What are the reasons why books are challenged?

Question

I'm doing a project on why books are banned and I would like a good answer as to why books are challenged.

Answer 1

There are several websites from the American Library Association explaining and exploring this topic.

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.htm

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/foryoungpeople/youngpeople.htm

Also this blog seems to be very current and very interesting:

http://asifnews.blogspot.com/

The group "As If" is Young Adult authors supporting intellectual freedom.

Answer 2

Same reasons witches were burned... Those in power didn't want their authority challenged and in order to accept a new idea or concept... One would have to adjust their stand to a lower position and therefore (subconsciously) risking the chance of becoming subservient to what they otherwise control.

What is more finite than a mass burning... It takes something and eliminates what is seen as a problem even to its molecular structure... therefore implying a sort of controlling, God complex on the part of the burner.

Basically, it is a mixture of fear and prejudice. Old fashioned nonsense and social bullying. Some people and groups (like in the case of Religion Vs Non religion. Some people feel that they are the moral majority and therefore somehow, by some sovereign right control the masses. The banned kind of book exists and the writers of these books exist because the world cannot ever remain the same.

The only constant in the universe is the condition of change.

A great suggestion for a book to read that explains these two kinds of person, group or organization is called;

Finite and infinite games. It is by James P. Carse. It is a must!

Answer 3

John Stuart Mill in his essay entitled "On Liberty" spoke eloquently about the need for freedom of opinion or an open "marketplace of ideas." Ideas should not be stifled by censors.

However, even John Stuart Mill knew limits. Thus Mill wrote: "It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to say that this doctrine is meant to apply only to human beings in the maturity of their faculties. We are not speaking of children or of young persons below the age which the law may fix as that of manhood or womanhood."

Thus in today's world, texts with explicit violence or foul language or inappropriate sexual explicitness may be deemed inappropriate for certain age groups. Do we really wish to have 10-year-olds exposed to violent pornography? I don't think so.

So usually you'll find committees (comprised of school teachers, librarians and parents) considering what texts are appropriate for a given age group and which are not. If there are controversial books on a reading list (Huckleberry Finn, for example), typically it will not be required reading for the entire class, but listed as "optional."

Answer 4

I am very against book banning (very VERY against it), but I think it's a bit reductive to say that books are always banned because people are narrow-minded and want to control the minds of others. Sure, that's one reason...it's not the only one, though. Here's a short list, off the top of my head:

1. Parents are afraid that they won't be able to personally monitor everything their children read and watch, so they want the government/publishers/someone to help them out.
2. People have very different ideas of what is pornography, art, beauty, prurience, slander, etc. Most people agree that pornography should not be available to everyone in a public library, but people have very, very different ideas of what pornography is. For some people, porn is Hustler (and no one is trying to get Hustler in our library stacks, although the library I used to work at did stock Playboy magazines); for others, porn is D.H. Lawrence.
3. It's true; some people want to control what others think. Bad, bad, bad!

I'm sure there are more reasons. My point is that, while censorship is wrong-headed, there are a lot of good people who think it should be allowed in some cases. Good luck with your project!

Answer 5

Mostly by narrow minded people! They don't like any
one expressing any viewpoint contrary to their own.
Instead of them NOT selecting that book, they don't want ANYONE to get it!

Answer 6

Check this out: http://www.deletecensorship.org/books.html