7 Favorite Books In The Banned List... Are They Truly Dangerous?

Who else grew up with Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter? While this series certainly taught us the value of true friendship, some people think otherwise. Several church schools in England have banned the books as they go against the Bible teachings. It is said to promote witchcraft, set bad examples and for being way too dark.

Several parents expressed their concerns that Harry Potter was leading children to practice Satanism - because in the magical world of Harry, drinking dead animal blood brings power; Harry's drop of blood could bring Voldemort to life; conversing with ghosts is normal; the list goes on.

But isn't this simply a book set for enjoyment? You guys are probably reading way too much into this.

It certainly frustrates us that this book could even be capable of being banned, but it is, in several schools in America. Here's the most noteworthy cases of arguments against this book: several Fundamentalist Christian families filed a lawsuit against the book's portrayal of good witches because good witches are simply impossible to exist.

Say what?

Not only that, the most common accusations against it is that it is 'ungodly' and 'unwholesome' - because it implies that the human attributes were intrinsically developed rather than God given, and it depicts women in strong leadership roles.

I am honestly unsure if we are regressing back to the past.

As Harper Lee's first and only book published (until "Go Set a Watchman" in 2015), it tells the story from the perspective of 'Scout', daughter of a lawyer. This brilliant piece of work explores universal themes such as courage, social inequality and the co-existence of good and evil.

However, the book almost always ends up on the list of the top 10 most challenged books by the American Library Association (ALA) in the US. Some of the reasons cited is that it is too violent and promotes racism (because of the n-word).

It is a story which touches on some sensitive subject indeed.

Ah, a personal favorite of mine. It provides a gripping tale of Amir, a wealthy Afghan boy and his journey to redeeming himself after he betrayed his close friend, Hassan. Although a bestseller with millions of copies sold in the United States, it is the fourth most challenged book according to the ALA in 2017, and also red-flagged in California in violation of the state law.

It is being challenged for the sexual violence depicted, and also accused for promoting terrorism and Islam.

While it is understandable that people are concerned about the sexual violence, it is a pity to miss this gem just for that reason.

A really famous book for being 'erotic'.

I'm sure we have faced a situation where even the libraries don't seem to have the book. Hey, welcome to censorship. The book was banned in India even after the removal of all nudity scenes, on the pretext of being too “salacious”.

What is even more interesting is that people think that the book would suddenly turn any readers into ravaging, sex-driven monsters, who wouldn't be able to control him/herself. Someone commented that “Women would not be able to control their hormones during the book reading and men shouldn’t even be allowed near them.”

I'll leave it to you to judge this.

The Hunger Games Trilogy has been put up for ban for the following reasons: anti-ethnic, anti-family, insensitivity, offensive language, occult/satanic, violence and religious viewpoint.

Hope you digested that long list.

For example, killing games were seen as a sacrifice of human lives - a satanic ritual some would say, even though it is to keep rebels at bay rather than pleasing a random demon.

Others say that the book would numb children to the effects of violence. But let's face it, the book is much less gruesome compared to the happenings nowadays.

As some of you might have already guessed it, the book was challenged for its depiction of suicide in the story line. The book was especially pulled off the shelves after the debut of its movie. However, there were some counter arguments that the book wasn’t as graphic as the movie and that helped to return the book on the shelves.

Regardless, certain schools have still decided to ban the books in their school circulation as they believe that the students have not reached the maturity level to read and understand the topic well enough.

I admit on this point that all parents and teachers are generally the best judges to decide if their children are ready.