The Insanity of Burning Books

Wow, what can I say? I'm simply stunned.

Have you ever seen the movie "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"? In it, Indiana Jones and his father have to go to Berlin to get a diary back. In one of the Berlin scenes, there is a huge group of people, mostly Nazis, who are burning books. Whenever I see that scene, I'm really bothered by it. Do I agree with everything I see written? No, of course not. Do I agree with every piece of religious text I have ever read? No, of course not. But....I'd never purposefully destroy a book.

Science types and philosophy types love to discuss what 'really' separates humans from the rest of the critters on the planet. For me, it's humanity's ability to record our ideas, our thoughts, our grocery lists. It is the written word. Where would we be without the written word? I certainly wouldn't be typing this up on a computer sitting in the middle of a desert!

There is a really great term used in certain religious circles: anathema. Borrowing from merriam-webster.com: "Definition of ANATHEMA
1
a : one that is cursed by ecclesiastical authority b : someone or something intensely disliked or loathed —usually used as a predicate nominative
2
a : a ban or curse solemnly pronounced by ecclesiastical authority and accompanied by excommunication b : the denunciation of something as accursed c : a vigorous denunciation "

Burning books should be 'anathema'. It is an act that is not only physically damaging to human history, but it is an act that is demeaning to the people who take place in such an act.

I wonder what the planet would be like if cuttlefish could write? I wonder what they'd write about. Would they burn books? No, of course they wouldn't; cuttlefish are an intelligent species. I wonder what that says about people?

Peace.