The only valid censorship of ideas
is the right of people not to listen.
Tommy Smothers
HOP POP We like to hop.
We like to hop on top of Pop.
STOP. You must not hop on Pop.
Dr. Seuss
Why do I use this as our Wednesday Whoa this week? Because someone tried to ban Hop On Pop because it advocated violence against fathers. Think about that for a minute. Didn’t matter that the very next line said to STOP. You must not hop on Pop.
This is also a very simple way to see how things can be taken out of context. Sure the first line says to hop on pop. But it’s followed by a line saying not to do it. And no, I don’t understand why anyone could possibly think that the line hop on pop is advocating violence to dads. But there you have it.
The fact is that narrow-minded people will try to ban books for any number of reasons. In 2015 someone tried to ban The Holy Bible. Book bannings and burnings have been going on for centuries. Did you know that in 212 BC Chinese emperor Shih Huang Ti burned all books so that it could be said that history began with him? Or that in 1525 the English Church burned all copies of an English translation of the Bible because it was felt that the Bible should only be written in Latin? Or that in 1931 Alice in Wonderland was banned in China because they felt that animals shouldn’t be put on the same level as humans?
You can find out more about this by reading Bannings and Burnings in History. And please, take the time this week to read Hop on Pop to your children or grandchildren.
I agree that it’s a frustration that some people take a few words and wrap them into a whole new meaning that the speaker never intended. It’s like photos taken of a person at that split second that their face is moving between emotions and the world thinks they’re hugely angry. I don’t think I’m as generous as Tommy Smothers but almost – hate is my one hesitation.
Our country walks a fine line between allowing anything to be said/written or seeing it as a civil/human rights violation. We have laws against hate speech but we don’t seem to apply them equally. I find that I also have some limitations on what should be printed, like publishing the plans on how to make a 3D printed gun. There are laws in place on who should and should not have access to guns and 3D printing of guns ignores those laws.
Oh dear! Our country, like yours, is going through a lot of madness where people get offended at the slightest thing and make such an issue about it!
Book burning is madness and I hate to say it, but I can see certain factions of our country advocating it. So scary.
I can’t believe people are still into book banning. It’s like we’ve gone back to the 1950s. Hop on Pop? Jeez!