Summary

Rightwing groups across the US are driving a wave of legislation to restrict books in school and public libraries, targeting content deemed “sexually explicit” or “obscene,” often affecting LGBTQ+ and race-related titles.

Texas leads with 31 bills and 538 book bans in the 2023–24 school year.

Proposed laws, like Texas Senate Bill 13, shift book selection power from librarians to parent-led advisory boards.

Critics, including librarians and legal scholars, warn these efforts amount to censorship, risk violating First Amendment rights, and reduce access in underserved communities.

      • blaue_Fledermaus@mstdn.io
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        2 days ago

        I’m not supporting banning books, just pointing that the Bible itself considers the events of that story bad.

        • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          2 days ago

          It doesn’t matter to book-banners whether or not the thing they don’t like is portrayed as positive or negative. Just the fact that it’s there is enough for them.

        • blakenong@lemmings.world
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          2 days ago

          Well, that depends on how you interpret it. I’d say quite a number of people interpret it incorrectly.

          • blaue_Fledermaus@mstdn.io
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            2 days ago

            Within the story itself it doesn’t show judgement, just “it happened”, but later on the descendents of Lot’s daughters are considered cursed peoples.

            If there’s criticism to be made to the story is that it may have been written this way to justify the Israelites being racist against their cousins.

            • blakenong@lemmings.world
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              1 day ago

              I think more likely it was that fucking your dad got retarded kids who were cursed, so don’t fuck your daddy.

              Leave it to the religious morons to interpret this as a way to kill someone. Trash.

              • blaue_Fledermaus@mstdn.io
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                1 day ago

                A single generation of incest is usually not enough to cause bad effects, and anyway it’s an at least 3000 years old story, that’s what people “knew” at the time.

                And this behavior is not exclusive to “religious” people, the nominally atheist USSR did very similar.

                • blakenong@lemmings.world
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                  1 day ago

                  wtf are you on about? USSR? What on earth do they have anything to do with this?

                  Either way, this 3000 year old book needs to be put to pasture.