been the chief complaint given the setting. This is kind of ironic given that this was the same camp that preached predestination and hellfire and brimstone so soundly every day that I was certain I was going to hell for most of my young life. So why not misbehave? Yet I digress.
The funny part about the indoctrination debate I would have created in today’s culture is that I can almost guarantee my parents had no idea what I was reading. At that age, I was in love with our tiny little local library and was bound and determined to read my way through the “classics” section, a dusty old back corner no one else ever seemed to visit. My parents didn’t vet the books. They didn’t worry that I might get the wrong idea about American history or feel guilty for being white. Again, this was the 1980s. It wasn’t on their radar to be worried about books. They were busy congratulating themselves on their stellar parenting that I was, in fact, reading and meticulously combing through my Halloween candy for razor blades.
They also assumed, correctly, that I was actually only absorbing about half of the information I was reading.
Anyway…I didn’t stop at Roots. That weird book nerdy 9-year-old grew into a weird 40-something book nerdy woman. Throughout the years I have read books upon books upon books. Non-fiction. Fiction. Books to challenge me, change me, upset me, and make me think. I’ve sobbed in public places over books and thrown them against the wall in frustration in private ones. Books have always, and will always be, an integral part of my life.
Yet not once, not ever, did I feel guilty or ashamed for reading about our history or about the problems of this world that people who look like me might have brought about. I didn’t become gay when I read books about gay people. And I don’t even think any references to sex of any type really made sense or sunk in, other than giving me a general feeling of “OOOHHH, this is naughty.”
What reading all of these books did do, though, was help me build empathy towards others. They expanded my worldview beyond my little corner of white suburbia complete with Christian Camp Summers. They challenged me to think outside of who I am and what I experienced growing up. And, most of all, I believe they made me into a better human.
Now, in today’s climate, books are being banned left and right. Parents are upset. Politicians are using libraries and librarians as stepping stools to relevance and votes. It is a supercharged environment around BOOKS.
The sad irony of this argument is that it’s based on something kids are not doing. In 2020 only 20% of 13-year-olds admitted to reading on their own for pleasure. (1) Meanwhile, the average child spends about 38 hours exposed to media of some form outside of school. (2). The books in the school libraries that poor librarians, who are underpaid and under attack, are being accused of using to indoctrinate children with–they’re NOT being read. And if they are, they’re not indoctrinating children.
This is madness.
Tiktok and Snapchat do more to indoctrinate your children than books do. Your own parenting indoctrinates your children more than books do. The “God Bless America” signs that Texas schools are being forced by law to display indoctrinate your children more than books do. Make no mistake, every child is being indoctrinated, it’s just a matter of which poison you’re choosing to let them drink. (no pun intended)
Beyond this lack of consumption, though, I also believe that books are not to be feared. Yes, there might be an instance here and there where a book that is not age-appropriate slips into a school library. But there are, in almost every school district across the nation, processes to have these books reviewed and removed. No one is trying to make your child gay (newsflash: it doesn’t work like that) or hate America (second newsflash: you can love this country deeply while still wanting to fix where it’s gone wrong). Librarians and teachers are not to be demonized.
This is ridiculous and it is truly a political stunt AIMED AT BOOKS. It’s just noise, people, political white noise designed to whip us into a fury over something we should not be afraid of. We should be afraid of kids dying in school shootings, or students whose only meal of the day comes from the school cafeteria. Or, at the very least, we should be addressing why our kids are so fascinated with social media that they’re willing to do things like, I don’t know, ingest a TIDE POD and potentially die just for a few likes. But we should not be afraid of them reading a BOOK.
Now, how about that 9-year old…did she turn into an America-hating indoctrinated flaming liberal who loves communism and hates all that is right with this world?
No. She didn’t.
She became someone who fell in love with Jesus on her own terms in her own time but has serious doubts about Christianity and how it’s wielded like a sword in our country. She grew into someone who has an insatiable curiosity for life, learning and hearing other people’s stories. Books helped her learn to have empathy and care about those who are marginalized and shunned, both throughout history and today, and helped her understand that it’s possible for her to love this country yet still acknowledge that we did some bad things in the past to get where we are today.
I’m proud of the person I am today and books, those subversive things we’re accusing of so much, are a big part of the reason why. I want my kids to read the hard things, the dark things, the trying things, and then come talk to me about them. I want them to find their own way to faith like I did. And I want them to love the library too.
The truth is that if you don’t want your kid to read a book, you can keep them from it. Libraries are voluntary. I go all the time and (newsflash) only check out what I want to check out. Many schools even have a block you, as a parent, can put on your child’s library account preventing them from checking out materials you find objectionable. I would venture to guess that you have more control over what they read than you do over what they watch on the internet, even with the strictest monitoring around.
On Parental Rights
I am all for parental rights. And I believe that books, like many things, fall under that grey “what works for me what might not work you” category of things in this modern world. However, I’m afraid that all the noise being generated around a few titles (700-some odd books have been banned in Texas schools (3) is a distraction from what really matters.
So this is my challenge to you. The next time someone is standing up at a local school board meeting waving a book in the air calling it pornographic or racist, before you react with your pitchforks and your petitions, READ THE BOOK front to back, in its entirety. Don’t just read the excerpts that are used as examples. Read the whole thing. The parts that make you feel uncomfortable or angry, press into that thought and ask yourself if you’re uncomfortable because it’s truly inappropriate OR if you’re uncomfortable because it’s making you think about things you’d rather avoid. Read literary reviews on the books, unbiased from book people, not pundits. Then and only then should you be able to protest the book’s presence in your school library if you still find it objectionable. Keep in mind, you might not win because it might not be objectionable to all people, just you. And that’s ok. Exercise your control and ask that your child not be allowed to check it out.
But read the dang book first.
And just remember this, forbidden fruit is a real thing. The more we tell our kids that something is wrong and forbidden, the more it becomes attractive and desireable to them. This isn’t new, if you are a Christian you believe it’s what got us into this whole mess in the first place. So be careful what you wish for, because that discomfort you feel and the desire to keep it from your kids might be the very thing they seek out on their own. And the best way to help them navigate it when they do is to have open conversations with them now so they are confident in their own beliefs, not just what they’ve been told. Kids are like hound dogs for truth and will sniff it out, so being honest and letting them find their own way there is probably the best way to go.
But that’s just A Christian Booknerds Take on Book Banning, so do with it what you will.
Peace, love, and books upon books,
Meg
For more on my top reads, check out THIS POST.
Welcome to BurntToast! My name is Meaghan, and this is my safe space, a place where we can share stories, share recipes and share life. It’s my dream that you can come here, kick your shoes off and pour yourself a glass of wine while you read, laugh, and maybe even hop into the kitchen. This is my heart, for all of you to see. And ALL are welcome here.