It appears that in an attempt to ban work and sexually explicit books, the state schoolboard has banned the bible and Shakespaere.
It was only a matter of time, and I thought that it would be Texas or Florida that went first, but it's the birthplace of Stephen Colbert:
We’ve mostly steered clear of S.C. Education Superintendent Ellen Weaver’s effort to take over decisions about what books can and can’t be available in public schools, because we agree that schools shouldn’t offer books that are essentially how-to manuals for having sex.
And yes, a few such books actually have showed up in our schools — although schools generally have removed them as soon as they were made aware of them.
But as complaints have mounted about what critics call an unclear new regulation, and as state officials have refused to clarify any of the text, we’ve looked more closely at the rules that took effect Aug. 1 — and we’ve become concerned. Our concern isn’t that the regulation is unclear. It’s that at least parts of it are quite clear — and quite broad.
What’s unclear is whether the Board of Education intends to enforce its regulation as written, or if it will treat it as though it means what most people would assume it means if they read only the regulation — and not the sweeping definition in state law that it incorporates by reference but doesn't quote.
Teachers have been asking what seem like ridiculous questions designed simply to make a point: Can they still teach the works of William Shakespeare, or even include them in their libraries? What about the Bible? Can it be available in the library?
By our reading, the answers to those questions would be no. And that’s ridiculous.
As the Japanese say, "バカにつける薬はない".
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