To Ban Or Not To Ban

A few days before setting out on Christmas break, a tiny item caught my eye in the cbc.ca headlines. Since I was distracted with thoughts of my impending vacation, and wired on sugar to boot, I didn’t make much of it at the time. I just glanced at the phrase: “Toronto-area Catholic school board bans Pullman fantasy trilogy.”

While I was off on my holiday, one word from that headline kept rattling around in my brain. Bans. I was supposed to be relaxing and not thinking too much about work or books, but, wow, did that word ever fester.

Now I’m back at my desk and I’ve had a chance to read this article in its entirety. It seems that after a lengthy debate that started back in November, the trustees of the Halton District Catholic School Board voted to ban — there’s that pesky word again — Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy from its library shelves. The books, including the well-loved The Golden Compass, are being pulled on the grounds that they are “not in line with” the board’s “values.”

Many questions went through my mind upon reading this article, like why is it always children’s fantasy books that are accused of being anti-religious? Full Story

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