The State of Florida has been on a mission to ban every book on the planet. Now, an Arthur book may face censorship.
No book is safe and that might seem like a premise for a dystopian novel but even dystopian novels don’t hold a candle to Florida. Govornor Ron Dasantis has been on a quest to censor books and this is just another chapter in his war against books.
Arthur Book May Face Censorship
According to a report, a conservative activist filed a complaint against author Marc Brown’s 1989 book, “Arthur’s Birthday,” earlier this month. The complaint takes issue with the party game “spin the bottle.” Friedman says that “it is not appropriate to discuss ‘spin the bottle’ with elementary school children,” and that the contents of the book could lead to “damaged souls.”
The scene that has drawn the ire of a consevative activist takes place at the end of the novel. Arthur and his friend Muffy have the same birthday and they have to figure out what to do about hosting a party. Arthur gifts Francine a bottle with the words “Francine’s Spin the Bottle Game.”
The complaint says that the game is “not okay for K-5 kids.” I want to know how this scene in the novel even came across the person filing the copmplaint. Most likely, somebody forwarded this scene to them because I can’t imagine them actually reading a book.
This type of complaint is baseless and wants to ban books that make people think. The scene at hand is a normal one. There is nothing to censor. What the person wants to censor is the process of thinking. By this logic, any book that has anything that can lead to any thought that is inapproate should be banned.
That is why banning books is never a good idea. It is a slippery slope and it never ends. Well, it ends up with most books being banned. And that is their goal.