"No, God hates morons!"*

Last week we celebrated Banned Books Week with the ALA and right on cue came a moron from Texas who is challenging a book. No, it's not the Harry Potter books this time around, it's Fahrenheit 451:

Alton Verm, of Conroe, objects to the language and content in the book. His 15-year-old daughter Diana, a CCHS sophomore, came to him Sept. 21 with her reservations about reading the book because of its language.

"The book had a bunch of very bad language in it," Diana Verm said. "It shouldn't be in there because it's offending people. ... If they can't find a book that uses clean words, they shouldn't have a book at all."

I do declare! Where's that fainting couch when we need it?

Of course, just like with the Georgia mom who wanted Potter banned, the dad says this (emphasis mine):

"It's just all kinds of filth," said Alton Verm, adding that he had not read 'Fahrenheit 451.' "The words don't need to be brought out in class. I want to get the book taken out of the class."

And why exactly do these shining examples of the shallow end of the gene pool want the books banned?

He looked through the book and found the following things wrong with the book: discussion of being drunk, smoking cigarettes, violence, "dirty talk," references to the Bible and using God's name in vain. He said the book's material goes against their religions beliefs.

Was his daughter forced into reading F451? No, of course not. She was offered an alternative book to read. Does that satisfy these people? No, of course not. They want a book they have never read banned from the schools because it is against their religious beliefs so that everyone must be punished for their blatent, offensively high stupidity. Well, Mr. Verm, I say to you: fuck you and the horse you rode in on. Fuck you for trying to dumb down the rest of the students to appease your ignorance.

"Somewhere the saving and putting away had to begin again and someone had to do the saving and keeping, one way or another, in books, in records, in people's heads, any way at all so long as it was safe, free from moths, silver-fish, rust and dry-rot, and men with matches." ~ Fahrenheit 451


(* = from Six Feet Under)