Today is the last day of Take A Child Outside Week, but still in the middle of Banned Books Week. Both of these weeks are part of a larger movement to encourage open minds in our society – one by encouraging families to reaffirm their part in the open landscape, and the other by encouraging the openness of allowing a free press to print ideas even when we find those ideas to be disturbing.
It’s a shame that this year’s Republican Party White House ticket has opposed both forms of openness. Sarah Palin and John McCain support policies to close down the great outdoors, making it nothing more than cheap rental property in a last ditch effort to preserve the fossil fuel economy. Sarah Palin has been involved in efforts to ban books – both through her power as mayor and through her repressive church in Wasilla (no, these facts have not been debunked by Snopes).
Observe both Take a Child Outside Week and Banned Books Week in a way that counts. Yes, do it literally – read a banned book, and take a child outside. However, also try to see the larger issues that these observances address. Honor the ideal of an open society, and take action to oppose the McCain-Palin campaign.
