I've probably pontificated on this topic before, but I'm frankly too lazy to check, so here we go.
With the start of the school year, there is always a crop of news stories about local districts banning books. In most cases, all that means is that a specific book has been removed from the school library. Alarmists will tell you that these books are removed because of a racist agenda, or as a ploy to erase history from the public mind, but research into the specifics almost always lead to a parental complaint about sexual content. (Which speaks to our strangely puritanical attitudes about sex, but I digress.)
I've said this before and I'm sure I'll say it again: A local regulation does not mean federal martial law is coming. Some school somewhere doesn't want students to find out from them that Anne Frank had periods. This does not mean that next week Joe Biden is going to kick down my door and take my copy of the book in question.
This does not mean anyone is a Holocaust Denier or Anti-Semite. If the book removed is Roots or Cujo, it probably isn't because of racism or a hatred of large dogs. You won't find Twilight on my shelf, but that doesn't mean I hate any of the ethnicities or religious groups that might be in there.
The bans these news articles are talking about aren't even really bans. The library doesn't have it, but no one is likely to punish a student who gets a copy from Grandma. Even if he totes it into the school and reads it at lunch.
Closer to an actual ban is the thing they're calling Cancel Culture. I know I've pontificated about this before, but it bears repeating. We should totally boycott an entire entertainment franchise or store chain because its creator or CEO has committed an act we disapprove of? I don't think so.
Religion (defined here as a personal belief system) and business should not mix - for either the company or the consumer. For example, a certain company is known to support homophobic causes. Suppose we run them out of business. Yay, we showed the homophobic CEO! Then what happens? How many people are going to be unemployed? How many of those people are or have loved ones in the LBG+ community? Boycotts hurt more than they help.
I am not burning my books and merch from the franchises I love because the creator proves to be less than admirable. For one thing, they already got my money when I bought the things, so I wouldn't be hurting them any! Consider the Harry Potter franchise - JKR has been running around saying some hateful things for quite some time. Should we refuse to buy anything HP-related ever again? Most of the movie cast has come forward and refuted her words - should they be punished by a loss of income? Should we ignore the otherwise inclusive and inspiring message in the books? I don't think so.
Flawed people can make great art. History is full of examples - most of the greats were some kind of hater, especially by modern standards. Sexual perversion is nothing new. And there's always the question of context. I'm not making excuses for hate - that's never cool when directed at entire groups. I'm just saying that, if I boycott every business or franchise that's been linked to a jerk... I'd have to go live in a cave and live off roots and berries.
