Moments of Clarity

My thoughts after watching Matt Walsh discussing yet another author giving in to a woke mob.

Are we moving towards book burning? What would it take for Me to participate in it? What would it take for You to participate in it? What’s better – burning, censorship or confronting reality?

This story is beyond ridiculous, but pretty much expected. For years we experienced “child adaptations” of classic literature. Arguments like “it’s a beautiful story, but too long/ too complicated for young readers” saw every classic butchered to fit. Tendencies were not to teach how to read, appreciate, discuss…..it was to simplify/ dumb it down.

Real victims are confused children. Without even given opportunity to grow and appreciate, they are missing out on truly philosophical dilemmas. If we never allowed our children to think for themselves, confront their own feelings and confirm their own views, can we teach them to appreciate the opposite point of view? Can we explain that appreciation isn’t agreement? And what about “agree to disagree ” as long as full factual information is provided? After all, this might be one of the most important skills we acquire.

Instead of learning to live and find joy of living, we tell children “you can be anything” and “everyone is a winner” before they’re able to understand the real world or concept like “bread of shame”. We confuse children by blurring boundaries, by pretending to be their friends, by not wanting / willing to take role of parents oh, make no mistake, parents are loving and accepting, but ready to guide through different situations with both freedom and boundaries.

We can discuss the harm caused by adoption of say, Jane Austen and Shakespeare, but we don’t need to go that far. Even Alice in Wonderland or brothers Grimm are “lost in translation”.

It effectively created a void and this void needed to be filled with something. Something that made teenagers excited. Something to catch their imaginations and allow same mental growth. What could we offer this generation of readers? How can they explore relationship between men and women? How can they ask questions of courtship or even believe that getting married with the view of creating family is a desired outcome of the love story?

How can we explain the happiness of Wendy to grow up, get married, have children and grow old vs Peter Pan emptiness in the book where it’s cut short to adopt to “young readers”? How can we discuss the need for standing up to stereotypes and antisemitism, if the Merchant of Venice is a whitewashed version? What about racism of Dickens stories?

We swept it under the rug, while semi glorifying theft. After all, Robin Hood is a hero and Bonnie and Clyde are ideals of love and devotion. Add hippies to the mix without explanation of their connection to socialism and antifa and our stage is set to have borderline book burning. And here’s we go, right back to start – would I participate in book burning? What would it take? And now a few trigger happy poorly educated people ready to attack anything.

Seriously doubt this was done by people hiding from bombs, tired, hungry and scared. It’s typical mob behavior. Matt is right – cancellation of publishing isn’t the answer. To be honest, most likely I would happily live my life without knowing about this book, yet submission isn’t an option. At least not for me

As is often the case with me, stories of my forefathers and foremothers are the most telling. These are far from politically correct, but they’re honest experiences recorded through history – intergenerational families in the harsh political and geo-economic reality.

Complexity of Biblical stories are unparalleled by any other book (fiction or not). Learn them, so you can discuss them with your family and friends. Read them in original form, ask questions and look for answers. It’s a confronting but beautiful journey.