THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 14, 1996 TAG: 9609140011
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 28 lines
In response to Leila Christenbury's comments regarding the People for the American Way's censorship report (Sept. 11, Another View):
Many people very much want the beliefs and worldview that they have embraced to be reflected and affirmed in the literature that their children read. Parents ask important questions; for example: How is death dealt with? How are adults portrayed? How are parents (particularly fathers) portrayed? How are people of faith portrayed?
Drug abuse, child abuse, peer pressure, sexuality - these are important issues that parents want their children to think about. But should a responsible parent allow a developing young mind to be alone from cover to cover with a skilled author whose beliefs and worldview have been demonstrated to be opposed to their own? Should the state be allowed to ``jam'' these books into every young person's hands, as Ms. Christenbury proposes?
The moral questions that these books raise are not the concern. It's the answers they offer. Parents are rightly concerned about what their children eat, what they watch on television and the movies they view. Are books, and the worldview that they promote, not to be evaluated as well?
CARROL THOMAS
Virginia Beach, Sept. 12, 1996 by CNB