Book Banning

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taylorc

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I was shocked to learn that in many European countries certain books(like Mein Kampf) are banned. Does anyone else find this horrifying? I was brought up to believe that you may disagree with what someone says but you should respect their right to say it.
 
No, doesn’t surprise me, but I am from Europe. Mein Kampf was written by a man who played a pretty integral part in the wholesale slaughter of a good chunk of the European population 60 years ago.

Nazi paraphenalia is banned in Germany and it really doesn’t surprise me that Mein Kampf is on that list.
 
Well I guess if someone is inclined to read Mein Kampf they should be able to. The reasoning for such a desire is beyond me though. I put it up there with the Satanic Bible- but then if folks feel like giving that a read then give it a go I guess! 🤷
 
I think it’s unfair to group places together as Europe in matters such as this. It is a minority of countries that do it, and it’s in relation to the horror of Hitler. In Austria it is illegal to deny the holocaust.
I totally disagree with it, but can understand why they do it.

Then again, everyone here wants a stab at ‘godless Europe’.
 
I read Mein Kampf in college as a requirement for my Modern Germany class. It was shocking and horrifying, yet I do not believe we should cover it up or hide it.

I do not like the banning of any books because once you start banning certain books who knows where it will lead.

My translation of the book states the following:
Mein Kampf presents a deeper problem, though, unrelated to such practical concerns as controlling extremism. It evokes discomfort and distaste, a desire to cover up its crude evil and let it recede from our consciousness. When we encounter things of beauty, it is natural to want to display them, here the tendency is reversed and the desire is to blot out this work of ugliness and depravity…
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Remembering gives strength to the survivors, comfort to the families of those who perished and a final legacy to those who fell. But beyond that, remembering the Holocaust -it causes, its progression, its aftermath - allows us to understand the phenomenon of genocide better and attunes us to the danger of racial and ethnic conflict…
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…We dismissed him as a madman and we ignored his wretched book; the result was a tragedy of unprecedented proportions. This is yet another lesson [to be taken from the book]; the lesson of vigilance and responsibility, of not closing our eyes to the evil around us…
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I agree with this. We ignored his book before with dire consequences.

God bless
 
to me it seems foolhardy to ban books, especialy that one.

those that don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.
 
Feanor said:
Well I guess if someone is inclined to read Mein Kampf they should be able to. The reasoning for such a desire is beyond me though. I put it up there with the Satanic Bible- but then if folks feel like giving that a read then give it a go I guess! 🤷
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I’ve read Mein Kampf three times and for no other reason than to learn. I don’t just read things written by those I agree with. I try and be well-rounded. 👍

And the banning of any book, regardless of its author/content, is abominable. In fact, I spent over a half hour arguing with the county commission because they had a few books on their list (Mein Kampf being one of them) they didn’t want in the library system. I argued and argued with them, threatened a lawsuit, and they finally abandoned their communist tendencies.
 
Neolithic said:
I’ve read Mein Kampf three times and for no other reason than to learn. I don’t just read things written by those I agree with. I try and be well-rounded. 👍

And the banning of any book, regardless of its author/content, is abominable. In fact, I spent over a half hour arguing with the county commission because they had a few books on their list (Mein Kampf being one of them) they didn’t want in the library system. I argued and argued with them, threatened a lawsuit, and they finally abandoned their communist tendencies.
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I also disagree with banning books. I don’t mean this to apply to Mein Kampf particularly but defending books from banning does not mean that I believe that taxpayers always need to pay for books to meet everyone’s wishes.

Pornographers have used that same tactic to try to get stuff in the libraries that used to get people thrown in jail.

Well roundedness is good. But so is expecting people to use good judgement and to respect their financial duties to the taxpayers.
 
Corki said:
I also disagree with banning books. I don’t mean this to apply to Mein Kampf particularly but defending books from banning does not mean that I believe that taxpayers always need to pay for books to meet everyone’s wishes.

Pornographers have used that same tactic to try to get stuff in the libraries that used to get people thrown in jail.

Well roundedness is good. But so is expecting people to use good judgement and to respect their financial duties to the taxpayers.
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No, no. We’re not talking about pornography which serves no purpose other than sexual arousal. We’re not talking about lewd photographs, but books. The Supreme Court has already ruled on this. Communities have the right to ban pornography, but they have no right to ban books. The library system can certainly get rid of certain books to save money, but that’s quite different than banning books. They were banning them and for no other reason than their content.

Too, many of the taxpayers, including myself, spoke out against this activity. A group of about 60 of us threatened a lawsuit, and they finally abandoned their communist activity. The public library is their for a reason, and not to play nanny.

The only books they need to get rid of are those that nobody checks out, and in fact, they do that all the time. Mein Kampf is still there, last I checked, so someone in the community is checking it out an awful lot. And not me - I own it.
 
LeroyCRHP said:
I think there is a reason to ban some books. Especially with such association as Mein Kampf for Europeon countries.

It is funny to look at the “challenged” books in the USA.

ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.cfm
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There is no good reason to ban books - any books. Pornography magazines? Certainly. Pornography is psychologically harmful (I can explain if you want). Books aren’t. Not even content like Mein Kampf is directly harmful.
 
I don’t advocate banning such books - but I wouldn’t think of reading them unless, say, required to do so for a history subject or something.

Simply put, their ideas are wrong and history has execrated them. We now, please God, know better than to be filling our minds with such error. It’d be like reading books by advocates of the humoral theory of disease, or the idea that the earth is flat or something.
 
LilyM said:
I don’t advocate banning such books - but I wouldn’t think of reading them unless, say, required to do so for a history subject or something.

Simply put, their ideas are wrong and history has execrated them. We now, please God, know better than to be filling our minds with such error. It’d be like reading books by advocates of the humoral theory of disease, or the idea that the earth is flat or something.
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People can read them to learn. I own Mein Kampf. I don’t subscribe to Hitler’s ideas, but, again, I don’t just introduce myself with content I agree with. I don’t just read one thing - I read several things. I’ve read books in favor of Hitler (like Mein Kampf) and against Hitler. I read it all. I have my own opinions, and, simply put, Hitler was a nut.

Questioning the motives of someone who reads books like Mein Kampf is as ludicrous as banning books like Mien Kampf.

How can you be for or against something without knowing anything about it? I was told to dislike HItler when I was young. But, as I got older, I realized I can’t dislike or hate anything without knowing something about it. So, I read Mein Kampf and concluded that I don’t like HItler. When I graduated college and had some more experience under my belt, I read it again. Still, don’t like him. I made my teenage son read it, and he said, “Dad, this guy was crazy.”
 
Neolithic said:
People can read them to learn. I own Mein Kampf. I don’t subscribe to Hitler’s ideas, but, again, I don’t just introduce myself with content I agree with. I don’t just read one thing - I read several things. I’ve read books in favor of Hitler (like Mein Kampf) and against Hitler. I read it all. I have my own opinions, and, simply put, Hitler was a nut.

Questioning the motives of someone who reads books like Mein Kampf is as ludicrous as banning books like Mien Kampf.

How can you be for or against something without knowing anything about it? I was told to dislike HItler when I was young. But, as I got older, I realized I can’t dislike or hate anything without knowing something about it. So, I read Mein Kampf and concluded that I don’t like HItler. When I graduated college and had some more experience under my belt, I read it again. Still, don’t like him. I made my teenage son read it, and he said, “Dad, this guy was crazy.”
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You had to actually go and read Mein Kampf to figure out that he was a nut? Just looking at what they guy did - what his followers did - is more than enough for me and most of the world to know who and what he was.

You don’t need to stick your head in a bucket of c@@p to know it stinks.
 
LilyM said:
You had to actually go and read Hitler’s books to figure out that he was a nut? Just looking at what they guy did - what his followers did - is more than enough for me and most of the world to know it.

You don’t need to stick your head in a bucket of c@@p to know it stinks.
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What was I supposed to do? Listen to a teacher who was as indoctrinated as she was trying to make me, watch a TV special which was clearly slanted, or go and read the man’s words myself and conclude for myself what I thought? Maybe he had a good reason for what he did. He didn’t, but he might have. I didn’t know because nobody introduced us to anything but what they wanted to introduce us to. That’s indoctrination. If you want to know who Hitler really was, read Mein Kampf. So, I did. And I concluded that he was crazy, not evil. I don’t believe he was possessed by a demon; I believe he was crazy.

You can’t be for or against anything without knowing something about it - period. And listening to a teacher or a slanted TV special isn’t going to illuminate anything. I wanted to know what made the man tick, and reading his book illuminated that. He was obsessed with certain things, disgruntled by certain things, thus creating the man we know as Hitler.
 
Neolithic said:
What was I supposed to do? Listen to a teacher who was as indoctrinated as she was trying to make me, watch a TV special which was clearly slanted, or go and read the man’s words myself and conclude for myself what I thought? Maybe he had a good reason for what he did. He didn’t, but he might have. I didn’t know because nobody introduced us to anything but what they wanted to introduce us to. That’s indoctrination. If you want to know who Hitler really was, read Mein Kampf. So, I did. And I concluded that he was crazy, not evil. I don’t believe he was possessed by a demon; I believe he was crazy.

You can’t be for or against anything without knowing something about it - period. And listening to a teacher or a slanted TV special isn’t going to illuminate anything. I wanted to know what made the man tick, and reading his book illuminated that. He was obsessed with certain things, disgruntled by certain things, thus creating the man we know as Hitler.
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Even a slanted TV special usually shows plenty of film footage of Hitler’s own speeches and quotes plenty of his own words. As well as film footage of the concentration camps and so on, which were ordered and performed by Hitler and his followers.

THAT film footage on its own (and you can always choose to ignore commentary accompanying it) should be evidence enough for anyone to base an opinion on without having to delve into the intricacies of Hitler’s sick psyche.

Like I said, you don’t need to stick your head into a bucket of cr*p to know that it stinks
 
LilyM said:
Even a slanted TV special usually shows plenty of film footage of Hitler’s own speeches and quotes plenty of his own words. As well as film footage of the concentration camps and so on, which were ordered and performed by Hitler and his followers.

THAT film footage on its own (and you can always choose to ignore commentary accompanying it) should be evidence enough for anyone to base an opinion on without having to delve into the intricacies of Hitler’s sick psyche.
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Speeches of him rallying troops who already agreed with him because they had to. None of it explains the man well. A few clips explain nothing.
 
Neolithic said:
Speeches of him rallying troops who already agreed with him because they had to. None of it explains the man well. A few clips explain nothing.
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To elaborate on my previous analogy - you don’t need to know a bucket of cp WELL to know it for what it is - a bucket of cp. You don’t need to spend hours examining and analysing it and its contents.

Neither do you need to know an insane man WELL to know him for a lunatic. Five minutes watching him standing on one leg clucking like a chicken, and the knowledge that he’s not making a film or acting in a play or something, would do the job.

And unless I’m Hitler’s wife, best friend or psychologist or something, I don’t need to know him WELL for any reason whatsoever.
 
LilyM said:
To elaborate on my previous analogy - you don’t need to know a bucket of cp WELL to know it for what it is - a bucket of cp. You don’t need to spend hours examining and analysing it and its contents.

Neither do you need to know an insane man WELL to know him for a lunatic. Five minutes watching him standing on one leg clucking like a chicken, and the knowledge that he’s not making a film or acting in a play or something, would do the job.

And unless I’m Hitler’s wife, best friend or psychologist or something, I don’t need to know him WELL for any reason whatsoever.
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If you want to despise him intelligently, then you do.
 
Neolithic said:
If you want to despise him intelligently, then you do.
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An intelligent (not to mention Christian) person despises none of his or her fellow human beings - so ‘despise intelligently’ is in fact an oxymoron.

You might despise their actions and pray for their soul - as you should despise ALL sin and pray for ALL souls. You don’t need intimate knowledge of every sin - or every soul - in order to do so properly.
 
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