Thursdays are kind of forgotten days. Monday is well, Monday. Tuesday is generally busy but at least it's not Monday anymore! Wednesday is the middle of the week and my "Friday is the day after tomorrow" day and also is Whine/Wine day. Friday is FRIDAY! But Thursday? Well, it's not Baby Friday, that's for sure. Nor is it Mini-Friday, as someone on the news called it this morning.
It's just Thursday and it's kind of the "redheaded stepchild" of the week. (Family joke, since there are some redheads in the family but none of us were actually stepchildren).
So, Thursday is just going to be my "This and That" day. Which means that I'll post whatever I feel like, and it may be politics, faith related, family, just whatever and it might be a rant or a commentary. At least, this Thursday! It's probably going to be like Whine Wednesday, and not be an every week feature.
Today's whatever: This is Banned Books Week. Which I thought was next week, so I didn't post anything
about it yet. Anyone who knows us will know how opposed we are to censorship. Otter has a collection of Banned Books, and we add to it when ever we get the chance. You'd be surprised how many Banned Books we find at thrift stores.
There are a lot of things printed that I don't agree with. That's probably not unexpected, considering how ultra-conservative we are. But, it's not really up to me to say what someone else can (or can't), or should (or should not) read. I don't mean things like keeping things away from our children because they are just too young, that's just careful parenting. I mean actual censorship, somebody doesn't like it so they think that they get to make the decision for me.
I do think that some subjects should maybe be put in their own section at the library or book store for example. But that doesn't mean that they should be off-limits. More of a cautionary thing, but not hidden away. There are a couple of exceptions, such as the reason we will no longer shop/sell on Amazon. But since the reason has to do with their policy of not removing what was essential a pedophile's guide, I don't think we have to apologize for that and I don't think it's hypocrtical of us. As an example, books like the Tom Sawyer books are on the Banned list for most places. I understand why some people are offended by them, because if you look at them by today's standards then yes, they can be considered racist. But, if you look at them and realize that they are a product of the time they were written in, then they are simply stories that might be good stories but have some things that are irrelevant. I'm able to read something without agreeing with things like that, because I realize that things change constantly and so do society's opinions & expectations. I don't necessarily think that we can go back and "blame" someone from several decades back because he had an opinion that might not have been unusual for the time, although that doesn't mean that I would agree with the particular opinion. Hopefully, I've explained what I meant clearly - sometimes, I'm not so sure I did. There are other subjects, such as religion, politics, etc.
So, go read something Banned. You might enjoy it, and you might also learn something. Even if it's just that things are different than they used to be, which can be either bad or good.
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