Farenheit 451 is the first dystopian novel I ever read and it is still my favorite (though I’m working through A Brave New World–if you can call it dystopian–right now, so it could change). I read it in middle school, so I didn’t fully understand the concepts in the book or the purpose behind the book then, but I remember enjoying the book and being amazed that a book over 40 years old could seem so current. Through the years many have argued about its meaning and purpose, but, around the time of its publication Bradbury said that he wrote it because of the threat of book burning in the United States during the McCarthy era.
I’ve often returned to Bradbury’s masterpiece and in recent weeks I’ve thought a lot about it. Book burning is not a new idea, it is probably almost as old as books. Books have been burned through the years voluntarily, as with Christian converts, for instance who burned their old books on sorcery, but they have also been burned by force. The Nazis sought to destroy all competing ideology and so burned millions of books as propaganda. Compulsory book burning is done to oppress people and abolish free speech and the free-flow of ideas.
I thought about Bradbury’s novel a while back as I read a CBS article about a kindergarten teacher’s decision to teach her students about transgenderism. Within that article I came across this quote from 7th grade teacher Kelly Bryson,
When we head in the direction of banned books or book lists, or selective literature—that should only be read inside or outside the classroom, I think that is a very dangerous direction to go.
The step from banned books to burned books is a short one, and as a defender of free speech I am not in favor of compulsory burning of books, nor do I believe that our government should get into the business of filtering or banning books.
However, to suggest that it is dangerous to select or filter the books that can or should be read in a Kindergarten classroom is absurd and intellectually dishonest. We carefully filter the books that are read in kindergarten classrooms every day. No one would expect for the kindergartners to read Jurassic Park or the Hunger Games. I would certainly hope that a school district would step in if the kindergarteners were reading The Art of War or Oedipus, or American Sniper.
In fact, not only do we hope that there is selection and filtering, the very school district in question acknowledges that they have a selection process for literature with these words, “the books were age-appropriate and fell within their literature selection policy.”
Free speech is a necessary right in a free culture, but that freedom should be extended progressively as children age. The free exchange of ideas among high school and college students will and must be different than the free exchange of ideas from teachers to kindergarteners.
I would be curious to know if those who are arguing against filtering books to kindergartners are open to having the gospel of John read to elementary school students or if it would be considered indoctrination.
Free speech and the free exchange of ideas is being limited, but in this case, the limitation is not coming primarily from conservative parents, it has come from a school district with what appears to be an agenda. They have a selection process that is perfectly acceptable to Kelly Bryson and other teachers who spoke in favor of teaching transgender ideology in kindergarten, as long as that selection process does not exclude a book with which they agree.
On many college campuses in recent weeks and months, we have observed protests and cancellations because of the opinions and views of speakers who have been invited to campus. We are seeing a culture emerge that believes in stifling ideas that it finds offensive and in hindering free speech with which it disagrees. Book burning is only a step away, but interestingly, it may not come at the hands of uber-conservative fascists, but at the intolerant hands of the extremely liberal.
As D. A. Carson has pointed out to us, the idea of tolerance is itself intolerant of any and all view-points that it finds offensive.
As Christians, we should stand ready to make a defense for the gospel, but it is time that we stopped being offended all the time and started engaging our culture in loving dialogue and conversation. The kingdom of God will not be spread with angry Facebook rants and occasional political victories. If God had intended to bring in his kingdom politically, Jesus would have worn a crown of gold instead of one of thorns.
A Counter Cultural Message and Method
It may be true that our culture is increasingly hostile toward the message of the cross (or any message with which they do not agree), but we should not be surprised or outraged. Jesus warned that this was coming.
We must not mimic our culture’s outrage. We must be different. We must proclaim a compelling message with love and grace in the midst of a culture that wants to shout us down.
Until we have learned to cry for a lost and hurting world, we have no right to shout about the actions of our world.
There is much in the world that I consider smut and unworthy of my attention–or of anyone else’s for that matter. There is much that I do not want my children to learn—in kindergarten or any age. I will advocate for my children to learn in healthy schools that do not promote unhealthy ideologies. I believe that we have a responsibility to advocate for Christian morality in education and in the public sphere. However, I must also resist the temptation to live in a constant state of outrage. Our culture thrives on drama, but as Christians we must be different.
We are not surprised that our morality is not encouraged by our culture. We are not surprised that in these last days right is called wrong and wrong is called right. But, we should be surprised and outraged when Christians begin to scream at the lost instead of praying for them and sharing the hope of the gospel. Pray more than you post. Share more than you shout. Listen more than you lash out.
Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
– 1 Peter 2:12
If books will be burned, let us make sure that we are not the ones demanding the burning. Let us instead intercede on behalf of those with whom we disagree and pray for our enemies. After all, the prayer of a righteous man “availeth much.”
