Watching their language

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Jared and Kristen Maughan, a Christian couple from Twin Falls, Idaho, were concerned when their daughter came home from school frustrated by the library book she was reading. She liked the story, but the language in it was so offensive she could not in good conscience continue—so back on the shelf went the book, its ending forever unknown. There must be an app for screening out offensive language, Jared thought. But he couldn’t find one. Well, then … why not design one?

The couple found a software firm in Chicago that offers a basic e-reading platform that allowed customizing. After consulting with lawyers over copyright issues, the Maughans designed and launched Clean Reader, an app that searches for offensive words in a downloaded book, blanks them out, and offers alternative terms. Response was positive until the artistic community got wind of it. Jared anticipated the pushback and defended himself on his blog with a reducio ad absurdum argument: If he ordered a salad in a restaurant and it came with blue cheese, is he censoring the salad by picking out the offensive ingredient? “Nope. I [paid] good money for the food and if I want to consume only part of it then I have that right.” Legally, he is correct, because the app is not permanently altering the text, only visually bleeping out parts of it. But morally—as many authors see morality—he is toast.

The outrage tide swept in, the support pulled out. Inktera, an e-bookseller supplying titles to Clean Reader, broke its association, followed by Smashwords, an e-book publishing and distribution platform. Left with nothing to read, Clean Reader had to turn out the lights. Protesters spared no obscene word in celebrating “a victory for the world of dirt” (bad language alert), but warned of eternal vigilance in the “Dystopian Future of Reading” (language alert!). Supposed some wild-eyed Christian governor imposed the Clean Reader–style treatment on all school libraries in the state?

Christian parents are the ones who need to be vigilant in the ever-expanding world of profane juvenile literature. As a reviewer of children’s books I groan when an otherwise acceptable, even outstanding, novel for middle-graders includes the misuse of God’s name. Jesus’ name appears often enough as a swear word, too, and at such times a little Clean Reader broom would not be amiss. In young adult novels the problem is much worse, and relentless profanity and vulgarity usually indicates problems beyond language, such as an unedifying worldview. An impressionable reader would be advised to skip the book altogether.

That said, an occasional swear word (excepting holy names) can sometimes serve a literary purpose, and young readers should be learning how to respond, both inwardly and outwardly, to the bad language they will inevitably hear. This is part of being “in the world but not of it.” Simply blotting out isn’t always the best approach—if nothing else, the blank space will inevitably call to mind the very word it’s supposed to obscure.