July 4th 2026, After 250 Years America And American Democracy Are Under Attack From Within!

Today, July 4th, 2026, is the 250th anniversary of American Democracy and America and American Democracy are more endangered today than we have ever been. That danger is centered in the White House, being directed by Fascists inside the White House. Let's just look at a few recent headline stories from across the country. The American Civil Liberties Union has worked to defend and protect American Democracy every day since its founding in 1920, 106 years. Almost ten months ago,that organization posted this story on their website. While a headline which screams "How Trump's Attacks On Our Democracy Put America At Risk" should be shocking, rare, and terrifying, headlines and stories about the danger which TRAITOR Trump and the Criminal Syndicate which poses as a "cabinet" pose for us and our Democracy, they are so commonplace since June 16, 2015, that millions of Americans ignore them totally. This so-called "second administration" of TRAITOR Trump is doing a great deal of things which previous FASCISTS and would be dictators have been doing since atleast 250 years ago, and millions of Americans insist on claiming that all they do is in the best interest of the country. The ACLU story in particular is and should be chilling to any lover of this country and our Democracy. Early in the story it states "There is now a coordinated assault on the constitutional architecture that has sustained American democracy. This assault should alarm anyone who values constitutional governance and the personal freedoms we so often take for granted." That should terrify every citizen in this country and it does not. The formerly sacred institutions of American government are now being utilized to install FASCISM in the country and most people do not understand that fact. The article moves on to state that Federal agents have repeatedly detained or arrested public officials conducting legitimate oversight, including Newark, New Jersey Mayor Ras Baraka, Congresswoman LaMonica McIver, and Senator Alex Padilla, who was tackled and detained for asking Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem questions. Students, including green card holders, have been detained and threatened with deportation for writing op-eds or expressing views that deviate from what the administration deems acceptable.

In some ways, the facts in this previous quotation from the ACLU article are now old hat since the article is more than 8 months old. We have seen ICE agents murder two people who were peaceful protestors in Minnesota and little or no outrage has been seen in the general populace. We are now seeing several Americans charged with vandalism and other crimes for touching a $16million dollar disaster at the Reflecting Pool literally in sight of one of our nation's most hallowed shrines to Democracy, the Lincoln Memorial. An Olympian who once epitomized American values to the watching world has been charged in an overt act of domestic terrorism in order to silence opposition to TRAITOR Trump and his TREASONOUS enforcers who, after giving a multi-million dollar secret and unvetted contract to one of his supporters, to repair the reflecting pool did a damn fine job of gravely damaging that symbol of American Democracy. And nobody seems to care.

An active duty American Air Force Major was arrested on July 2, 2026, in his full uniform for using his constitutional right to free speech to openly criticize TRAITOR Trump's actions in Venezuela. That was a direct violation of the US Constitution for anyone, whether in uniform or not, to be arrested for utilizing free speech to question what are clearly two totally unjustified wars against two countries with the basic intent to steal their assets such as oil, gas, rare earth minerals, and other valuable possessions of two sovereign nations. Major Jason Watson knew full well that he had chosen to end his military career before he opened his mouth that day. It should be a shock to every living American of sound mind when such a career military officer finds it necessary to willingly give up a career in which he has volunteered to literally place his life on the line to defend this nation. But it has not been seen as a shock to most people in this country. Most people are either to uneducated, uncaring, or ignorant to understand that such a person would find it necessary to place his life on the line, as he swore to do when he was inducted into the US Air Force, in such a manner contrary to the publicly stated intent of the people who have disastrously found themselves in charge of this country's military. Major Jason Watson is much more an American Hero today than he has ever been before when he willing complying with orders to participate in war crimes and international terrorism against Venezuela and Iran. The former Olympian David Hearn is now much more an American Hero than he ever was as an Olympic canoeist. Both these men, both those murdered citizens in Minnesota, and every other American who has simpley stood up in a No Kings Day Protest is much more a loyal American patriot than any of the hired thugs who arrested or murdered them.

Today, July 4th, 2026, America and American Democracy are far more endangered than they ever were in any of our previous wars. Democracy is being attacked in ways it never was by Adolph Hitler, Pol Pot, or Emperor Hirohito of Japan. We are under attack from those who are allowed to walk freely every day into the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, the US Supreme Court and all of our government departments to pretend they are "making America great again". Those people, TRAITOR Trump and his many minions, are the most dangerous enemies America has ever faced. It is long past time for every American citizen to Stand Up, Speak Up, and Speak Out in defense of our Democracy or it will be lost forever long before November 2028.

"The Civil Disobedience Handbook" James Tracy, Editor--A Book Every American Needs To Read---TODAY

The blurb on the back cover of this important little book states "Civil Disobedience is an American tradition, an essential element of a working democracy." Truer words were never spoken. In this terribly tragic time in which TRAITOR Trump is once again is living in the White House and working daily with his Criminal Syndicate which is now posing as a "cabinet", there has has never been a more important time for that majority of American citizens who understand just how endangered our country and our democracy are by this tragic outcome of the most recent election to Stand Up, Speak Up, and Speak Out about the destruction of our country by this worst of all TRAITORS. This book is a brief 94 page primer on the practice of civil disobedience with very valuble information on both the practice of civil disobedience and advice on how to conduct that practice without unduly endangering the practitioners. The one drawback to the book is that it is a bit dated having been published in 2002. James Tracy, the editor, is described on the cover as "...a long time organizer active in anti-poverty work. He is coordinator of Rightto a Roof,a part of San Francisco's Coalition on Homelessness." After having worked in the field of homelessness for over 8 years, I can assure that anyone who has Tracy's experience knows a great deal about the need for civil disobedience. Tracy also lives in Berkeley, California, a location which has always been a proving ground for protest activity in America. The book begins with a short history of civil disobedience in America, then moves on to a full length copy of The Patriot Act. But a word of caution about the reading and acceptance of that version of the Patriot Act is in order since the Patriot Act has been renewed, revised, and replaced by the USA FREEDOM (Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring) Before taking any actions based on Tracy's rendition of The Patriot Act, one should find a copy of Freedom Act as it which has been passed by congress. The book also contains a lenghty list of resources which can come in very handy to anyone who is seeking to use their constitutional freedoms to express discontent with the actions of the current TREASONOUS occupengt of the White House. Much of the general information in the book is just as valid today as when it was published. It would be wise to obtain and read, as will I, the more recent second edition of the book which was published in June of 2024 by Tracy and Jennifer Joseph. But, whatever you do, read one or the other, remember the Freedom Act is now the law, and feel free to express your discontent with the current occupant of the White House both privately and publicly.

July 4, 2023, A Holiday With Hope For America, And A Great Deal Of Danger!

 

Today, July 4, 2023, is the second most important July 4th in the history of this country running just behind the first July 4th in our history, July 4, 1776.  That first July 4th is the most important in our history because it heralded the birth of democracy in America when the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, announcing the colonies' separation from Great Britain. Since that time in 1776, loyal American citizens have been fighting to institute, defend, and preserve that unequaled level of democracy which has always set the United States of America from other less democratic, more volatile, less universally democratic countries in the world.  

 

But this July 4, 2023, is the second most important Independence Day in our history because our democracy and all of our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, both individual and collective, have been facing the most dangerous attack in their history ever since June 15, 2015, the day TRAITOR Trump announced his totally unjustified belief that he was fit to be the leader of the free world.  Since that June day in 2015, both TRAITOR Trump and his misled, gullible, destructive, dangerous, and TREASONOUS followers both inside and outside the Right Wing Radical Repugnican party have been attacking both our individual and collective democratic freedoms and expresssing their willingness to no longer defend democracies which are under attack all over the world but most importantly they want to abandon the defense of Ukraine and their fledgling democracy.  Yet, this July 4, 2023, is also a day of great hope and expectation because TRAITOR Trump has now been held financially responsible for only one of his more than 25 sexual attacks on female victims and has now been indicted for a small portion of his crimes against the United States.  TRAITOR Trump is also facing highly probable and even more serious indictments for his crimes against the government of this country which culminated in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol which he incited his TREASONOUS followers to commit and for his widespread attempts, along with numerous other co-conspirators, to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.  If TRAITOR Trump and his many co-conspirators are indicted, convicted, sentenced, and imprisoned for this long list of crimes against America and American Democracy, we will have literally saved both individual and collective constitutional rights in this country.  If TRAITOR Trump and his many co-conspirators go  on unpunished, unconvicted, and unsentenced, we will go on to lose nearly every democratic freedom which the constitution guarantees.  He has made on attempt to hide  his contempt for constitutional guarantees, voting rights, individual freedoms, rule of law, and the very documents which built this democracy.  

 

TRAITOR Trump must be indicted for all his many crimes.  He must be convicted of all those crimes and he must be sentenced and imprisoned for those crimes if this country and our democracy are to survive.  If we wish to continue to be free people in a free country, these things must happen.  We must preserve our democracy and the first step toward preserving that democracy in the lifelong imprisonment of TRAITOR Trump and as many of his co-conspirators as the law enforcement and judicial communities can indict, convict, and sentence for their crimes in support of the greater crimes of TRAITOR Trump.  

"Professing" and "Practicing": Two Very Different Words

 

In American politics today and over the last 8 to 12 years, one of the most influential groups has been those who describe themselves as "Christians" or "Conservative Christians".  Yet, very rarely do any of these people describe themselves as "Practicing Christians".  And therein lies a very serious problem of religious, moral, ethical, and political dichotomy, or more bluntly, political hypocrisy.  The problem is rooted in the very basic moral, ethical, religious, and political difference between the two words "Practicing" and "Professing" as they are or can be applied to religion, theology, politics, morals, and ethics.  The Oxford Language website defines "Practicing" in this manner: "actively pursuing or engaged in a particular profession, occupation, or way of life". Their second definition of the word is this: observing the teaching and rules of a particular religion. The same Oxford Languages website defines "Professing" in this manner: claim that one has (a quality or feeling), especially when this is not the case.  Their second definition of the word "Practicing" is this:

affirm one's faith in or allegiance to (a religion or set of beliefs)".  The difference between those two definitions is at the heart of the many societal problems which are being created in America today by those self-described "Christians" or "Conservative Christians" and the Right Wing Radical Repugnican politicians they have assisted in rising to power at all levels of elected offices in America.  Most of them, if not all, are simply "Professing Christians", if they profess any beliefs at all other than their belief in the abolition of most individual constitutional rights, and they are not remotely "Practicing Christians".  Anyone, anytime, anywhere can profess to be or support anything without any attempt to practice the core tenets of whatever it is they profess.  I have written in the past on this blog about these people and the core differences between what they claim to be compared to what they actually are based on their daily efforts to destroy the US Constitution and the country which is based on that constitution.  

These people under discussion are working on a daily basis to create laws which force the government to intervene in citizens lives in areas which have clearly been forbidden to the government by the Bill of Rights and hundreds of previously approved laws based on that Bill of Rights.  They support book banning, voter suppression, governmental control of the medical decisions of citizens which have clearly been forbidden to the government for more than 200 years.  And, what they never would admit, is that based on their egregious invasions into personal rights, they are indirectly, and sometimes directly, supporting the total destruction of representative democracy in America.  They are simply using the Bible and the churches of the nation, (or at least those churches which allow them to) to abolish the concept enshrined in the Declaration of Independence that that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."  They are more than willing to completely and falsely deny the fact that no citizen can be happy, at liberty, or free to live a live based on individual rights when these people are daily working to destroy, abolish, and forever eliminate the right of those citizens to make their own decisions in their daily lives. They are brazenly denying the basic constitutional concept of Separation of Church and State.  They are literally willing to steal and abrogate anyone's freedoms whose beliefs do not support their own totalitarian beliefs.  They are the greatest danger to the perpetuation of democracy in America today. 

Colonial Governor Berkeley And The Modern Fight To Destroy Public Education

I am in the process of reading a book by Bob Deans entitled "The River Where America Began: A Journey Along The James" which covers the history of the James River in Virginia from about 1600 to 2006.  The book is well written although I had never heard Bob Deans' name mentioned before as an author although he has published at least three books.  Not only is the writing quite good but so is the research which is as good as just about anything I have read in quite some time.  The list of resources is actually about ten pages long which is rare today even in works which are labeled as historical nonfiction.  I will write in more length about the book when I have completely finished it but I found a little section which I cannot resist writing about immediately because of its logical application to American politics.  

On page 142, in a section carrying the subtitle "To Virginia Or Be Hanged" there is a discussion of the life and work of Virginia Colonial Governor William Berkeley who was governor of the colony twice from 1641 to 1652 and from 1660 to 1677.  The author quotes and comments on some of Berkeley's writing which can be applied to American politics today with just as much pertinence as it carried when it was written in the late 17th century. 

"...Berkeley was no democrat, at least not the way future Virginia leaders would define the term.  "I thank God there are no free schools nor printing" in Virginia, Berkelely reported to a royal commission in 1670, explaining that educated people were hard to control and  a free press exposed government to critics.  "God keep us from both."  (Deans p. 142)

Governor Berkeley wrote those words to the king or his subordinates in 1670 and, yet today, those words are just as pertinent to what is happening in America and American politics as anything which can be discussed.   I take note here of Bob Deans' use of the uncapitalized form of the word "democrat" and recognize that his choice to do so is appropriate since, during Berkeley's time, there was no Democratic party in America and the appropriate meaning of the word was simply a believer in or practitioner of democracy. But in today's America large numbers of the Republican party are openly and unrepentingly propounding the same views Berkeley did in his 1760 communication to the royal commission.  Many members of the Republican party attempt to cater to the uneducated segment of the populace and openly work on a daily basis to defund, deconstruct, and destroy the American educational system.  

The Kentucky Supreme Court just a few days ago was forced to overturn a law passed by the Kentucky state legislature, controlled by Republicans, which would have made it legally acceptable for public education funds to be diverted to charter schools and church controlled private schools of all stripes.  That action, if the Supreme Court of Kentucky had allowed it to take effect would have literally allowed all forms of fringe groups and individuals to steal public education funds from public education students and would have made it possible for "schools" teaching all forms of Right Wing Radical and religiously based misinformation while being funded with money paid by all tax payers regardless of their support or lack of support for such fringe beliefs.  We also see daily attempts all across the nation by Right Wing Radical groups, especially Right Wing Radical Repugnican groups to ban books, to restrict the teaching of long proven history, and to violate the Separation of Church and State, a criminal misinterpretation of the US Constitution which was recently perpetrated by the Right Wing Radical majority on the US Supreme Court. Just this week, a meeting of the Clark County Kentucky Public Library Board was hijacked by Right Wing Radicals who were attempting to ban books at the library or to force many, if not all, books with even mild sexual content to be placed in restricted circulation status. To her eternal credit, the librarian, Julie Maruskin, spoke out against book banning but sadly the board did vote to restrict the particular book in question as described in this quote from WKYT-TV 27 in Lexington:

“I do care about restricting books in a public library. I cannot do it. There is no way. It will never be one book,” Maruskian said.  Ultimately the board voted four to one to restrict the book to the adult section for “sexually explicit material.” (WKYT-TV 27. December 21, 2022)

Even more sadly, I am willing to bet that it won't be long before the board, by a similar vote of 4 to 1, will unjustifiably fire Julie Maruskin.  

Just as Governor Berkeley wished he could wipe out public education and the free press in colonial Virginia, these modern day Right Wing Radicals are attempting to do the same.  They must not be allowed to do that and every loyal American is duty bound to fight their attempts to do so.  Their efforts in state and federal legislatures and courts must be actively opposed.  They must be defeated at the voting booth.  Their aberrant laws and executive actions in such attempts must be confronted in both the courts and the media.  They cannot be allowed to win this battle which Governor Berkeley began in 1760.  It is up to the average American to oppose such efforts on a daily basis.  

In a more recent blog post, published on December 27, 2022, I discussed another aspect of Bob Deans' book under the title "An Important View Of The US Constitution" which can be found at this link. 

Reading Banned Books--A Commitment You Should Make

I sincerely hope that this version of this blog post turns out more successfully than the first attempt I made a couple of years ago.  After nearly finishing this important and rather lengthy post, somehow or other I managed to lose the entire thing and I still don't know why or how.  I have left it untouched for quite some time because I just didn't have the heart to see it disappear once more literally before my eyes and because I also had a constant stream of ideas which needed to be completed also.  But I have been reading the book "Reading Lolita In Tehran: A Memoir In Books" by Azar Nafisi and both that book and its author have been banned in Iran for quite some time.  From my personal point of view, I firmly believe in reading every book I can get my hands on which has ever been banned in any jurisdiction and I have read many and will continue to do so as long as I have the capacity to do so.  So should you!  The world needs to know the truths contained in books which are important enough to induce power brokers to attempt to prevent their messages from being seen and heard.  I honestly do not know when I read my first previously banned book or what the title was.  It might have been "The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain or "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll or some other relatively innocuous work by an author who is considered mainstream in today's world. The bottom line is that I began reading banned books at a very young age without even consciously doing so and I have never read a banned book from which I did not learn something which has proven to be informative, helpful, and worthwhile in my later life.

I recently had a conversation, quite by accident, with a worker at my local post office who has known me for several years and has seen me receive and ship hundreds of books.  But until that recent day I did not know that she was a steady reader and often read banned books.  In the course of that conversation, one of us, her as I remember, brought up the concept of reading banned books and she informed me quickly that she also reads every book she can get her hands on which have been banned.  I had previously seen her at an annual picnic which is sponsored by a local conservative church and I was somewhat surprised to hear her agree with me on this subject.  She rose several steps in my estimation after that conversation. So will you if you read a banned book and post a comment on this blog post about the experience and what you learned from it!

One of my favorite websites about banned books is run by a site known as Punchnels and they have an article entitled "10 Reasons for Banning Books, and 5 Much Better Reasons Not To".  I will be using that article as an outline for this blog post and will attempt to expand on their key points while also making several dozen of my own.  I will discuss each of their reasons one by one and attempt to further elucidate my reasons for why they are correct while also providing further examples of books which fit into each of these categories they discuss.

1) Racial Themes: Numerous books have been banned in America, or portions of the country, for this very reason.  "The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn" was banned in many locations for many years after its publication because it cast two runaways, one a white juvenile running from a drunken and abusive father and the other a runaway black slave.  In recent times, it has been banned for an absolutely different reason, the use of the "N" word several times.  In my estimation and that of many others, neither of these reasons justified banning a masterpiece such as "The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn".  "To Kill A Mockingbird" was also banned for many years because it was written about a white southern attorney who defended a black man in a court of law.  John Howard Griffin's "Black Like Me" was also banned because Griffin, a white author, successfully posed as a black man in the Deep South in order to understand racial prejudice.  There is a much longer list of wonderful books which have been banned over the last 250 years in America because they addressed racial themes.

2) Alternative Lifestyles: Nearly as many books have been banned for this reason as have been banned for discussing racial themes.  Numerous books which have addressed LGBTQ themes have been banned in America.  Many of them are still banned in small enclaves such as religious based schools, Third World Countries, tyrannical and despotic countries, conservative communities, and other unique areas.  This list of books may also include books about crime, gang activity, drug use, polygamy, polyandry, polyamory, mental illness, and prostitution.  Some of these reasons for banning also touch the edges of sexual and/or racial themes which are actually a completely separate reason for banning books. There is actually quite a bit of such crossover in book banning where stated reasons for banning a book may actually reveal that the book banners were publicly stating one reason but also thinking of another which might have been less publicly acceptable.  One of the most famous books banned in America for being about alternative lifestyles is "The Outsiders" which was written by S. E. Hinton when she was only about fifteen or sixteen and published when she was eighteen.  The book is about gang life in high school and was banned by many school boards and libraries in 1967 when it shot to the top of the best seller lists and deservedly so.  "Junkie" and "Naked Lunch" by William Burroughs have also been banned all across the United States because they depict the lifestyle of drug addiction. "Howl", arguably one of the finest books in all of American poetry, was banned in many jurisdictions upon its release in 1956 because the author was both gay and Jewish. Several of the books by his associates in the Beat Generation including William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac were also banned almost en masse because the authors were known to be members of that wonderfully progressive school of writing.  Many lesbian, gay, transgendered, and witchcraft books have also been banned along with books about Satanism, communism, socialism, and other lifestyles at the fringes of mainstream society and that banning still occurs today.

3)  Profanity: Profanity alone has also caused many books to be banned including the works of Erica Jong, John Steinbeck, and many others.  Ms. Jong's books were also frequently banned due to their highly sexual nature so she often found herself and her work caught between a rock and a hard place although she has still managed to publish more than 25 books in at least three genres.  More power to her!  "The Grapes Of Wrath" and "The Great Gatsby" have also been banned because of their salty language.  "The Great Gatsby" plays a large role in the book "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi which I have recently read and written about on this blog.  Ms. Nafisi's highly acclaimed work has been banned in her native Iran for similar reasons.  I cannot recommend any book more highly than hers.

4) Sex: The article "10 Reasons for Banning Books and 5 Much Better Reason Not To" on the Punchnel's website which I am referring to frequently in this blog post states in their discussion of this topic that "not just graphic sexual content, but also dialogue of a sexual nature, any and all references to reproductive acts, and even the barest, briefest, Disney-approved sensuality" can result in a book being banned by the small minded and heavy handed book banners anywhere.  Books which have been banned because of sexual content include "Fanny Hill" by John Cleland, "Fear Of Flying" by Erica Jong, and "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway.  All are excellent literature and have proven themselves to be far more consequential in America and the world than the people who banned them.

5) Violence: Violence can sometimes be the official public cause for banning a book when the real reasons may  be nebulous, unnamed, and more questionable in nature.  Books which have been banned because of their violence include "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey but the real reason for its banning was often related more to the fact that the protagonists in the book were residents in a mental institution.  "Lord Of The Flies" by William Golding was probably banned most often because it involved teen age boys in a setting where they had to wear no clothes.  "Fifty Shades of Grey" by E. L. James was often banned ostensibly because of violence when the real reason was that the violence is sexual in nature.  But with more openness in America about sexual activity outside the societal norms, book banners sometimes look for other reasons to ban books with sexual content which arouses their ire.

6) Negativity:  There can be no more broad and nebulous term in relation to the content of a book than "negativity".  That word to a book banner is much like the term "disorderly conduct" to small town judges, police officers, and juries.  It will cover nearly anything with which the person in power disagrees.  "The Diary of A Young Girl" by Anne Frank was banned in Alabama for being "a downer" which was a wolf whistle word for the fact that it was actually about Jews dying in the Holocaust at the hands of Nazi's when the banning was being done in a state where the Ku Klux Klan still holds power today and that power in growing today as the White House is being illegally occupied by a TRAITOR who is supervising the deaths of children in cages.  In Corona-Norco, California, in 1993, "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley faced banning because of "negativity".

7) Witchcraft: I grew up in Knott County Kentucky and did not know until two years ago in 2017 that Jessie Wicker Bell, the author of the most famous witchcraft book in America, "The Book Of Shadows", had been a native of Knott County and that her children scattered her ashes in a family cemetery about a mile from another cemetery in which most of my paternal aunts and uncles are buried.  Since I wrote about her, her importance to Wiccans worldwide, and her writing on my blog, two of her children have contacted me to thank me for helping to make the world aware of her work and her books which are all available still today on alternative bookseller sites.  They also told me that a son of hers and the grandson of a former tenant of my parents whom I had known as a child was actually their sibling.  This kind of suppression of information in a small community which arose from the banning of books and making her a pariah is a shining example of the kind of damage book banning can do in such a small populace.  It is also relevant to this discussion  that Knott County has an unusually rich literary history with James Still, Albert Stewart, William Howard Cohen, Verna Mae Slone, May Stone, and myself all having either grown up, writing and publishing in, or living and teaching in the county.  But Jessie Wicker Bell is not the only writer of such literature to have their works banned.  Anton Szandor Lavey, the author of "The Satanic Bible" and four other books saw his work banned in nearly every state in America and in most mainstream book stores.  Nearly every other book about witchcraft, Satanism, or similar beliefs has been banned somewhere in America and most of them have been banned in many jurisdictions. Even Roald Dahl, a very mainstream and revered author of children's books, had his book "The Witches" banned.

8)  Unpopular Religious Views: Both C. S. Lewis' "Chronicles Of Narnia" and J. R. R. Tolkien's "Lord Of The Rings" have been banned as being anything from "anti-Christian", "satanic", or "atheistic" when both authors were deeply religious and created these works as Christian allegories.  In fact, in addition to the banned children's books, Lewis also wrote two highly respected non-fiction works on Christian theology, "Mere Christianity" "The Weight Of Glory", and the fictional "Screwtape Letters" which is also deeply religious but couched in the form of letters home by a junior devil sent to earth to help the efforts of Satan.  Other unpopular religious works have included those related to Scientology, atheism, agnosticism, Judaism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Later Day Saints, and most other religions which can viewed as being outside the mainstream in a Christian country.  Additionally, several Muslim countries have banned religious books such as the Holy Bible, the Khama Sutra, and works related to Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and most other non-Muslim religions. 

9)  Unpopular Political Views: Many political books have been banned in many countries of the world depending on the beliefs they expressed and the beliefs of the reigning officials.  Oftentimes, these books have been diametrically banned in opposing countries with the opposing beliefs in power.  Such books include "Mein Kampf by Adolph Hitler, "The Communist Manifesto" by Marx and Engels, "Poor Richard's Almanac" by Benjamin  Franklin, "Cat's Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut, "The Rights Of Man" by Thomas Paine, and "Wealth Of Nations" by Adam Smith.  The bottom line is that, just like book banners who ban religious books because of opposing beliefs have also often been involved in banning political books which support beliefs other than their own.  And you can bet that if the current criminally minded TRAITORS who occupy the White House based on the TREASON of the nameless TRAITOR who ostensibly leads them believed they could do so successfully they would also begin banning most books of a decidedly democratic or liberal bent. When I use the word "democratic" in the previous sentence, I use it in a universal not a party sense.  Any book banning based on political belief is an affront to the US Constitution and the Founding Fathers who wrote.  Actually, any banning of books is such an affront and in direct conflict with the concept of Freedom Of Speech which is firmly enshrined in our constitution and our democracy as a whole. 

10)  Any Theme Judged Unsuitable For A Particular Age Group: In many ways, this reason for banning books is a bit nebulous and left largely to the interpretation of the book banners at any given time in any given jurisdiction.  It is often used to ban books with even mildly sexually based content even to the point of banning discussion of anatomy and gender.  While I do understand that children of what are sometimes called "tender years" should not be allowed to read "Fanny Hill" or "Fear Of Flying", I do not believe they should be denied the knowledge that such books exist which they must wait a few years to read.  A single curse word or the use of the "N" word in the classic works of Mark Twain do not constitute legitimate reasons for banning a book.  Perhaps they do justify making a young reader wait but no book should ever be completely destroyed, banned, and wiped from the face of the earth.  What would the fields of sociology and gender studies do without books such as "The Tea Room Trade" by Laud Humphrey or "The Human Experience Of Sex And Gender" by James Doyle.  While I can understand an argument that either or both are not mass market books, I would never agree that they should be denied to the adult reader, especially the specialist in the fields they illuminate.  But this last of the ten reasons for banning books is, in many ways, an open door through which many narrow minded people have walked in order to do great damage to the body of literature of many a country. 

The Punchnel's article which I have referenced freely to write this post ends with five reasons for reading banned books and they are all wonderful reasons.  But they are not as clearly written or created as the ten reasons books are commonly banned.  But I will comment on those five reasons for reading such books and, perhaps, add a few of my own.

1) You may not like something, but that’s no reason to take it away from everyone: This is a perfectly good reason for reading banned books.  But it is more a reason to allow others to read them than a reason each of us, as an open minded individual, should be reading banned books as often as possible.  As citizens in a democracy, we must accept the right of any sound minded person to read whatever the hell they choose or to write it for that matter.  You have the right to your opinion that "Tropic of Cancer" or "Fear Of Flying" is smut for instance but I also have the right to say I love that kind of open minded, honest language and literature and I am going to read it as I damn well please.  The bottom line is that if you believe in free will for citizens of a  democracy then it is none of your business what anyone else reads.

2)“Protecting” children from the difficult realities of the world is an exercise in futility—and privilege:  This reason for reading banned books is also a bit shaky if we sincerely believe that parents have the right to raise their children as they wish so long as that method of rearing them is not abusive or seriously neglectful.  I tend to believe that depriving children of free will as their age and maturity suits the subject under question.  But I also believe that some children due to age, immaturity, or intellectual problems may well never reach a point where they can freely choose their reading material, life circumstances, or other aspects of daily living.  In such cases, parents should be able to make choices for their children.  But as soon as the children reach emotional maturity, they should have self-determination on all subjects. 

3) Books are among our best teachers:  This is by far the most valid of the Punchnel's reasons for reading banned books so far.  Without books to broaden our views of the world, provide necessary information of thousands of subjects, and to provide simple, basic entertainment, we would be a dull, under educated, and unsuccessful species.  Books are our most basic and wonderful source of information other than word of mouth.  They are our best teachers and we should always have a book by our favorite chair or bed.  We should never allow the negative opinions of others to prevent us from learning about something another human obviously believed the world needed to see and know about.  I have met a few books I didn't like.  I have met a few books I hate.  I don't believe anyone should endanger their brains by reading "Mein Kampf" but I also firmly believe that those who choose to do so have that freedom of choice and it is an "inalienable right" guaranteed by the US Constitution. 

4)  Many of the most frequently banned books are—or go on to become—celebrated classics. And that’s not a coincidence: Quite often books which are banned were so attacked because the ideas they contained were simply too big, in an intellectual sense, for the minds of the people who chose to ban them.  The works of Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, Adam Smith, and Thomas Locke were very often larger than the people around them who found themselves inordinately fearful of the ideas they contained.  The best, most futuristic, most visionary, and most consequential works are far ahead of their times and small minds cannot accept that the world will be better place with those books being freely read, supported, and followed.  Read every banned book you can find.  Read them and pass them on to others.  Always defend the universal right to read banned books.  Always defend democracy in all its manifestations and books, by forward thinking authors, will defend you. 

5)  Books really can change the world:  None of us know when we will be reading a book which will lead us to greatness or happiness within our ordinary lives.  None of us know when another book will be released to the world which will change the world.  As we look back to the days before the Gutenberg press, we can see and remember a long list of books which have been consequential in making the world a better place.  Those books have been found in all genres over time.  No book is too complicated, too simplistic, or too ordinary to change lives and the world.  I am reminded of a little book called "Acres Of Diamonds" by Russel Conwell which on an initial examination appears to be a simple little fable about a man who left home, was unhappy, and returned to find success in the land of his birth.  But, on much deeper levels, it is one of the greatest motivational books ever written and should be mandatory reading for every student in every school in the world. 






Now I will add my very on best reason for reading banned books.  They will relieve you of your ignorance and there is no ignorance worse than self imposed ignorance which is exactly what occurs anytime we allow any one to prevent us from reading a book we wish to read.  Now go out and read as many banned books as you can.  Feel free to return to this blog post and leave a comment about which banned books you have read and how doing so positively affected your life. 

Freedom Of Speech--Stand Up, Speak Up, Speak Out!

American Flag Photo By Newsmax.com

Yesterday, July 7, 2017, I received an unexpected phone call from an employee of a large private practice medical practice in Lexington, KY, of which I had been a patient for several years beginning in the early 1990's.  I had become a patient of that practice when a general practitioner I was seeing, greatly respected, and trusted absolutely became a member of that practice.  A few years later, that physician had left that practice and I had gone along with him, following him in at least two practice moves in Central Kentucky because of that trust, respect, and genuine affection for him.  The last time I had seen him, in another practice, about two years ago I felt that he had slipped some in his attention to detail and decided to end my association with him.  When it came time a year of so ago for my annual physical, I had randomly chosen another member of that former practice from which I received the call yesterday and went to see him for my annual physical.  During that physical, we had discussed my potential need for a shingles vaccination and the doctor remarked that "we don't do those here but I can write you a prescription for one and you can get it at a pharmacy.  Barack Obama makes me charge you over $200 for that shot."  The remark was clearly intended to criticize the Affordable Care Act and President Obama.  It also clearly labeled the physician as a Republican party member or sympathizer.  I instantly responded to him that he "still need to be voting Democratic".  He said "we can discuss that some other time" and walked out of the examining room.  To say the least, I was clearly irked by his attempts to criticize both the Affordable Care Act and the best President in recent years in this country.  

President Barack Obama Photo  By White House Archives

When I answered the phone yesterday, the employee stated that it was time for my Medicare Physical and they were calling to schedule it with the physician in question.  I hesitated at first before going on to discuss the issue with the employee.  But after a moment of thought, I told her the story of my previous encounter with the doctor and the fact that his comments had "irked me".  To which she replied "Our Medicare Physicals are performed by one of our nurse practitioners.  Would you like me to schedule you with one of them?"  My response was, "I have three perfectly good nurse practitioners in the county in which I live. I prefer to be seen by an MD. We are facing ongoing treason in this country and I will not support or condone it. I will not spend my money anywhere it is even remotely possible that even one cent of it could go to support a Republican cause."  At that point, she asked me if I would like her to remove me from the patient list of the practice.  After a second of thought, I told her to remove me. Even before the phone call, I had been contemplating the fact that I have not seen a physician in over a year and needed to schedule with someone for an annual physical.  I have no known health problems or prescriptions and had not been under any pressure to find a new doctor any time soon. But I had recently asked a Facebook Friend who works for a nursing college to help me find a politically liberal general practitioner. 

But the two conversations and my ruminations about them have led me to come to some important conclusions.  Firstly, I realized that I should never have hesitated even briefly to voice my opposition to the doctor's defamation of both President Obama and the Affordable Care Act.  I also realized that no one should ever, in these times when TRAITOR Trump, regularly attacks both free speech and a free press, hesitate to voice their freedom of speech, freedom of the press, or any other constitutional freedom. On a daily basis, every citizen in America should be speaking out in defense of the US Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees.  On a daily basis, every citizen in America should be willing to confront TRAITOR Trump, his criminal syndicate which occupies the White House, his TREASON which has placed all of American Democracy in danger, and the Right Wing Radical Repugnicans who tolerate, defend, and support him in his ongoing crime spree against the human race.  I will not, I cannot, I must not stand silently by and watch the destruction of all that is sacred in American politics and government while a gang of Russian Owned TRAITORS work to destroy it.  And neither should you.  Stand up, speak up, speak out to defend the freedoms which all of American history and the US Constitution guarantee you and every other citizen of this country.