Book Banning, Shackling Ideas and Mugshots

I’ve always believed in exercising our freedom of expression. It is one of the most basic of rights and while not absolute, it’s one of the things that make us all human. Our ideas are meant to be expressed; our ideas could inspire one person, create a domino effect towards a better world. Imagine a world full of shackled thoughts and repressed speech? It’s a bleak one, I’ll give you that and this leads me to the whole point of me writing this post – banning books.

Censorship is the enemy of our right to free expression and banning books is one of its forms. When a book is banned, access to it becomes limited. What otherwise is a great vehicle for information dissemination becomes impeded. While most appeals against books are rooted on good intentions, personally, I don’t believe it does anyone a favor. Let people read whatever they want to read, let them form their own opinions about the books they open.

Tumblr user Jubilant Antics a.k.a. Kate couldn’t have illustrated the whole thought better. Her series of banned books mugshots says it all – when you ban a book, you’re shackling them.

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I am all for standing up against censorship, if you feel the same get yourself informed and check out the American Library Association’s website.