2005 Banned Books Week

September 24 - October 1 2005 is Banned Books Week. "Banned Books Week (BBW) celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them." Linda Harvey, president of Mission America, reports "Library selection committees are systematically purging libraries of any conservative or serious Christian viewpoints and instead, loading the shelves with left-wing propaganda and pornography ... When will library-instigated book banning come out of the closet? Banned Books Week: Smoke Screen of Hypocrisy Eric Buehrer, president of Gateways to Better Education, states "What used to be called discernment is now called censorship. Why is it called 'censorship' when parents apply standards for book selection but called 'meeting library standards' when a librarian evaluates a book?'" Mitch Muncy, executive vice president of Spence Publishing Company, a conservative publishing company, noted the bias against conservative books, "Our experience has shown that when they don't like your book, they do not hesitate to make sure that that book never makes it to their library or bookstore, only they don't call that banning books. They refer to that as 'selection criteria.' So, in fact, the very sponsors of this event have no hesitation about doing the very thing that they accuse others of doing'." Many 'Banned Book Week' Celebrators Censor Conservative Views One citizen in Fayetteville Arkansas recently audited her school libraries and produced these findings: 502 books listed under sex 209 books listed under witches fiction 152 books on drugs 93 on smoking 66 books on sex instruction 53 books listed under homosexuality 25 listed under homosexuality fiction 23 books on lesbians 16 books listed under rape fiction 11 books listed under lesbian fiction 9 books listed under incest fiction - as opposed to - 3 books listed under abstinence or sexual abstinence 3 books listed under multicultural fiction 2 books listed under Jewish Fiction 2 books listed under Afro American Fiction 1 book listed under Indian fiction 1 book listed under Hispanic fiction 0 books listed under abstinence fiction Citizens Challenge Obscene Materials in Fayetteville School Libraries "Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment." - Library Bill of Rights Focus on the Family Exposes the “Banned” Books Lie