Can Scientologists Read Dr. Seuss?

Scientology Lies > My Writings > Can Scientologists Read Dr. Seuss?

I understand that Scientologists place a great emphasis on word-clearing and believe that "going past a misunderstood word" - continuing to read after seeing a word that was not fully understood - is a grave problem. I understand that Scientologists are strongly and repeatedly discouraged from doing this.

Does that mean that Scientologist kids are not allowed to read most Dr. Seuss books?

Oh, sure, they can probably get through The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham (I don't recall offhand whether they have any Seuss-coined words), but -

no Lorax? no Sneetches? no Bartholomew & the Oobleck? no Grinch, for goodness' sake?!?

("Grinch" actually IS in some dictionaries, but "a character in a children's book" is hardly the kind of definition that would be likely to satisfy the rigors of word-clearing.)

I confess that I have never even TRIED to look up "crickle-grass" or "lorax" or "once-ler" or "miff-muffered moof" or "gruvvulous" or "truffula" or "bar-ba-loot" or "thneed" in any dictionary (and thank goodness, Dr. Seuss didn't litter his lovely books with footnotes like SOME people), but I've nevertheless gotten enormous enjoyment from The Lorax. Reading it doesn't make me feel sleepy or spinny or squashed, nor has it made me give up a course of study.

I'm saddened, too, to think of adult Scientologists depriving themselves of e.e. cummings poetry for this particular reason. Not everyone likes cummings, and that's fine, but to not read certain poems just because they contain undefined words? One of my favorite cummings poems contains the lines:

this world (as timorous itsters all
to call their cowardice quite agree)

"Itsters" is not in the dictionary, but it's a marvellous poem anyway.

Just because words like "Elephantangelchild" and "penguinsoul" and "manunkind" aren't in the dictionary doesn't mean the poems that use them are incomprehensible - or dangerous.

And dictionary definitions can be terribly misleading when it comes to children's books and poetry. Dr. Seuss and cummings both use "who" as a noun ("Horton Hears a Who," "2 little whos"), but the dictionary only defines "who" as a pronoun - and I'm quite sure neither author intended the sort of definition that's probably in the tech dictionary, or the meaning implied by the context of phrases such as "find the who". <shudder>

<sigh> I can't imagine growing up without The Lorax and The Sneetches. Wonderful drawings, enchanting text ... excellent moral lessons.

What a dreadful shame.

Kristi

October 23, 1999

This page was last updated on June 21, 2004.