There have been so many banned book titles being considered for removal from our public libraries and schools it is odd that one book has remained.

When you look at the list of books that are being slated for removal it is mind boggling. For instance, “Catcher in the Rye” which I read in high school sixty years ago; “Of Mice and Men” which I read in Junior High; “Fahrenheit 451” that I also read in high school; “The Diary of A Young Girl” by Anne Frank,; “Brave New World” which I read in my Freshman lit class at WSU; “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” which I read in Jr. High; “The Things They Carried” which I read trying to understand my brother’s death due to the Vietnam War; “Nickel and Dimed” which I just read to understand our present poverty and homelessness; classics such as “Call of the Wild”, “A Wrinkle in Time”, “The Great Gatsby”, Catch 22”, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, “The Grapes of Wrath”, etc.

The reasons given for the removal of these so called dangerous books revolves around a few basic themes. They are either considered to be full violence, especially against children, incest, rape, themes of racism, sexuality, adultery, and of grief and death.

The one book that has all of these included has not been mentioned, even in quiet circles, is the Bible, the King James version. Check out how Lot impregnated two of his daughters; David coveting another man’s wife; the homosexual raping of children in Sodom and Gomorrah; the desired extermination of every last single citizen in war, and the death and grief of many of those written about.

It is incredible that this book has survived the censorship desires of many people today. It is so full of violence against people and animals as well as discussions of perfidy committed by its heroes, it is a wonder it is not on their list.

Next thing you know, they will want the removal of such children’s books as “Charlotte’s Web” and “Where’s Waldo”. Oops, my bad, they are already on the list. My sarcasm intended.

Eugene Clegg

Enumclaw