[MLD-Grounds-Keeper-Willie]

Kalessin, your question was: What I was wondering originally was whether the principals in schools would have an argument for banning Tolkien and others that was distinct from what most BD residents would clearly see as irrational. And to know what it was.

I think that it is hard to get a sure answer for this but I think yes, they would have an argument. They most likely woiuldn't ban it without believing that they didn't have a reason. I think that they might have gone too far and over-reacted but they still would argue that it should be banned. Now, I've only had experiences of banning in grammer school and not in highschool so you might see this differently than I do. Also, I went to catholic school's all my life so again, you might see this diffently than I do. But one thing that I noticed about catholic schools is that they do a lot more banning than public schools do. I think that you were saying the reason this happens in religious schools is because it conflicts with the religion. But in my school, I've noticed that most of the time it's not because it conflicts with religion and it doesn't always conflict with religion. I found that it's usually because of mantinence. I think that my school wanted to maintain a certain level of strictness. By not allowing any leeway on dress codes/uniforms, she was keeping the students in line and I guess you could say conformity. If my principal allowed spikey hair, then the next thing might be dyed hair which could lead to mohawks. She saw it not as an immediate problem but a way to eliminate a future problems before it even exists.

Now, how is this in any way related to the authors that were banned? Well, by banning tolkien, maybe your principal was thinking ahead. Your principal could have thought that if you start reading tolkien, th white, and ray bradbury, you might end up reading more radical and 'demonologic' books. Your principal could have thought that in a few years, it would lead to reading books about the devil. That seems radical, but some people can be just a bit too paranoid. I don't think that it would have led to reading about the devil but some people do think that.