Examples of censorship taking place around the globe and here in America.

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I was planning on looking at how some school districts are intent on insuring that students don’t really learn actual history but instead learn a sanitized and often incorrect version, but I need to do some more research on the subject,  because it’s far more detailed and nuanced than I originally thought. So, in today’s episode I’ve changed things up and want to take a look at a couple of other areas.  I will take us on a tour of the world to list some of the religious books that are banned in various countries. Then I want to look at some of the States here in the U.S., one where it’s a crime to give students books and some of the laws and proposals that are currently out there that could, and one that does, turn librarians into criminals. There are many Examples of censorship taking place around the globe and here in America.

Let’s go around the globe and find out whose religious books are allowed where.

Since those who profess to be Christians make up the largest percentage of Americans, I thought I’d start with The Bible.

In the hermit kingdom of North Korea: The Bible is completely illegal to own or import, and distribution can result in imprisonment or execution. However, to be fair, Islam is also banned in North Korea and the punishment for participating in that religion is also punishable by imprisonment or death.

In a country that is theoretically an ally, Saudi Arabia: The distribution of non-Muslim religious materials, including the Bible, is illegal. if someone is caught with a Bible, they could face imprisonment, deportation, and in some cases, even the death penalty, as distributing non-Muslim religious materials like Bibles is considered illegal and can be seen as an act of apostasy or blasphemy depending on the circumstances.

Maldives: It is illegal to import Bibles, and all citizens are required to be observant Muslims. if someone is caught with a Bible, they could face imprisonment, as the country strictly enforces Islamic law and prohibits the propagation of any religion other than Islam; meaning publicly possessing or distributing a Bible is considered a criminal offense

Brunei: Bibles are banned from being imported, and Christians must be careful with electronic versions of the Bible.  According to our State Department, “The constitution states that while the official religion is the Shafi’i school of Sunni Islam, all other religions may be practiced “in peace and harmony.”  According to the constitution, the Sultan is the head of “the official religion” and is advised by the Islamic Religious Council “on all matters relating to the Islamic Religion.”  The Sultan may, after consultation with the Religious Council, make laws in respect of matters relating to the practice of Islam.  The government enforces the Sharia Penal Code (SPC), which states offenses such as apostasy and blasphemy are punishable by corporal and capital punishment, including stoning to death, amputation of hands or feet, or caning.”

Well, those must be outliers, right? Far from it, in Iran: Selling Bibles is illegal.  In Morocco: It is illegal to distribute Bibles or religious literature.   Libya: It is illegal to import or distribute Bibles, or to practice evangelism. In both the  Sudan and Yemen, It is illegal to own a Bible.  But those are all theocracies, religious practices and books are allowed in the secular west and elsewhere, right?

Not exactly, unlike Christianity and Judaism, Islam isn’t formally recognized in Italy. This means that mosques cannot receive public funds, Islamic weddings have no legal value, and Muslim workers aren’t entitled to take days off for religious holidays. Angola and Slovenia have banned Islam. China and Japan have both disallowed Mosques. Uzbekistan criminalizes activities by unregistered religious groups and designates certain Islamic groups as extremist and prohibited. Members of illegal groups can be jailed for up to five years, and members of prohibited groups can be jailed for up to 20 years. The common theme among all of these is the censorship of ideas or beliefs that the rulers or in some cases the majority of the population do not agree with.

As for the United States, we’re beginning to see the foundation for this same type of punishment for ideas spring up and be accepted by those who are afraid of what they are hearing. In 2022 Missouri took the first step towards criminalizing book distribution. Let me be clear, we all want to protect our children from harm. We all want to make sure that children have a chance to be children. The problem comes when politicians, who are seeking power, decide to paint the issue with a broad brush and do not understand, or who willingly neglect to understand that there’s a huge difference between an 8-year-old and a 16-17 year old.

The Missouri law  makes it a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail or a $2,000 fine for School librarians and other educators to give students access to books that contain any sexually explicit images. Regardless of the student’s age or parental permission. In what I, as a writer, see as strange,  the law does not apply to written descriptions of sex or sexual acts; only photos, drawings, videos and other visual depictions are prohibited. So, a book can contain the most graphic, lurid, and explicit language and as long as the students are reading it and not seeing it, then  it’s ok.  After passage of the act, between July and December of 2022 12 school districts in Missouri banned 315 books, with the Wentzville School District banning 220 of those.  Not to be outdone, other states and politicians have jumped on the let’s ban everything bandwagon.

This is seen in how book challenges and outright bans have reached levels not seen in decades. “Concerned citizens” have flooded Public and school libraries with complaints. Politicians, and right-wing organizations such as Moms for Liberty are all complaining about what they view as the moral decay of America. And many lawmakers are considering implementing new legal punishments, such as lawsuits which cost a fortune to defend and fight, unrealistic and punitive fines, and in some cases, (see Missouri) even imprisonment. Why? For distributing books some regard as inappropriate, for others. They have set themselves up as the modern morality police for the United States. They are the 21^st century version of the old Comstock folks or the U.S. version of the “Mutawa”,  which is the Saudi Arabian religious police. The official name is “Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice”. That is exactly what these groups are trying to become, they want to be your conscience.

Some people think I’m exaggerating when I talk about this issue, the reality is in 2023 lawmakers in more than 15 states introduced bills that if passed, would subject librarians or libraries to harsh penalties.

Utah for example, has enacted legislation that grants the state’s Attorney General power to enforce a new system of challenging and removing any books that are considered “sensitive” books from schools. The law also creates a citizens panel (which won’t be made up of neutral or educated citizens, but political cronies) to monitor compliance and violations.

In April of 2024, Idaho’s Gov. Brad Little signed a bill that empowers local prosecutors to bring charges against public and school libraries if they don’t move “harmful” materials away from children. Now supporters do say that technically this isn’t book banning, it is book relocation, and they’re correct. However, the fact that charges can  be brought against the librarians, who may not agree that a book is “harmful” is what makes this especially onerous.

Will some of these laws be overturned by the courts, probably, many of them go too far. But in other instances, the courts that will be making the decisions if a law is constitutional or not are very socially conservative, so the ultimate result is very much unknown. The trend towards more censorship rather than less is clear. Conservative news media platforms realize they have an audience who fears change and they are happy to profit from that fear by promoting only the most sordid of stories. As long as they can make money, and politicians can grab power, they will continue to go after the low hanging fruit.

I think that’s going to do it for this episode.

 Remember everything that happens in the United States happens because of politics and the selection of books for libraries and schools are always influenced by politics.

As with all of my work, I approach things from the perspective of a historian and the interdisciplinary perspective, in that, I believe there are no simple answers to the questions we face as a society. I’ll talk with you next week, until then, read what you want to read and encourage others to do the same.

Peace y’all

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