Catholics censoring books?

[xSilverPhinx]

Okay, so seriously help me understand what goes on inside the mind of a person who calls for or accepts the censorship of fiction books, because it's all very odd to me. The Pope told people not to read the Da Vinci Code, for instance, and many Catholics happily obliged. Why? How is it not different from, for instance, Muslims who cry out whenever a picture of their prophet is...burned? No. Defecated on? No. Photoshopped into something horrible? No. Simply drawn.

 

I really should be posting this in a Catholic forum, but I already know the sorts of answers I'll get. And I don't want to be around too many religious people at the same time.

I think it's kind of sad, actually, and a huge insult to intelligence to have certain books banned because they offend a group of people or threaten any dogma in any way. Can't people tell fiction from fiction? Probably not.

I especially sympathise with an author who's book was banned because the Church stepped in and pressured the government to do so.

(I saw that book in a bookstore the other day, thought I'd pick it up, after all Saramago is a Nobel Prize winner. Was a bit too expensive and the paperback had suffered quite a bit, so I didn't. I didn't read it but the recommendation goes out there...)

The difference between this case and what happened to the Da Vinci Code is that the Church actually politically succeeded. People simply chose not to buy Dan Brown's book for religious reasons, which is fine, but it wasn't banned as far as I know.  

Anyways, I'm ranting because I saw a huge cross in a public State school today. These things are really starting to bother me.

[Traveler]

My dad was raised catholic. He gave it up in his teens because they tried to tell him what he could and couldn't read. Their banning certainly backfired with him!!! He became an agnostic secular humanist, and was so for the rest of his life. 

I, too, don't understand banning books. Anyone who's afraid of reading can't be too convinced of their stance.

[Sandra Craft]

I, too, don't understand banning books. Anyone who's afraid of reading can't be too convinced of their stance.

And it often backfires, working as free publicity for the book.  I'd be willing to bet far more people went out of their way to read The DaVinci Code than avoided it because of the ban.  I even picked it up and looked at it -- which confirmed that it wasn't the sort of book I would be interested in, but without the ban I would have just assumed that and not even given it a glance.

[Tank]

I, too, don't understand banning books. Anyone who's afraid of reading can't be too convinced of their stance.

And it often backfires, working as free publicity for the book.  I'd be willing to bet far more people went out of their way to read The DaVinci Code than avoided it because of the ban.  I even picked it up and looked at it -- which confirmed that it wasn't the sort of book I would be interested in, but without the ban I would have just assumed that and not even given it a glance.

Banning a book is an instant sale to me. Spy Catcher ans The Satanic Verses being two that spring to mind. The most dumn bit of censorship I recall is when the Britsh government banned the broadcast of the Sinn Fein voices. All that happened was that the BBC dubbed actors over the interviews. What a stupid waste of time.

[xSilverPhinx]

The most dumn bit of censorship I recall is when the Britsh government banned the broadcast of the Sinn Fein voices. All that happened was that the BBC dubbed actors over the interviews. What a stupid waste of time.

I had to look up Sinn Fein, but there you have it, an example of censorship which is even weirder than the medieval book-banning-by-the-church practice.

Anyways, I just wanted to comment on this part I worte the other day:

And I don't want to be around too many religious people at the same time.

I know it's a blanket statement and such statements aren't made by people who have a clue on about they're talking about. I know a few who despite their religions are good people

[Tristan Jay]

Banning a book is an instant sale to me.

An instant laugh for me, there!  Interesting that authority figures want to stop the proliferation of material in this way.  And the fifth Harry Potter book made much out of this sort of thing, too.

Incidentally, Tank, I've always noticed the really cool picture of the Tank, but not the caption saying "Care Bear in disguise."  For some reason it made me think of that awesome looking tank splitting open, rearranging itself, and transforming into a giant robot teddy bear with a heart-symbol spotlight shining out of it's chest area. 

We now return to Catholics Censoring books.

[Tank]

Incidentally, Tank, I've always noticed the really cool picture of the Tank, but not the caption saying "Care Bear in disguise."  For some reason it made me think of that awesome looking tank splitting open, rearranging itself, and transforming into a giant robot teddy bear with a heart-symbol spotlight shining out of it's chest area. 

It's a comment made by Attila that I thought suited my temperament very well. 

[OldGit]

The Catholics have had the Index Librorum Prohibitorum since the 16th century.  Sir Thomas Bodley, founder of the Bodleian Library, considered the Index a must-have list for his library.

[Crocoduck]

Down with This Sort of Thing




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT9xuXQjxMM

[xSilverPhinx]

The Catholics have had the Index Librorum Prohibitorum since the 16th century.  Sir Thomas Bodley, founder of the Bodleian Library, considered the Index a must-have list for his library.

I think I like this Sir Thomas Bodley

[Wessik]

Well, it never made much difference to me. Books have been banned by entire cultures in the entirety of history(Well, to a certain extent). I don't particularly consider it a manifestation of religion, but a manifestation of authoritorian power.