A\u00a0TikTok<\/a>\u00a0series show people around the world burning copies of Rowlings\u2019 books. In one video of a burning pile of books by TikTok user @elmcdo, a voice is heard saying<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to stop using \u2018death of the author\u2019 as an excuse to have your cake and eat it too. While the reader\u2019s perspective is an important part of interpretation and meaning, it is impossible to completely divorce a work from its creator. The positive impact that J.K. Rowling\u2019s work had on millions of readers does not negate how her hateful lobbying has affected the trans community.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n That sums up the logic of every book burner in history.\u00a0 You cannot read a book because of the views or religion or identity of the author.\u00a0 It is better to burn the book to protect society.<\/p>\n Then there is Rabble Books and Games in Maylands, Perth. The owner owner Nat Latter proudly declared\u00a0on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0that he had removed all fo the Harry Potter books from bookshelves to guarantee \u201ca safer space for our community.\u201d So you can buy a Rowlings book by having it retrieved from behind the back room like pornography.\u00a0 It is a form of censoring by making it more difficult to buy some books rather than others because you disfavor authors with opposing views. Latter seems to relish the role of a book censoring book seller:<\/p>\n \u201cWhilst stocking a book isn\u2019t an endorsement (good grief, that would be a minefield), and we will always take orders for books that aren\u2019t in stock, there are more worthy books to put on the shelf, books that don\u2019t harm communities and won\u2019t make us sad to unpack them.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Thankfully, this remains a small minority of activists but there is a\u00a0more pronounced anti-free speech movement growing in this and other countries<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jonathanturley.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/1506px-1933-may-10-berlin-book-burning.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a>In Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore told the students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that \u201cIt takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.\u201d\u00a0 Many are learning the truth of that line written by famed author JK Rowling as self-described progressives burn her books or ban them from shelves because she personally holds\u00a0an opposing view of gender<\/a>.\u00a0 Much like the\u00a0boycott movement of Chick-Fil-A over comments by its CEO<\/a>, people are seeking to punish Rowling through attacks on her literature.\u00a0 We previously discussed the\u00a0embracing of art destruction<\/a>\u00a0as analogous to book burning, but now actual book burning is being embraced as a weapon of the woke.<\/p>\n
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Does Latter also hide works with opposing views on gender from the Bible to the Koran to classic novels?\u00a0 Indeed, why not pull all of the work of authors like Hemingway and others for their views of women or race relations or other issues? Book sellers used to be people who wants to be gateways to knowledge and a world of different ideas and values. Now readers are being protected from even seeing the name of an author who personally holds opposing or offensive views.<\/div>\n
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What is most disturbing is not the flawed rhetoric of these individuals in justifying book burning and speech regulation but the relative silence from communities as a whole. We have seen\u00a0increasing pressure to regulate art<\/a>\u00a0based on the identity or gender of artists.\u00a0 Authors often hold unpopular views from society as a whole. Many are deeply religious or hold narrow views of certain social institutions or rights. These views are often not reflected in their art or writings. Indeed, Rowlings is viewed as extremely liberal but holds a narrow view of gender.\u00a0 We can debate her on those views and denounce those that we find hateful or intolerant. However, burning or banning or hiding books (or destroying art) is the ultimate attack on free speech. It is the signature of oppression from the China\u2019s\u00a0Qin Dynasty<\/a>\u00a0to the Nazis to Southern segregationists. Saying that you are different because you are acting in defense of others is a transparently weak rationalization. Declaring intolerance in the name of tolerance captures the very illogic of book burning.<\/div>\n
These actions only prove again what Albus Dumbledore said (and J.K. Rowlings wrote): \u201cDark times lie ahead of us and there will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right.\u201d<\/div>\n