Book bans and boycotts

In discussing the buying spree of KS Mattson, LeFever Mattson, or any of their 50 companies, it is important to make a distinction between property they own and lease to others, and property where they own and operate a commercial business. Properties like Sonoma’s Best, Seven Branches, The General’s Daughter, The Depot Hotel, Cornerstone, and many more, are businesses and property owned and run by LeFever Mattson companies. 

It has been announced that the Pizza and Pinot event is back at the General’s Daughter. For us locals that means if we want to partake in this tradition that was established before LeFever Mattson owned and operated this property, our money will be going directly to them. Many of us have decided that we don’t want to contribute to LeFever Mattson profit that may go to anti-LQBTQ+ and anti-equality organizations.

While there is no direct link to Capitol Resource Institute (CRI) and Ken or Stacy Mattson, there is one to Tim LeFever. LeFever founded CRI and was listed as treasurer in 2020 and chairman in 2018. From CRI’s web site: “Leading the way in combating Comprehensive Sexual Education in public schools.  Progressives have made our schools their testing grounds to promote radical ideologies, and they harm our children by elevating social engineering, radical sex education, and Critical Race Theory above academic rigor and high expectations for achievement.” And yes, we get book banning as a means to achieve CRI goals.

Today I want to talk about one banned book, The Lovely Bones. According to CRI the book is “Graphic pornography found in school libraries under teen fiction.” A toolkit is offered to parents by CRI so they can work to ban books in public schools they consider to be pornography. Years ago I read The Lovely Bones, and no, it is not pornography. The 2002 novel by American writer Alice Sebold is the story of a teenage girl who, after being raped and murdered, watches from her personal Heaven as her family and friends struggle to move on with their lives while she comes to terms with her own death.

I think back to when I was in high school and the discussions we would have had if we had read this book. We would have discussed the erosion of the family’s mental and emotional state because of the tragedy, the idea of a personal heaven, and the subjects of love and loss. The teachers I had in the ‘60s gave us the freedom to read books like this and have open and meaningful discussions. I thank them today for my love of literature and how great books widen our world view and help us understand things we ourselves have not experienced.

Book banning is only one of CRI’s activities. They sponsor City on the Hill each summer at William Jessup University, so that high school students can learn to use their “biblical worldview” to influence politics and government. 

I know I will not be spending my money at LeFever Mattson owned businesses. What will you do?