Parents Complain About Book's Undertones (fundies gone crazy again

[wakeme2008]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-BRF-Book-Flap.html



March 4, 2006
Parents Complain About Book's Undertones
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 12:22 p.m. ET

SAVANNAH, Mo. (AP) -- A children's book about two male penguins that raise a baby penguin has been moved to the nonfiction section of two public library branches after parents complained it had homosexual undertones.

The illustrated book, ''And Tango Makes Three,'' is based on a true story of two male penguins, named Roy and Silo, who adopted an abandoned egg at New York City's Central Park Zoo in the late 1990s.

The book, written by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, was moved from the children's section at two Rolling Hills' Consolidated Library's branches in Savannah and St. Joseph in northwest Missouri.

Two parents had expressed concerns about the book last month.

..one more short para at link....

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Can't let the kiddies know the truth

have to shield them with lies and fear and hatred.

[IsItJustMe]

2. Fundies don't like Harry Potter books either. Promotes witchcraft.

[VegasWolf]

5. Yes, LOL, Fundies are just clueless Muggles! nt

[Arugula Latte]

46. Right. But "Narnia/White Witch" is just peachy keen ...

Christian author and all ... :eyes:

[Sabriel]

3. It's wonderful book

Hey, guess what, critics? Same-sex pairings occur throughout nature! Get over it.

My daughter's only comment for this book was, "They make great parents together.I'm glad they're happy."

[BlueJazz]

6. Your Daughter has more sense and compassion than all...

..the fundies in the world combined. :)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

23. When did fundies ever have respect for nature?

If it were up to them, the real penguins would have been destroyed. :(

[doni_georgia]

31. When did fundies ever have respect for READING?

You wouldn't believe some of the books I have had parents complain about in my class. I teach a "Cinderella Theater" unit every year - Cinderella stories from around the world. This year I had two parents complain. One was a Jehovah's Witness the other a Pentecostal. Both were upset because of the magic. God these people make my ass twitch.

[AuntiBush]

32. When did fundies ever have respect for anyone's...

... difference in opinions? Answer: Never!

This is a little child's book. Ok. Reason reveals to anyone paying even half-attention that a grown-up adult would have to purchase this book for a/their child.

Solution: Don't buy the book for the child PERIOD! Even if someone gave this book as a gift, or had it lying 'round their home, wouldn't concerned parents checkout where they little toddler goes and what they might see.

Fundies: Tolerance of only their own selfish endeavors. It must be a family-party thing.

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. Fundies long for the dark ages.

[tom_paine]

37. I think they are goind to get a New Dark Age, too

They are going to have such fun burning witches, or whatever hellish plan these spawn of Satan have planned for those of us who aren't them.

I can almost smell the burning flesh and hear the cheers of the crowd. It's getting closer. Maybe as much as 200 years before stuff as bad as that happen, maybe an awful lot sooner.

[BiggJawn]

7. Could be worse. The kiddies COULD be forced to read "The Kite Runner"...

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060228/NEWS01/602280407

A couple's complaint about their daughter's school assignment to read a best-selling book about children's lives in Afghanistan has prompted a new policy -- and cries of censorship from teachers and parents at Lawrence Township Schools.

<snip>

Julie and Tom Shake, the parents who complained about the book, say they've already gathered 200 signatures from district residents urging the district not to allow materials like "The Kite Runner" in the schools.

" 'The Kite Runner' contains pornography," Julie Shake told the board. "Do we really want our students to be handed books with pornography as a classroom assignment?"

<all your stomach can tolerate and THEN some at link>

So why'd you take your kid out of the Indianapolis Baptist Academy in the FIRST place?

A re-occurring theme with the RW'ers around these parts seems to be "Ythis is a DEMOCRACY! Majority RULES! Deal, OK?" especially with minorities like Atheists or Gays getting fucked-over.

So, for the 200 that the Shakes have probably lied to in order to win their signatures, if the other families in the district (it a HUGE district!) say they want the book, we can tell the Shakes to go fuck themselves?

[roseBudd]

12. I just read the whole article, the so-called pornography is child rape

Rape is in the newspaper almost everyday. By that logic the newspaper is pornographic.

[BiggJawn]

16. Only a Fundy with "problems" would call a child rape "pornographic"

Do you suppose the Shakes dress-up and act out that chapter every night?

Either that or the Missus is one of those "lay still and think of Jeebus" types.

[roseBudd]

29. If rape is porno then I Know Why The Caged Burd Sings is also porno

[progressivebydesign]

15. "morality" that's the complaint? Whose morality?

"Tom Shake told the board that books containing violence and sexual content ran afoul of the district's character-education program, which encourages morality." Interesting that the idiot brings up "morality". So.. whose morality is he addressing? The child that was raped? Is she less moral because she was raped?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

42. "The Kite Runner" was heartbreaking.

I was an emotional wreck after reading some of those passages.

I'm not sure that it should be required of high school students for an assignment. At the same time, however, I think it should be available for them to read as an optional assignment.

[expatriot]

8. homosexual overtones, not undertones.

the homosexual domestic relationship is central to this story... it is not subtle, therefore it is an overtone. If the story was about two penguins who played baseball and when one of them hit a homerun the other said, good job! and rubbed his back... that would be an undertone.

[Cobalt Violet]

9. I don't see why libraries or anyone else bothers to placate these nut jobs

:grr:

[MountainLaurel]

33. One word: FUNDING

If the whack-jobs get too noisy or get elected to the board of trustees or county commission, they're fucked.

[Robb]

10. It can be only one thing....

http://www.journalfen.net/userpic/32339/4647 :rofl:

[meganmonkey]

11. How fucking stupid

What the hell is wrong with people?

Jeeeeezus! :eyes:

[NoodleyAppendage]

13. How 'bout moving the BIBLE to the fiction section???

Better yet. Let's move any children's books with Xtian undertones to the nonfiction section.

It's time to strike back at the stupidity and fascism of Xtian fundies. Fuck 'em. I'm so friggin' sick of having to deal with American Taliban idiots.

JB

[WePurrsevere]

18. There are parts of the Bible that could be considered "soft porn"....

and if it were sold as a paperback book on a grocery store shelf and not included as a book of the Bible most parents wouldn't let their young children read it. (Check out The Song of Solomon for instance.)

[NoodleyAppendage]

20. Wow! I need a cold shower after reading that!

I'm not certain about the "garments smelling like Lebanon," though...seems like it might be pungent at best. :)

JB

[depakid]

27. soft porn? Try outright obcenity

under the Miller Standard.

And I ain't talkin about the "Song of Solomom."

http://www.skeptictank.org/badnews2.htm

[aquart]

19. Do they use Bibles without the gang rape at the end of Judges?

How do they deal with the rape of Dinah and the punishment of Schechem? Pretend they were just good friends?

What do they tell their kids The Song of Solomon is about?

[Hekate]

40. Have you ever looked at the top margins on the King James Bible?

It provoked cognitive dissonance in me as a child to read "Christ's love for His church" in the top margin of the page featuring the Song of Songs. "My tongue shall cleave to the roof of thy mouth"??? Oookay.

After I grew up I simply thought, "Who did they think they were kidding when they added that comment?"

My misunderstanding of some of the rougher stuff I just had to attribute to my difficulties reading King James' English. Never learned what an emerod was until I was an adult, and never could figure out why being stricken with emerods was a punishment for something or other. (They're hemorrhoids.) I don't remember what I thought of the daughters being put out the front door to be raped by strangers, but again, reading that the men "knew" them probably went over my head.

It was very puzzling for a book that was supposed to be so holy -- and undoubtedly not the best reading for an eight-year-old. I suppose I was lucky I didn't have the New English Bible on hand...

As for the children's book about penguins, extreme fundies are pretty conflicted about expressions of love, although they're very good with hellfire and brimstone. It's probably why they see dark shadows everywhere. How sad for their children, and what a pain in the patoot for the rest of us.

Hekate

[progressivebydesign]

14. What the fuck is wrong with those people???

I want to move to a country where people are normal...

[fknobbit]

17. My pet goat

is more acceptable to fundies. It's about a republican type goat who is greedy as hell and eats every thing up, leaving nothing for any one else. Just as the father of the house is about to hold a BBQ, the goat saves his red Beamer from a terrarist (see 911) and holds same at bay. The goat then becomes a close friend and ally and is allowed to continue consumming every thing in sight. GW Bush, in fact, is now using this book as a homeland security training guide for Terra control, and the search for a pet goat ended with halliburton and UAE, but Osama is still missing.

[OKthatsIT]

21. I say we just ignore these Christian Whores...

let them live in their own isolated hate.

..all of us have lives to live and children to raise.

[WhiteTara]

22. these poor people live in such fear

So afraid to live, terrified to die and with the mistaken notion that if they control the world, they will neither have to live nor die. Didn't they ever read Siddartha? Life happens and from that comes experience and if you are very lucky (or perserverent) a bit of wisdom.
No one comes out of this experience alive. It has been proven that the major cause of death is being born. So when I see these ridiculous statements such as death is the wages of sin, I just have to laugh.
:rant:

[truth2power]

24. These people have WAY too much time on their hands. n/t

[HuffleClaw]

25. GAY PENGUINS ARE AMONG US ! ! ! ! !

seriously, they are whining about a book that is a TRUE STORY ???

TWO parents bitch and the library JUMPS to obey their narrow-minded bigoted whim? what the hell kind of librarians do they have in missouri? bloody hell, librarians are SUPPOSED to be enlightened.

[MasonJar]

26. What a wonderful story, especially as it is true. I am going to buy

a copy, even though I have no children (young that is) or grandchildren. I want it for myself. By the way, if you DUers have not read Kite Runner do yourself a giant favor and do so immediately. That is the first book in years that I have sobbed while reading. it is one awesome book.

[Rex]

28. I don't blame the parents, Penguin homosexuality is at an all time high.

I'm sure that now the book is in non-fiction (gee, that really showed the book a thing or three), war, pestilence, hunger and strife will all just up and disappear from the Earth. :sarcasm:

[Number9Dream]

30. Peter Parnell taught a course in drawing that I took

Back in the early 70's. He is one of the finest artists I've ever met.

[area51]

34. This is just crazy.

:eyes: :freak: :crazy:

[yurbud]

35. Do you think they object to Dick and Jane since it clearly refers to

penis and marijuana?

[yurbud]

36. I'm going to write a children's book: Am I gay if I...?

and see if I can get them to protest it.

[Stargleamer]

38. Fundies report that Silo left Roy for Scrappy. . .

a female penguin--see <http://www.nycradio.com/weblogs/EWThrockmorton/date09202005.aspx>and Freeperville-- but they fail to note that Silo came back to Roy after a few weeks according to Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguins>.

[sakabatou]

39. Oh my!

We can't our child know about the real world! Oh no, that would be terrible! He HAS to grow up with knowing that Jesus is his or her savior, and everyone else is going to hell!

:sarcasm:

[Tight_rope]

43. LMBAO..exactly!...

[Hekate]

41. Doesn't it occur to them to say "They're really good friends" to kids?

Ye gods, some people have such dirty minds and such limited (or maybe overactive) imaginations that they can't just tell their little ones that same-sex couples are "dear friends" -- which is entirely enough information for 4-year-olds. But no, they see porn in everything.

For a hilarious send-up of how to over-interpret a children's classic, look up "The Pooh Perplex." It actually has a chapter on the twisted sexual meanings behind those so-called innocent inter-species friendships.

Hekate

[Tight_rope]

44. SOON THE ONLY BOOK YOU WILL FIND IN THE LIBRARY IS THE BIBLE!

[radfringe]

48. yep - but....

which version? did a quick google search on bible versions...

Roman Catholic version
King James Version
New King James Version
Greek Orthodox Version
Russian Orthodox Version
The American Standard version
The New American Standard version
New International Version
**New World Translation version
Revised Standard Version
Living Bible version
New Century Version
New Revised Standard Version
British Revised Version

**New World Translation -(1950, the Jehovah's Witnesses Bible) should be avoided because its is actually corrupt, being a sectarian paraphrase rather than a true translation of the Holy Scriptures.

[henslee]

45. Now watch Amazon sales skyrocket.

[anitar1]

47. Why do fundies seem to have their minds on the crotch

ALL the time. I read a review of this little book recently and thought it sounded like a wonderful, touching story. I am going to buy it for my great grandson.I am so weary of these sick people.