In the course of human history there has been some people who think they are always right and can decide what is good or bad for the rest of our society. Sometimes these "enlightened people" go far away and decide what kind of books people have to read and what books should be banned.
Well, I think we have the right to read what we want, as adults we can choose what is good for us. I don´t believe someone else must decide for you, even if he has good intentions.
I´ve read few books in my life, two of them was banned in their author´s countries. The first one is "Open veins of Latin America (1971)" written by Eduardo Galeano. In the book Eduardo analyses the Latin America history since The discovery of America until today, describing the dominance of Europe (and later North America) over Latin America and the consequences of this situation. It´s a left wing politic book, that was the reason it was banned under the right wing military governments of Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.
The second one is "The gospel according to Jesus Christ (1991)" written by Jose Saramago. In this book Saramago presents a imagined human interpretation of the life of Jesus, in this case Secretary of State for culture banned his novel, claiming that the work not representative of Portugal, but was instead divisive of portuguese people.
I think banning a book is a very dangerous thing, if we let our government ban books, we are forgetting one of the principles of human rights: the freedom of speech. On the other hand, I believe banning a book is a good publicity.
I would like to know your opinion about this, have you read any banned book? Is there any reason for banning a book?
Thanks for your time.
Comments
banning books often bases on the fear of losing the authority on the people , for instance : the governments ban some books because they r afraid that publishing some specific information will threaten their controlling on the people , another example is the church or any spiritual authority : some books represent a threaten as it attacks or criticize the holy text or sometimes, or doubt the credibility of tsex which by it they take control on people by a mean or another
Hello Setareh, good to see you, I haven´t heard about Alí Shariati, I´m going to read about him books and life.
I totally agree with you, people are free of deciding for themselves, thanks for your comment, have a nice day my Little friend
Dear Gerardo, after revolution in my country and author's book named Shariati were banned. a few years later I read his books and i still wonder why they banned the book in the first place. if a book changes some ideas that government are afraid of people to be aware of them, the result would be banning the book. I agree that we have to give people the freedom of deciding for themselves. On the other hand i do not approve of books which insult others religions or beliefs.
Hello Dara, thanks for your comment, I´d like to express my ideas, avoid insulting others and saying bad words... but sometimes people don´t feel comfortable with my ideas and even they attack me... sorry for them, it´s not my problem.
Dara I have a question, are you a teacher?? have a nice day my friend.
Hello my dear Eva, it´s good to see you again. Eva of course you have the right to express your opinion, that´s the idea.
Yes, I´ve Heard about Salam Rushdie and you´re right some people act unpredictable and temperamental (trust me, I know what it is). I have to confess you, I didn´t consider this point of view, maybe government want to prevent violence, it´s a rational reason without a doubt.
On the other hand, I totally agree with you: a book is onlya book, you can choose to read or not. When I started to read "The gospel according to Jesus Christ" I didn´t feel comfortable because I´m catholic and the comments about the book were not so good. But I read it, and I realized it´s just a book, it´s ok, there is notihing bad if Jesus loved Mary Magdalene or if he questioned god about his plan... it´s just a story, no more than this.
I really appreciate your comment, have a nice day my friend, I hope talk to you very soon...
Meu amigo Gerardo Gordillo Munoz, de neuvo muchas gracias amigo! The insult or demeaning of others, that what I was trying to refer to. You express your ideas your thoughts, what you see as something unfair and so on, but do not insult others. As the respected Evangelina mentioned the Indian writer, Salman Rushdie and about his book. Express about your idea, your point of view, but don't insult others. That was what I was trying to say.
Hello Robbie, thanks for your comment, I guess I know how you feel, it´s very hard to understand how can they kill another man just because he has different ideas.
I think we have to know history, in this way we try to avoid this facts happen again.
Have a nice day my friend, it´s a honor for me to talk to you.
Hello Mishaikh, I hope you´re fine. I know there is a "banning" policy in MyEC (http://www.myenglishclub.com/page/why-was-i-banned) and I totally agree with it, specially with 13 ítem: "Writing offensive, aggressive or disrespectful posts or messages to or about another member or a team member, including making public complaints about moderators"
As they say, "We will not ban you without good reason".
Have a nice day my friend, thanks for your comment
Hello Dara, about your comment I have to say:
1. About a government, we have the right to criticize it, there is not any problema with it, in fact it´s our duty. How can we stop quiet if a government are not doing their job?
2. I think we should ban discrimination against minorities based on race, gender, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation.
Have a nice day my friend, thanks for your time.
Banning of books have been practiced hundreds of years ago due to political or spiritual factors. I think the authorities/leaders have been threatened that it might provoke rebellion and treason. In my country, our fallen heroes during the Spanish era were not only banned to publish their books, but they were executed through firing squad. It's the very dark past or history that sometimes I couldn't bear to read.
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