The forces of mind control are alive and well in the U.S. as shown by the American Library Association’s list of challenged books for 2015. Among the challenged books are “Fifty Shades of Grey” for its sexual content and for being poorly written;”The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” for including religious viewpoints; and “Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan” for its protagonist’s praying to Allah. Writes Irene North in Scottsbluff Star Herald, April 14, 2016, “Books, films and chalk scrawlings are expressions of who we are. They help us learn, grow and understand the world around us. Shunning any of them diminishes us all.”
The public mounted 275 challenges last year. Number one on the list was John Green’s highly regarded teen-age novel, “Looking for Alaska,” profanity, sexual content; three others were challenged for homosexuality, one of which provided a forum for transgender teen-agers. (Time, April 11, 2016, by Olivia B. Waxman)
The Bible made the list for the first time as library patrons objected to its “religious viewpoint.” It is thought that some patrons were retaliating against others’ calls for censorship or believing that the presence of the Bible in a public institution violates the separation of church and state. (The Guardian, April 12, 2016, by Alison Flood)