this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2024
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A Florida school district has literally banned the dictionary in an effort to comply with Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s (R) book-banning law.

The Escambia County School District has reportedly removed over 2800 books from library shelves as they undergo a review process that will determine if they are inappropriate for students, according to Popular Information. Among the books currently relegated to storage are The American Heritage Children’s Dictionary, Webster’s Dictionary for Students, and Merriam-Webster’s Elementary Dictionary.

The district contends these texts could violate H.B. 1069, which DeSantis signed into law in May 2023.

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[–] Wooster@startrek.website 115 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Mmm. Malicious compliance.

Honestly, it’s pretty ingenious. If they can get their publishers to help push for appeal, then it’ll be worth it in the long run.

[–] dmtalon@infosec.pub 24 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Ya, I get it... But now they're actively participating in making the students education worse.

No doubt, it's a lose/lose situation. But I find it quite sad for the innocent kids getting caught up in stupid adult stuff. And believe me... I use "adult" strictly to define age/authority position, not mental or maturity level.

[–] IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works 41 points 10 months ago (1 children)

innocent kids getting caught up in stupid adult stuff.

This describes what happens in pretty much every conflict ever.

[–] sukhmel@programming.dev 4 points 10 months ago

And at least half of the time the conflicts start over "protecting kids" 🤦‍♂️

[–] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 16 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yeah kids are probably bummed they can't check out the dictionary. Maybe they can find an alternative way to look up words though.

[–] Kepabar@startrek.website 3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I kinda would have been, but I had a dictionary at home so didn't use the library one much.

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[–] Yondoza@sh.itjust.works 13 points 10 months ago

They all have access to the Internet now. This would be much more detrimental to learning if other resources weren't in everyone's pocket.

[–] cashews_best_nut@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

Some of my best education in high school was learning to circumvent school network/internet censorship. I think the kids will be alright.

[–] Aussiemandeus@aussie.zone 3 points 10 months ago

You can only hope so. However from looking in from Australia, America is going to shit at an accelerating pace.

Thwy remind me of the movie Idiocracy, something i once viewed as extreme and impossible but now plays as almost fact.

[–] snekerpimp@lemmy.world 83 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I get that it’s malicious compliance, but part of me thinks this is exactly what they want. The correct definition of words is what they are trying to keep from children. They are constantly misusing or abusing the English language to push their agenda. What better way to brainwash than remove the ability to find out what a word means?

[–] BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social 31 points 10 months ago (2 children)

So there's this thing called the internet, which has dictionaries on it.

Also, 1984 is a great fiction novel, but the linguistics within it is more than a little shoddy. Not to mention, Republicans are not as smart as you think they are.

[–] zaph@sh.itjust.works 19 points 10 months ago

If you think internet censorship is going to stop at porn you're in for a surprise. It's the testing ground.

[–] snekerpimp@lemmy.world 17 points 10 months ago (15 children)

I think they are dumb as a box of air, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want exactly this. Just because they are dumb makes it even more believable that they actually want this and think it will accomplish anything. One of them read 1984 and said “we should do that”. More probably, one of them watched 1984.

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[–] sanpedropeddler@sh.itjust.works 4 points 10 months ago

I promise you, they simply dont know what books they are banning. They come up with some criteria and then schools have to sort through their books to make sure they all comply. A graphic novel of the book of genesis got banned from my school district. I garuntee they did not intend for that to happen.

[–] superterran@discuss.online 46 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Seems like at the point you've banned dictionaries that you should stop and reconsider what you're doing

[–] rekabis@lemmy.ca 34 points 10 months ago

Except that would violate their objective of increasing their electorate through the erosion of education.

The more educated people get, the more they understand how morally and intellectually bankrupt the political and social right is.

[–] MagicShel@programming.dev 34 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Sounds like some malicious compliance there just from the summary but maybe I still have too much faith in people.

[–] VikingHippie@lemmy.wtf 25 points 10 months ago

Yeah, this is the district that keeps this deranged bigot, on the payroll, so I wouldn't ascribe any good intentions to them..

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[–] Smacks@lemmy.world 32 points 10 months ago

Honestly Ron probably wants everyone in his state to be dumber so they'll vote for him

[–] beebarfbadger@lemmy.world 31 points 10 months ago (3 children)

That's not the "gotcha" it should be. If anything results in future generations becoming ignorant, gullible and uncritically docile towards authorities, that's just the system working as intended.

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[–] Tja@programming.dev 20 points 10 months ago (2 children)

They should ban the bilble like some other districts did. There is sex, murder, incest and all kinds of inappropriate content in there. Makes conservatives go nuts.

[–] macrocephalic@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

Banning it would annoy them, but if they all just went missing without any fanfare then they wouldn't notice; very few of them read it.

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[–] FurtiveFugitive@lemm.ee 19 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Of course they had to get rid of the dictionary! It contained words like fellatio and evolution. It even contained evollatio which is the theory that man invented fellatio!

[–] CeruleanRuin@lemmings.world 5 points 10 months ago

It also contains the filthy words penis, vagina, scrotum, vulva, and gay.

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[–] FauxPseudo@lemmy.world 16 points 10 months ago

Teacher "look it up in a dictionary." Student "We won't have dictionaries outside of school." Other student "we don't have dictionaries /in/ school."

[–] werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 15 points 10 months ago

2 years later.... Melissa S Tafht has finally put together a new book, and what is this book about? All we know is that it is banned....

Oh yes, I started thinking, hey maybe we should write all the words we know. I'm getting older and I see my mother forgetting words so I wrote this book for her. But then, I started thinking, hmm what about kids who don't know all the words? And people might actually come up with new ones. Anyway, I'm calling this "Words Book".

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] cashews_best_nut@lemmy.world 16 points 10 months ago (1 children)

No it's a good thing. Malicious Compliance will bite Desantis in the arse.

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Really? People are going to destroy his political career over a dictionary?

[–] cashews_best_nut@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

From little acorns, mighty oak trees grow.

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

That sounds like something someone with a small acorn would say

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[–] andrewta@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

You are missing it.

They pulled the dictionary in malicious compliance it wasn't that DeSantis ordered it pulled.

And DeSantis is destroying his own career

[–] BobGnarley@lemm.ee 6 points 10 months ago

Lol this will definitely improve test rates and IQ scores

[–] rivermonster@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I'm a HUGE fan of malicious compliance. When people do stupid shit like, for example, being religious—if you just make them AC TUALLY live with their maleficence, then they give up faster than any other method of confrontation. If women really had to kill a dove every time they menstruated, then it would lose a bit of popularity. LMFAO, just one of an ENDLESS (well, I guess it actually is finite) number of examples.

Leviticus 15:28-30 ESV But if she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. And on the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the priest shall use one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for her unclean discharge.

Edit: We'd probably run out of doves too. ><

[–] AnalogyAddict@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago (7 children)

Most Christians believe in the new law, which abolished sacrifice like that, so it's not the trump card you think it is.

I'm not saying you shouldn't call out religious inconsistencies, just make sure you know what you're talking about, first.

Use turning the other cheek. That's a basic tenet of Jesus, which highlights the hypocrisy of gun-toting Republican "Christians."

[–] SPRUNT@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Why would an infallible god need to revise its laws?

[–] TwentySeven@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

Serious answer from a non fundamentalist Christian: Because the old testament laws were intended for a specific society, to pave the way for Jesus. They were also a mix of religious rules and secular laws. They weren't (all) intended to be universal moral laws that apply to all of humanity.

[–] Bgugi@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

No-no... Jesus didn't change the laws... He completed them! The rules are all still valid, they just don't apply, except the ones that are convenient, or affect those people...

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[–] rivermonster@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago (3 children)

It was just a quick low effort example, but yes, you are correct. Take my upvote! LOL

One can always leaf through and pick any of the many examples of awful highlighted on the site: https://www.evilbible.com/

I'd also say, though, that most Christians will use any law, new or old, to support their hatred and evil. If they're looking to support their bigotry or hatred, then any version of the bible is fair game. It's only abolished when it's inconvenient for them.

Sadly, I've had the misfortune of living in multiple areas with mega-churches. ><

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[–] Forester@yiffit.net 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

My parents raised me in the church and then were surprised when I objected to all of the republicanisms. They decided that "the church was gay."

Them : Be Christ like

Also them: no not like that

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