True Morality Lies in Book Ban Denial

* Hurray for the Anaheim Union High School District trustees for refusing to give in to a group of self-appointed censors who would ban “The Great Santini” and “Ordinary People” from the students of the district.

At a time when many districts are acquiescing to such shortsighted demands of vocal minorities, it is inspiring to see a district whose officials stand up to those who say such things as “I am against all books that are devilish and evil and does (sic) not lead children to Jesus and into heaven.” Shall we ban algebra books?

A spokesman for a group called Concerned American Catholics calls the book (“The Great Santini”) “anti-Catholic” because in it “an altar boy fantasizes about having sex on a church’s altar.” A good work of literature often reflects aspects of reality which are not necessarily pleasant. To my knowledge, all people, even the pious, have fantasies which are not morally pure. Does this not reflect reality? Must we sugarcoat what is often bitter in real life?

Isn’t it much healthier for the students to be allowed the exposure to various ideas along with the freedom to evaluate those ideas for themselves? We do not learn about ourselves and our universe by hiding our heads in the sand and allowing others to tell us what to believe. We cannot allow those people who would like to be our “protectors” to protect us and our students out of our freedom to decide for ourselves.

I hope that many more school districts have the moral courage to refuse to give in to those who would “protect” our students from reading and learning about the realities they must be prepared to face in life.

MILTON B. ROUSE

Dana Point