The Bonfires Are Coming

Anyone thinking the race to a new Dark Age is hyperbole should scan the Washington Post's article about a new cry in Virginia: Toss all objectionable books into the fire.

This isn't a new phenomenon. What's new is the sentiment has gained purchase in the MAGA-infused world where all critical thinking is a threat; where racial and gender discussions are forbidden; where myths about the Golden Age of the past are elevated; and noble, lost cause narratives continue unscarred, uncriticized and worshipped. Here's a taste, bitter as it is:

As the Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star reported Tuesday:

Two board members, Courtland representative Rabih Abuismail and Livingston representative Kirk Twigg, said they would like to see the removed books burned.
“I think we should throw those books in a fire,” Abuismail said, and Twigg said he wants to “see the books before we burn them so we can identify within our community that we are eradicating this bad stuff.”


If there isn't a long, shrieking howl over this, we are on our way to ruin. Burning books, starting with the suggestion that somehow these subjects are not worthy of teaching and/or crowd out the teaching of Christian values, cannot be normalized or ignored. We pretend this sentiment is fringe, irrelevant at our own peril.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/11/10/i-think-we-should-throw-those-books-fire-movement-builds-right-target-books/