posted
No, you can't do that. You can't have double standard. You can't continue to publish 'Harry Potter' books and then turn around and say 'erm, I disagree with the ideology in Mein Kampf. Ban it, mm'k?' That's exactly what these people, and "concerned" (read: ignorant) parents, are trying to do to Harry Potter.
I've read Mein Kampf. It was quite boring, long, and extremely poorly written.
It didn't turn me into a Nazi. And it won't turn children into Nazis if they read it. It's too long and boring for their attention spans. ("Eh, there's no Pikachu. WTF?")
Of course, it may influence a child in a negative way, but any book could do so, if the reader is already that extraordinarily impressionable to believe that what is being read is the truth, without questioning it even slightly. (*ahem*Religions?)
Saying that a book can turn you into a nazi, is like saying 'Suicide Solution' by Ozzy Osborne (Randy Rhoads kicks ass BTW) is the reason for people who do indeed feel that suicide is a solution.
If you ban one book, you must ban them all. Despite some books of questionable nature, Free Speech means exactly that, and nobody has the power to dictate to us what we can or cannot read.
------------------ ...You know, Omega, there's a phrase you might want to look up. It goes something like "paranoid arrogant fuckwit who has more chance of ejaculating to the moon than he has of ever convincing a girl that he's a viable prospect for marriage." -PsyLiam, September 16, 2000 10:23 PM.
posted
Ruth Kelly sounds as if she read Mein Kampf and took it to heart. I wonder if she would be so perturbed if her child was assigned to read the Arthurian cycle, with all of its "pagan" mystical and magical elements? Or, 2001: A Space Odyssey, which at a minimum contains ethereal elements about man's evolution. Or, how about The Legend of Sleepy Hollow for the younger set? Geez, did she allow her child to watch "The Little Mermaid?"
I suspect that people like Mrs. Kelly are the same ones who place jack-o-lanterns on their porches, never realizing (or caring) that they are celebrating a pagan Celtic ritual.
Ah, the hypocrisy of it all.
------------------ Everything in life I ever needed to know I learned from The Simpsons.
posted
Hey! I actually had to read five of those books at school.
------------------ Ivanova is always right. I will listen to Ivanova. I will not ignore Ivanova's recommendations. Ivanova is God. *And*, if this ever happens again, Ivanova will personally rip your lungs out!
Saiyanman Benjita
...in 2012. This time, why not the worst?
Member # 122
posted
Farenheit 451 was just on Sunday. Quite a freaky, but valid idea. If you wanted to ban one book, you should ban them all. Not that I agree with banning books, anyone should be able to write freely.
BTW, WHERE'S WALDO??????? WTF?
------------------ Women are demons who make men enter hell through the gates of paradise.
posted
Apparently. Where's Waldo was condemned for having 'subliminal images,' which seems to be looney-speak for "I can't find anything wrong with it, but it's popular and enjoyable, so it must be bad."
------------------ "Ed Gruberman, you fail to grasp Ty Kwan Leap. Approach me, that you might see." -- The Master
posted
It's good to know that utter stupidity isn't restricted to the citizens of the US, isn't it?
Ooh, my kid's gonna be corrupted by reading Harry Potter, OOoooh.
PLEASE. If your kid's that weak-minded, you probably made him that way in the first place, and he'll never survive in the real world anyway.
You know, studies have shown that about 90% of the people who turn out in favor of banning or restricting a book have never read it in the first place. 90% of the rest have missed the point.
And that one idiot: "My son has decided on his own that it's not for him, so he shouldn't have to discuss it." So fucking what?? I decided "The Canterbury Tales" weren't for me, LONG ago, but I STILL had to discuss them in literature class. Life works that way. Get used to it, stupid.
------------------ "Ed Gruberman, you fail to grasp Ty Kwan Leap. Approach me, that you might see." -- The Master
posted
To all them book-banning whining parents...
If you don't want your kid watching offensive shows, Turn off the TV! If you don't want your kid reading offensive books, take the book away!
Don't ask the forking government to do it for you. The Government is NOT your kids' babysitter or surrograte parent. Granted, a determined kid WILL watch that show you hate, or read that book you despise, but its quite possible your overbearing smothering made him seek it out.
Too many people out there think they have a right not to be offended. They need a wakeup call.
posted
To the first question: That's pretty much how it is. teachers assign, kids do. Until the idiots got into the mix, it's a system that worked pretty well.
To the second: Yes, there have been attempts by certain people and pseudo "concerned citizen's" groups to remove some of the afore-mentioned books from even public libraries. These are generally less successful, and if one happened here I would be hard-pressed to avoid laughing in their faces.
My first instinct when I hear of a place that is trying to ban a book is to travel there with a whole bunch of copies and hand them out to people.. I might do that, if I could afford it.
------------------ "Ed Gruberman, you fail to grasp Ty Kwan Leap. Approach me, that you might see." -- The Master
posted
I used to read (if you call it that) "Where's Waldo?" books and I turned out fine. I only kill people once a month on a full moon wearing a red and white striped shirt.
------------------ Where's the bathroom on this ship?
posted
Sadly, I've only read or know something about 4 of the books on the first list. "Brave New World" was quite a story. I've read the Mark Twain books, and saw the Color Purple movie. I need to get away from Sci-Fi and fantasy books and read more of whats on the list. I've heard "Flowers for Algernon" was very good, and "Catcher in the Rye" has certinly made headlines more than once.
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