Your post has been put behind a warning for readers

I thought it was a little weird getting so many notifications from blogger that several of my posts had been flagged for content.  They were old posts, one dating back to 2012, but I was curious the reason and sent feedback.  Usually, I get no response but I saw that all but one of the posts were reinstated the same day.  The blogger team decided to slap a warning on my post, dated 2014, about the infamous informant from the Watergate scandal.  I suppose some persons might think I was writing about the porn film from 1972.

The flags came from some hacker bearing a grudge.  I've had problems in the past with persons leaving spam in the comments but never actually reporting me to blogger.  Whoever it was had picked out my posts on David Barton (2012), the 1619 Project (2020) and a piece I did on prosperity theology (2015).  I guess they pop up on Google searches as the posts came many years apart and I doubt the hacker actually trolled through all 2288 posts on this blog only to be personally aggrieved by these particular posts.

A minor inconvenience.  Not like the personal torment a headmaster went through at a private school in Tallahassee when one parent objected to the art teacher showing a picture of Michelangelo's David.  Apparently, the school is supposed to warn parents of any possible sensitive content, like a nude sculpture that might be objectionable to some.  The headmaster apologized but that wasn't enough.  The school board forced her to resign.  Not surprisingly, David has become a viral meme ever since.

I imagine Hope Carrasquilla will find another headmaster position in the wake of this "scandal" as most persons are pointing out the absurdity of her being forced to resign over a piece of antiquity that had been shown every year in class.  While this isn't in direct response to Governor Ron's notorious sex education and gender identity bans, it does show how far one person can go to get someone fired in an age where nude sculptures are considered pornography.  God forbid the art teacher had the temerity to show Michelangelo's sculpture of Jesus casting his robe aside upon resurrection.  

This is what happens when you give parents the right to oversee school curricula.  The House just passed legislation that amends the 1965 Education Act, forcing schools to make all curricula and reading material open to parents for their review.  The bill has been watered down to make it look like a matter of public oversight, but we are already seeing in states like Florida and Virginia how far "concerned parents" and lawmakers will go with such legislation.  Fortunately, the bill is not likely to get through the Senate much less gain presidential approval.

Many books remain banned in school districts around the country.  It's a very extensive reading list that includes over 1600 unique titles.  I imagine the list will grow considerably in the years ahead as DeSantis and other state governors have greatly expanded the range of questionable material when it comes to race and gender identity.  However, the bans are not confined to deep red states.  There are an astonishing number of book bans in Pennsylvania.  Fortunately, the new Democratic-led legislature in the state is seeking to rein in these unwarranted bans. 

All it takes is one disgruntled parent to lodge a complaint and the Department of Education is forced to respond.  Under the new legislation, any questionable book would be subject to a public hearing moderated by professionals with specific knowledge of the book.  Many of the 457 books banned in Pennsylvania (second only to Texas) were solely based on complaints by parents.

Not surprisingly the bans are predominantly books about racial and gender identity.  Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian has been banned in several states.  Reasons are rarely given other than stating objectionable content.  In this case, Idaho specified offensive language and sexually explicit scenes. Some school district in Florida also didn't like his Thunder Boy Jr.  Parents act like their kids don't know what masturbation is and have never heard the f-word.

This has been going on for decades but now we see a massive resurgence thanks to legislation put forward by conservatives who believe their kids shouldn't be exposed to such impure thoughts and actions.  If that is the case, they should ban the Bible as it contains numerous sexually explicit scenes, patricide, infanticide and a whole host of other hostile acts committed largely on the whim of a malevolent god who demanded total authoritarian control over his "creation."  

The funny part is the same conservatives take exception to children books by Roald Dahl being cleaned up by publishers to reach a broader audience.  Dahl has not been banned in schools across America despite there being language and scenes that parents might find offensive.  What's "woke" for some is apparently not "woke" for others.

I understand that parents are worried what their kids might be reading and seeing in school.  It doesn't hurt to publicly post curricula and reading lists, which most schools already do, but parents shouldn't be allowed to ban books, let alone teachers and headmasters, over what they might find objectionable.  School boards should stand up for their educators, not coddle disgruntled parents as was recently the case in Tallahassee, Florida.

The worst part about it is that most of these complaints remain anonymous.  Persons usually have ulterior motives for wanting to flag posts, ban books or discredit educators.  A website or library shouldn't immediately take down a post or book because of one anonymous complaint.  The review board should look at the content first before making a decision.  Such hackers can literally flood websites with false flags, taking weeks if not months to address all the complaints.