I have
asked Lisa Vaughn, author of The Gifted Ones, to tell us what she think about
banning books. Here is what she had to say.
1. What is your opinion on the of banning of
books?
My
mantra to life is 'Live and let live', so naturally I'm all for freedom of
speech - freedom of expression. So no, I do not believe it is right to ban
books just because you don't agree with the content.
2. Do you think the government has the authority
to ban or censor books?
I'm a
liberal thinker that doesn't like to see the government in my personal
business, so no, in this area especially, I don't think we need 'The Man'
telling us what we can and cannot write about or read. To me, that is a personal
choice.
3. As an author, if you wrote a book and someone
challenged it, what would your response be?
As an
indie author, I know not everyone is going to dig what I choose to write about,
that's just a given. Yes, it would probably bruise my ego a tad, but I would
remind myself that not EVERY book is written for everyBODY. I would hope the
reader that would potentially be opposed or appalled by my subject matter would
never pick up my book in the first place. That's the beauty of our nation - WE
have a right to choose what we ingest. So again, my response would be if you
don't like it, don't read it!
4. Do you think that there should be some kind
of line drawn that limits what an author has a right to write about?
That's a
slippery slope for sure. My knee-jerk reaction is, 'Hell No'! As that is
nothing more than censorship. Although there ARE some subjects that are
criminal, plain and simple. For example, any form of child-pornography, human
trafficking, terrorism, things of that nature. Writing about such topics does
bring awareness, so that's a good thing I think - as long as it's not a 'how
to' manual, I don't have a problem. But even if they attempted to ban books of
an unhealthy nature, I can assure you they would still be 'out there', and the
people interested in reading them would know where to find them...banned or
not. Have we stopped drugs or prostitution? Of course not. I really don't see
how we can limit the subject matter of a book - there's just too many variables
to consider to make it an 'across the board' kind of thing.
5. Why do you think people try to get books
banned? What are they so afraid of?
Again I
think it goes back to fear. Fear is always the motivator behind overreaction.
That, and personal beliefs - religion and how/where we were raised, for
example. But again, it's a 'personal' opinion, so I believe you should keep it
that way. If you don't believe in the subject matter that a book entails, then
by all means don't read it! Pretty simple, if you ask me. Same goes for most choices
in life, if you don't support something, you simply don't do it! The bible has
been challenged and scrutinized forever, but you don't see us banning that, do
you? Can you imagine the outrage if we even hinted at banning the bible?
6. What was the latest book you have read that
has been banned or challenged?
You
know, I don't know. I don't think I have read one that has been banned. James
Frey's 'A Million Little Pieces' was my last book of controversy - only because
they accused him of lying in a memoir, the subject matter was not challenged -
and look at all the crap he took for that!
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