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6- The Oakville Beaver, Friday December 28, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: The Oakville Beaver is a division of IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Media Group Ltd. NEIL OLIVER Publisher DAVID HARVEY General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA ANCHOR Circ. Manager Ill-advised book ban With its recent banning of The Golden Compass, the Halton Catholic District School Board is earning itself a reputation of being a reactionary organization. Its first move in this direction was pulling out of the Halton Campus plan because trustees didn't want to share the same facilities as other non-Catholic groups -- the Halton District School Board, Halton Regional Police and Halton Region. Then it pulled Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass from its elementary library book shelves following a complaint about the author's atheist viewpoints. The book was initially pulled pending a report from its Book Review Committee, but made permanent last week, even though the review committee recommended against it. The ban also went against the wishes of Milton trustee Rev. David Wilhelm, who argued the controversy was actually drawing more attention to the book. Indeed, the book had been on the board's elementary library shelves for 12 years without controversy, before publicity over the recent movie based on the book prompted its removal. It's not far-fetched to imagine some youths are now reading the book out of curiosity or rebelliousness, who may never have heard of the book prior to the school board's ban. Ironically, by banning the book the board is actually behaving much like the protagonists he writes about in The Golden Compass -- they are repressing free speech and arguments opposed to their doctrine. Pullman does not write against Christian values (or the values of other religions), so much as the dogma and authoritarian control exercised by many organized religions. The Halton Catholic trustees' actions should have considered this before they imposed their ban on The Golden Compass and the rest of the Dark Materials trilogy. While the Catholic trustees feel they have acted in a responsible manner, their actions have probably attracted more attention to the book than before. Ironically, trustees may eventually end up wishing they had exhibited a little more faith in the faith of their young students. The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Golden Compass ban was right choice I am happy to see the Halton Catholic District School Board trustees are doing their job well. That is to protect, not just the education of the children in their jurisdiction, but their faith. That is why we have a separate school system. The concern of the Book Review Committee about removing The Golden Compass from the school libraries, is unfounded. There are thousands of books for the students to read. The challenge to the Book Review Committee is to work hard at finding good books that will be acceptable in the Catholic school system. To assume that elementary school children have reached a level in their faith that they can discern for themselves what is truth and what is untruth, is to assume a great deal. Some children will recognize fiction and untruth, and others may not. To withhold the books is the right choice. If a child wishes to read the book, then he or she can discuss it with their parents, and can obtain it from the public library. MAUREEN MURRAY Ban proves author's point Without naming the Catholic Church, Philip Pullman's books, including The Golden Compass, suggest that religion can be oppressive and kill free thought and speech. By banning his books, the Halton Catholic District School Board just proved him right. In today's Ontario people believe in many different faiths and thousands believe in none, so why exactly is such a narrow-minded organization as the Halton Catholic board getting public funding? GARY PEARSON Cyclist applauds Sixth Line underpass As a year-round commuter cyclist to the Oakville GO station I was excited to use the re-opened path under the QEW at Sixth Line on Dec. 24. For the past 18 months I've run the gauntlet that is Trafalgar Road and been honked at, flipped the bird and knocked off my bike once. Now, I can breath a sigh of relief. My thanks go out to the contractor for getting the work done on time. I encourage anyone who drives to the GO station from north Oakville to try biking it. With the path re-opened you'll be surprised that biking is a few minutes faster than driving (15-20 minutes from Dundas) and you don't have to worry about parking. SHAWN DARTSCH The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Pud BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com