Has the Brave New World Begun Yet?

I came across this story thanks to Neil Gaiman’s twitter.

Brief side question: at what point do we fall over (as a society) from too many information channels?

Anyway, the basic gist of the article is

a group of Christians in Wisconsin has launched a legal claim demanding the right to publicly burn a copy of a book for teenagers which they deem to be “explicitly vulgar, racial [sic], and anti-Christian”.

The book in question, Francesca Lia Block’s Baby Be-Bop, is about a young man struggling with his homosexuality and who is beaten up by a gang of homophobes.

I can’t really sum it up any better than this next chunk so just enjoy:

The complaint, which according to the American Library Association also demands $120,000 (£72,000) in compensatory damages for being exposed to the book in a display at West Bend Community Memorial Library, was lodged by four men from the Christian Civil Liberties Union.

Their suit says that “the plaintiffs, all of whom are elderly, claim their mental and emotional well-being was damaged by this book at the library,” and that it contains derogatory language that could “put one’s life in possible jeopardy, adults and children alike.”

“The word ‘faggot’ is very derogatory and slanderous to all males,” the suit continues. “Using the word ‘Nigger’ is dangerously offensive, disrespectful to all people. These words can permeate violence.” The suit also claims that the book “constitutes a hate crime, and that it degrades the community”.

Not that anyone asked, but here are my thoughts regarding this.

1. What, precisely, about the book being on display makes it a hate crime?  I wonder if this library in question has a copy of Mein Kampf.  Do these gentlemen similarly consider that book’s presence a hate crime…considering it is a book that openly advocate hate and violence?
2. Wouldn’t the fact that the book displays the act of a true hate crime then mean that it (the book) might be in some way illuminating on the issue of hate crimes?  Furthermore, did any of the plaintiffs read said book and then judge it on its merits, or were they just too upset by its cover that they could no longer function as normal human adults.
3. I’m all for the burning of books.  Or, I should say, I’m all for the freedom to burn books.  If they want to go out and buy hundreds of copies and make a bonfire to the gods of chaste literary effort, more power to them.  Shouldn’t the library, though, be the place where all types of books are cataloged, regardless of content/subject matter.

Lastly, I find it interesting that, at a time when the conservative portion of the American media is doing its utmost to paint the current administration as fascist, a clearly conservative group (Christian Civil Liberties Union) is actively advocating a practice right out of Nazi Germany: the destruction of “objectionable” media in a public forum as a way of reinforcing a particular world view that excludes all opposing view points.

MGMT — Electric Feel