I'd be very interested to know what flavor of Catholic school that was -- different teaching orders vary wildly in their willingness to expose students to ideas outside of Catholicism, and local diocesan schools can vary based on the diocese and the bishop's personal leanings. Franciscans (in my experience) don't care what you read as long as you learn something from it, but that's not a universal thing. However, I have heard that the old Index of Forbidden Books was starting to be updated; it included such things as The Three Musketeers because of its anti-clerical comments about Richelieu.
Also, as a reporter I have written about book-banning efforts -- and those who are most interested in banning books generally don't read them for content or context. They flip through page by page and look for the specific use of whatever words they find offensive, or concepts they find offensive, and if they find any they want the book removed. These are people who are afraid of ideas, afraid of independent though, and afraid of creativity.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-05 02:18 pm (UTC)Also, as a reporter I have written about book-banning efforts -- and those who are most interested in banning books generally don't read them for content or context. They flip through page by page and look for the specific use of whatever words they find offensive, or concepts they find offensive, and if they find any they want the book removed. These are people who are afraid of ideas, afraid of independent though, and afraid of creativity.