Against human folly.....

[mike_baram]

Two news items that show how wise homo sapiens can be...
1) An Arab-American was asked to leave a commercial airliner because of a problem with his documents.
He's a member of the US Secret Service.
2) A church in Alamogordo, NM, is going to burn the Harry Potter books, because, in the words of its pastor, they "encourage our youth to learn more about witches, warlocks, and sorcerers, and those things are an abomination to God and to me."
Hmm, I haven't seen a good book-burning since the days of.....

That's Christ Community Church, e-mail ccc@ccc3.org
(My prayer..."Dear Lord, protect us from your self- appointment representatives.")

[Kirby]

One of the local high school football teams had the nickname of "The Blue Devils". The local fundamentalists were on a campaign to have the name changed because it "glorified Satan". Common sense prevailed and they moved on to attack Proctor and Gamble's logo.

From Ghoulies and Ghosties and Four Legged Beasties and people with a direct line to the Almighty, Good Lord deliver us.

[mike_baram]

That seems to have been the result of some Amway distributors spreading the rumor to hurt P&G sales. Amway's main headquarters worked with P&G to try to stop the campaign, and it wound up in court.
http://www.pastornet.net.au/jmm/aasi/aasi0384.htm

[stephen]

If I don't like the film I simply won't allow my kids to see it (and since the premise of the film runs counter to our family's belief system, that's just what I'm doing).

But trying to FORCE someone not to make such a film... now that's scary.

These are the same sort of insatiable do-gooders who wanted to rename the Washington Bullets. Liberal or conservative, Christian or atheist... those people worry me.

Sigh.

[stephen]

By the same token, I'll say something in their defense.

At least this church doesn't appear to be trying to concoct some new regulation to outlaw such films.

As nutty as they may seem, we better support their right to protest as they see fit, even if its only for our own future benefit.

[leo]

Hey Stephen!

We agree on something. Ain't that something?

[mike_baram]

Hey Stephen!

We agree on something. *Ain't that something?

Would that count as a "miracle"?

Before you ban a book should you not READ IT FIRST?Sorry Stephen but Harry Potter is FICTION.What s more it is GOOD FICTION.It is good fiction because people want to read it. It follows the old Good versus Evil school of writing.Stephen Harry Potter is NOT about Wizardry per se it merely uses that as a vehicle.Yes I have read the books,in fact I flew through them[only four so far] why? because I appreciate good writing and JK Rowling writes a good story.What is more she has got kids READING and in this day and age that can only be a GOOD THING.As for myself I regard the christian bible,the koran and all the other religious tracts as fiction but I know whose writing I prefer!![actually it is Heinlein.Go figure ]

[mike_baram]

Before you ban a book should you not READ IT FIRST?Sorry Stephen but Harry Potter is FICTION.What s more it is GOOD FICTION.It is good fiction because people want to read it. It follows the old Good versus Evil school of writing.Stephen Harry Potter is *NOT about Wizardry per se it merely uses that as a vehicle.Yes I have read the books,in fact I flew through them[only four so far] why? because I appreciate good writing and JK Rowling writes a good story.What is more she has got kids READING and in this day and age that can only be a GOOD THING.As for myself I regard the christian bible,the koran and all the other religious tracts as fiction but I know whose writing I prefer!![actually it is Heinlein.Go figure ]

In the early 70's I discovered J.R.R. Tolkien. While I got into "The Hobbit" because it was "the thing to do", once I started the "Ring" trilogy, I was hooked.
I only hope the fundamentalists will leave LOTR alone. Of all the books I've read, none can approach Tolkien's ability to paint pictures with words.
It's not good literature, it's GREAT literature. No matter what age the reader is, he's drawn into a world where loyalty, friendship, and courage triumph over fears and doubts. Hobbits, dwarves, elves, wizards...so what? They're only vehicles to carry the message.
Give me one other modern work that does such a marvelous job of praising the finest qualities of humanity.

[Kirby]

in the words of its pastor, they "encourage our youth to learn more about witches, warlocks, and sorcerers, and those things are an abomination to God and to me."

This guy has been in the news once before but in those days he was calling himself Tomas de Torquemada.