Republican war on books: They don't just want to control your body -- next up, your mind

[marmar]

Republican war on books: They don't just want to control your body — next up, your mind
Gutting public schools, targeting booksellers, shutting down libraries: Every censorship tactic is on the table

By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED AUGUST 11, 2022 1:00PM


(Salon) Once Republicans started to falsely accuse educators and librarians of "grooming" children for sexual abuse, it was just a matter of time before the talk of imprisoning them began. Sure enough, in a clip collected by Tennessee Holler, a recently-elected district attorney in Hamilton County, Tennessee, did just that during a meet-and-greet between her, the pro-censorship group Moms for Liberty (whose name would do George Orwell proud) and the local sheriff. In the video, recorded in May, you can hear an anti-liberty "Mom" ask, "Do you feel like there should be some kind of prosecution for these librarians?"

Coty Wamp, the county's new DA, offers a throat-clearing "tough one," before affirming that prosecution is on the table: "There's going to come a time, in some of these books, where it crosses a criminal line. It's called contributing to the delinquency of a minor."

Now that the video has gone viral, Wamp is denying that she intended to say what she said. When contacted by Jezebel, she unleashed a confusing disawowal, claiming she never meant to say she would "prosecute librarians or teachers for the books that are in our schools," but was only talking about some imaginary scenario in which "an adult was standing on a street corner handing out pamphlets to young children that depict sexual acts." As the video shows, of course, she was responding to a question about librarians, at an event held by a group whose main political activity is harassing librarians and schoolteachers over books with "woke" content they don't like.

....(snip)....

Clearly, the Republican war on reading in just beginning. Ever since GOP hedge-fund zillionaire Glenn Youngkin won the 2021 race for Virginia's governor with a campaign that celebrated attempts to censor Nobel-winning novelist Toni Morrison, Republicans across the country have been swept up in a book-banning frenzy. Using fake concerns about "the children" as cover, Republicans have waged all-out war on not just books but any form of speech deemed "woke," usually because it advocates antiracism or humanizes LGBTQ people. Red states have been banning books and terrorizing teachers for anything they deem "critical race theory," now a shapeless umbrella term used to demonizes everything from teaching Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington to telling kids that the Holocaust was bad. Hoary myths that gay people "recruit" children have been revived by simply updating the terminology — these days, LGBTQ people are accused of "grooming" children, with no evidence required — and used to justify legislation such as Florida's "don't say gay" law, effectively forcing queer teachers and students into the closet. The circle of censorship is expanding, as conservatives have started to target drag shows and Pride parades, trying to shut down any public expression of queerness or gender diversity. ...............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2022/08/11/on-books-on-schools-libraries-and-even-bookstores-is-just-beginning/

[niyad]

1. NSS

[slightlv]

2. As a former librarian

and an avid reader who has books stacked every place imaginable in my house, this is more than worrisome. I've been feeling guilty spending money I don't readily have lately on books I've not had time lately to read as thoroughly as I've wanted lately. Setting them aside for more slower times. While no one article is worthy of changing your entire lifestyle, it is definitely food for greater thought.

My books are not gay oriented, as a general rule, but the type I buy are likely to disappear off the shelves, I fear, should the Theocracy take over. Books on alternative religions; books on world religions. Books on Wicca, books on old-style Craft; books on (oh! perish the thought in today's world!) Herbalism. Many, many books on Herbalism. Books on Astrology. Spellcraft books. Every kind and type of book that damns me as "Witch!" Stacks and piles of them in every room of the house. Books with publishing dates as far back as the early 1900's, and as recent as this year. Books from long deceased authors, and those from authors I hold dear. Even books I've written myself.

And Tarot cards galore! Oh, my! I, who collect those wondrous arts of beauty and mystery. Eventually, the Xtianist church coming to be will see fit as outlawing all of those things as tools of the devil they've always yelled them to be. Just like they did with our Rock N Roll back in the 60's and 70's.

I've been holding back on a few tomes that were a bit more expensive, as they are collector's books. I leaf through them each time I go into the store and drool a bit more each time I do (tho not on the pages!)... I think I shall drool no more, but buy them next time... just in case they disappear from the shelves of the bookstore. Hubby agrees. Thankfully, not only is he an avid reader like me, and an avid booster of all things literature, but he hates what the R's are doing to this country. But he's also a Witch and determined NOT to see the theocrats take down this country with their religion.

We have many, many friends... witchy, agnostic, and atheists and we'll all fight against the coming theocracy. We're also a Rainbow hewed group who stand with each other as warriors. A slight against one is a slight against all. We're actually a rather gentle group who'd rather peacefully study our hobbies and interests. But what do they say about not going gentle into that good night? Well, we're into that, just as much...!