(This article ends on a dogmatic note. I didn't intend for that to be the case, but my opinion ended up playing heavily into my thoughts as I wrote. Treat what I write here with a critical mind and come to your own conclusion.)222Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvg17xIxfNT
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I am not a writer, I am a storyteller. A raconteur. There's a difference.
In my mind a writer is like a mathematician, and mathematicians are all about perfection. Every misplaced comma, every run-on sentence, every en dash that should have been an em dash isn't just an error, its an insult. 222Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ16Wk9ypgcp
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I went to art school. I am not a mathematician. Therefore, following the logic of the transitive property, anything I write that adequately gets the point across is good enough for me. 222Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE1jZ8CP3IZ
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Arguably, what I am is something that has the possibility of being considerably more dangerous.222Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFH6Y7JRoSi
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Most of us are undoubtedly familiar with the problem of false stories online, but there also exists the conundrum of the persuasive story, which has existed since the creation of language. Stories made to sway opinion. Some are obvious, others not so much.222Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibOQjNmwxq
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When we read, our thoughts become entwined with the author's words. We think in our own voices, and depending on how engrossed we are with the story we often find their words becoming indistinguishable from our thoughts. If we don't possess a strong sense of self at the time of reading then it becomes very difficult to think critically on what it is exactly we're reading.222Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Z1xmNuoiS
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I was particularly susceptible to this when I was younger, and to an extent even more so than the average person considering the dissociation I regularly experience. It has taken me years to familiarize myself with my core being to the point where I can keep written works at a distance. On this note, an issue that I have when I'm writing stories is that I often find my own beliefs flowing into my characters. I almost feel guilty about it because my goal isn't to sway others to think like me, but to tell a good, possibly thought-provoking story.222Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiqiu25PjRl
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Granted, any and every piece of art ever made has a piece of its maker in it without exception. When creating a story it's entirely possible to learn to keep one's creation at an objective distance, but the fact remains that the author is writing because they want to. They have a story to tell, and a reason for telling it.222Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLQj8KkW6H7
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It's for this reason, however, that those in power choose to ban stories. They don't want certain voices, certain lessons, certain ideas, to be heard.222Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBldySTwItr
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Having once been an impressionable, angsty teenager myself, I can understand why these powers-that-be choose to do this. I was a conformist and readily willing to agree with any story that didn't go against the grain, even if the story was wrong or hurtful. I didn't yet have the wisdom to handle stories critically as I had yet to learn who exactly I was, who I wanted to be, and what exactly was most important to me. I was completely willing to let someone else's thoughts and experiences fill those empty spaces inside of me, for better or worse.222Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyV7pbQ3Zgu
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But the question still remains: why would those in charge ban the books they do? What reason do they have to silence these stories? And what gives them the authority to decide what should be heard and what shouldn't be? That in itself is something to always keep in mind.222Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKZkcRB5gAr
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It is with these questions that I inevitably settled on a rather cliché adage yet again, that the old possess the wisdom from experience but not the physicality to enact change, while the youth possess the exact opposite. As such it is in the old's best interest to sway the opinion of the youth so that they can enact the change they want. After all, the youth are the future.222Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKy9kuHMb63
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While this paints a grim picture, I would like to underscore the fact that a majority of people are good, most teachers have good intentions, and nobody is powerless when it comes to experiencing stories. Everyone has the power to either close the book or keep reading.222Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAX1JkXoQm7
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The challenge is knowing when to do it, and the most important thing is learning how to recognize an author's agenda when you see it. It may come subtly in the form of fictional characters who are funny or sympathetic that the author uses as a proxy mouthpiece, or it may come dramatically in a book explicitly called something like the Communist Manifesto. A reader's best defense when experiencing any story is to always remember that a human being is behind it's inception, and to ask themselves this question: who is the author, and why did they write the story they did?222Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj62kT4CwzK
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My point in writing this is to make a case against banning books. In order to create a wise society we must not encourage the banning of ideas, but teach everyone to think critically for themselves. To question why. To experience all sides of an idea, not just a single voice, before coming to a conclusion. To recognize the personal biases that sway our emotions and thoughts, as well as how others utilize our ignorance for their own personal gain.222Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYDos0bQSdX
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In short: readers beware. Always.222Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB57tLdcUGs
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Happy writing,222Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQi0L4nnc1E
Chris
