Let children decide for themselves what they believe

Re: Let’s ban fear, hate and ignorance, not books — June 1

The headline to Michael Coren’s above article is rhetorical, as fear, hate and ignorance are essential to the human condition. So I ask why is banning them acceptable when banning books is not. I think Coren is pontificating a bit too much, especially when he talks about “authentic” Christians!

The books we read shape us. Coren says as much about the Bible but, as he points out, there is much in there that needs to be avoided or interpreted and about which guidance is needed. That’s why we don’t teach texts about sex, rape and slaughter in Sunday school. Some books in the Bible need to be read at appropriate ages; surely our children deserve the same in their secular reading. I go further. Censorship is not the answer either. Changing the author’s language so as to not upset someone’s feelings, as some major publishers are doing to standard works, is not acceptable. The Bible, for instance, would become meaningless pulp.

Teach children, but don’t indoctrinate them with the agendas of either the woke or the not-woke. Let them decide for themselves what they believe when they have reached maturity of thought.