86 Comments

Is the Bible available for students to read in Florida schools? It’s chocked full of incest, rape, murder, slavery, sodomy, adultery, gay sex, bigotry, racial hatred, etc. I’m sure that’s ok though, right?

Expand full comment

There is an effort to ban the Bible from schools in Utah, for these same reasons

Expand full comment

All it takes in Fl is to file a complaint with the local school board and the book is removed pending review. Jacksonville’s school libraries have abt 1.6 million titles as I recall and abt 54 “media specialists” (aka librarians) tasked with doing the reviews.

Students can access same books, and more, on their computers.

Expand full comment

If only it was this easy to rename public infrastructure named after Confederates, or removing religious material and prayer.

Expand full comment

Why is it that one parent can get a book or film banned for the whole damn school???? If that parent want to keep their kids ignorant, that's their right (problem), but they should not have the right to block others from the choice. Because that's the end result, kinda like the gun nuts whose right to pack heat overrides our right to be safe in school, their right to hide the past from their kids supersedes our right to educate our children in the real past.

Expand full comment

It is all part of the multifaceted GOP plan for minority rule. Their way to stop abortion option was to load the Supreme Court and it worked. Florida is the most notable state Gerrymandering the way to control of the minds of children and the next generation. Oh Florida,

originator of the group

Mom's for Liberty. One complaint filing away for anything gets a book or movie banned.

They caused all the school board ruckus across the country using Misinformation and anger. My state got Youngkin elected from it...

Tick tock to facism.

Expand full comment

Give how horrible Youngkin has turned out to be, I'm surprised that no one has started a recall drive.

Expand full comment

I just did some research on what Youngkin purportedly favors: the theology of the New Apostolic Reformation movement of the "seven mountains". Sounds like what DeSantis is actualy enacting.

Expand full comment

Too many like him.

Expand full comment

It's all about intimidation in order to create a fearful and compliant population.

It appears that a majority of the population that currently objects to each and every move by the MAGAfascists is more interested in watching the final four and getting ready for the coming baseball season than voting and standing up for democracy.

Expand full comment

...come on! they don't have to be mutually exclusive!

Expand full comment

Well, there *are* two Florida teams in the Final Four. Gotta have priorities.

Expand full comment

And, the Miami Hurricanes has sane priorities--they say they play to be happy and enjoy each other's company. Their coach insists they be a family: he wants them all to feel free to eat at his home--and they have to know where the plates and forks and knives are!

Expand full comment

@peter, good question. The community needs to hold the school administration and school board accountable for violating their own policy.

Expand full comment

They cannot ban the internet in Florida. The movie “Ruby Bridges” is available on Apple TV, Disney +, Amazon Prime Video, and other streaming services. “The Bluest Eye” can be ordered as an eBook or sent in the mail. Parents and educators need to fight back in any way they can. It’s a constant struggle. We cannot give up. I’m not sure if the Brooklyn Public Library is still providing eCards to students across the country. Here is the link: https://www.bklynlibrary.org/books-unbanned

Expand full comment

Disney should make it free to view without a subscription.

Expand full comment

Hahaha!

Expand full comment

Censorship plain and simple. Racist at its base. Totally Florida. Shameful.

Thanks for continuing to fight the good fight!!

Expand full comment

Florida is experiencing the consequences of being a one political party state in the age of Trump. The extremes, in this case the right wing, are emboldened and have no shame. There is no more pretense of governing or representing all. It is now favor those like you and bash(at best) or remove(at worst) those who are not.

The Florida Democrats are in such disarray, they can barely put up any good candidates. They need to get their house in order. I don't know how, but Florida needs two active, competent political parties.

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Mar 29, 2023
Comment deleted
Expand full comment

Floridians passed an amendment to the State Constitution granting voting rights to those who have completed their sentence. In one of the biggest middle fingers in the history of middle fingers ever raised by politicians to their constituents, the Florida legislature found a loophole that enabled them to add that completion of sentence includes the payment of fines.

Of course, almost all those who were incarcerated are unable to pay the fines, therefore they are unable to vote.

Expand full comment

There’s a part of me that wants them to drown in their ignorance. But thank you Judd for explicitly pointing it out.

Expand full comment

Surely you aren’t surprised that book banning is really about bigotry? That was the purpose all along--for too long we have allowed Repugs to get away with euphemisms, cloaked propaganda and masking hate and division with self-righteous indignation.

Expand full comment

So in Florida, freedom means other people decide what is acceptable and what is objectionable? And the target is always a moving one? This is the way to be great again?

I'd rather know my history. To be fully informed is to be fully armed!

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Mar 28, 2023
Comment deleted
Expand full comment

Or the powers that be can lie lie lie like they've been doing. Why stop now? They have a whole lot of people in the palm of their hot and horny hands.

Expand full comment

This is the blueprint that right wing religious extremists will follow across the country as they increase their ability/desire to control what everyone else can read and see.

Expand full comment

So, a 6-year-old child can endure this hatred for years for her education, but 7-year-old children can't even watch it? I'm beginning to think these Floridians are actually grooming racists.

Expand full comment

No self-respecting university outside of Florida should accept a high school student from Florida, as their education is clearly going to be inadequate.

Expand full comment

Maxwell Frost attended Osceola County School for the Arts in Kissimmee, Florida, and David Hogg and others attended Margery Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida.

Expand full comment

I mean going forward, based on what they’re turning their schools into.

Expand full comment

My advice to parents considering a family move to Florida: don't do it!

Expand full comment

Don't go there on vacation nor business. Economic boycott.

Expand full comment

Except Disney.

They have been standing up to DeSantis and his anti-gay agenda.

Expand full comment

re the objections to "The Bluest Eye" Don't I remember that the Bible includes graphic descriptions of incest?

John

Expand full comment

The Bible (A History of Violent Behaviors) including murder, rape, incest, infanticide, the sacrificing of animals, pillaging, incest, misc thievery, murder, more sacrifices, pillaging, incest, murder, more sacrifices, pillaging, the killing of children, incest, more rape, more thievery, more of everything up to and including murder!

Expand full comment

In my youth, my synagogue did not hand during class nor provide me a Torah to read until my Bar-Mitzvah. We did not read passages directly during Hebrew School. Only age-appropriate versions thereof with nice pictures. Only speculating that no matter the Abrahamic religion, religious school leaders and many parents probably already know not to provide the actual Bible to children.

With that said, it would be interesting to see whether the law is applied consistently or hypocritically? My guess is that we will see both and Florida government will find some excuse to promote the latter.

Expand full comment

Interesting indeed.

Expand full comment

If parents don't want their children to read/view certain items, fine. They don't have the right to censor what is offered to other children.

Expand full comment

Can we say Florida is a fascist state !! Banning books, don't say gay, every RW nutjob telling the public what to do, what to say, and what to think ! Now you can open carry , no background checks, no banning of AK47 and soon probably decrease the age to obtain a gun ! Maybe a 3 or 4 year old can go get a gun and take it to a birthday party he or she wasn't invited to !! But hey , gun rights are important !! If you think that this is okay but protecting gun rights is more important than children's lives then maybe you should have a long look in the mirror ! The repugnants only care about money , their donors and " sticking " to the libs , that is it ! The people in these states that roll over and let it happen are just as guilty as far as I'm concerned! So when the nazi loving right wing nut jobs come for you because there is no one left to torture, that will be your problem ! At least you can't say " I never knew " !!!!

Expand full comment

None of this is about what the bigots don't want their kids to read. It is ALL about what they don't want everyone else's kids to be able to access. Destruction of others' access to information and complete control of others are the DeSantistan qualities of "good" citizenship.

Expand full comment