quote:"I don't want anyone to go to hell, and the bible says if people use sorcery and witchcraft they will go to hell," says Pastor Tommy Turner.
He says stories like Harry Potter that glorify wizardry and sorcery will lead people to accept and believe in Satan. So he organized a book burning. Parishoners like Linda Stubblefield are happy to see the fire glowing bright. She says she wants to protect her four kids.
"They're learning what they see and what they read," she says.
The younger members of the church agree too. Kristi Eastman says many books teach that sorcery is okay.
"I'm very strongly against witchcraft... because I know it's not of God and I do everything God wants."
Tasia Kisscorni has been teaching English at East Kentwood High for 24 years. She teaches students to respect people's beliefs and accept differing viewpoints. "If you don't like something don't let your kids read it, that's fine. But you shouldn't make a public to do of it," Kisscorni says.
Pastor Tommy Turner says he will make a public to do .. to save souls.
"The bible tells me not to judge, but to stand up for what's right." Some of the parishoners also burned music cd's like N'sync. They say the music is not glorifying God, so they don't need it.
Oh, for crying out loud.
As usual, the schoolteacher is the only one with a brain.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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I respect that the young woman wants to do everything that God wants, but I would like to see more reasoning being done, here. Please.
Posts: 3495 | Registered: Feb 2000
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Where does one get materials for a book burning? Do they go out and BUY the material just so they can burn it? If so, then aren't they sending royalties to the people they supposedly despise? Does this not seem counter productive?
Seriously, though - as a parent I can control what my children read. If something's inappropriate for them, I don't allow it. However, I don't presume that what I think is right for my kids is right for everyone's kids.
Edit: GAH! You BOTH beat me to it.
These people have got caught up in some type of fervor and believe they and they alone know what is right for everyone. Not healthy.
[ August 04, 2003, 02:03 PM: Message edited by: Belle ]
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Well then, it sound like they haven't got a brain of their own and are better off being raised in a vacuum, but that doesn't mean they need to shelter me.
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We burnt a library discard of "Love Story" at the cottage one time, page by page, and danced around the fire. Nothing against the story in particular, but rather the asinine "readers' comments" on the back...
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We took a thermodynamics textbook down to the rifle range and fired fully automatic wepons at it once.. but I think that was a different kind of freedom of expression...
this
quote:I do everything God wants
has got to be one of the more arrogant things I have ever seen in print.
"I do everything God wants..."
Heh, Do you really, now?
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quote:"I don't want anyone to go to hell, and the bible says if people use sorcery and witchcraft they will go to hell," says Pastor Tommy Turner.
so obviously reading about other people using fictional sorcery and witchcraft is also a one way ticket to the nether regions.
quote: "They're learning what they see and what they read," she says.
and what is the message they are seeing? Fire good. Reading bad.
quote:"I'm very strongly against witchcraft... because I know it's not of God and I do everything God wants."
And that means doing everything my mommy tells me, and the nice preacher tells me. And if they both tell me not to talk about any abuse or such, well they are always right and I am a mindless drone.
Honestly, I a for following in God's will, but this little girl is the scariest part of the whole story. I will pray for her.
quote:"The bible tells me not to judge, but to stand up for what's right."
Wow, how does he do this without judging? I know. You don't judge, you let someone else, like the local preacher, do all the judging for you.
quote:Some of the parishoners also burned music cd's like N'sync.
Atleast there was some good news from this story.
Oh come on, I am not saying we need to burn all of N'Sync's work. But if they bought the records to be burned then hey, that probably tripled N'Sync's weekly average sales for the quarter.
Where do the books come from? From young readers who spend their own money to buy them, or borrow them from friends, only to have reactionary parents or relatives confiscate them all and burn them. I have a collection of books a friend gave me to hold 20 years ago, because his mother routinely searched his room and collected his stuff for church burnings.
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I burned a book once. I don't know where I got it - maybe someone gave it to me? I probably picked it up at a used bookstore for a quarter - heck, I'll buy anything.
It was completely foul. I suppose you'll have to trust me on this, but it was complete porn - starting off with the main character as a 10-year-old, so it was child porn. I only read the first chapter in horror before I decided something needed to be done.
*sigh* The next event probably shows a failing in my thought process somewhere, but I decided to burn it in the sink. The sink was good because (1) porcelin doesn't burn, (2) I could always turn the water on, and (3) it was winter in Logan and cold outside.
Turns out paper floats once it gets black. Plus, lots of black smoke. The edges were barely singed before I called the whole thing off, soaked the book in the sink, then threw it away. Then I had to explain to Molly why the apartment smelled like smoke. She took my matches away.
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Well, this just gives more support for Scholastic's descision to publish a special "Book Burner's Edition" of the Harry Potter books. Apparantely, it's written on cheap, but highly flamable paper.
J. K. Rowling is said to be delighted by these tributes to her books. "I wanted to write something that touched the lives of everyone, from child to adult to ignorant religious bigot," she said, "Athough when I said I hoped to bring a little light into people's lives, this wasn't exactly what I meant." She continued, "Nonetheless, whether you buy the book to dip into the magical and charming world of Harry and his friends or to toss it onto a gigantic bonfire surrounded by screaming fanatics, it's all money in the bank for me."
It's not all positive for Rowling though. Despite efforts to keep it under wraps, versions of her new book, The Order of the Phoenix appeared on-line weeks before the book was released in stores. Various fundamentalist religious groups then organized mass downloads of these copies, printed out all 870 pages, and then burnt the print-outs, two weeks before they should have legally allowed to do so. However, while this violation of copyright angered Rowling and her publisher, Scholastic, Staples, OfficeMax, and other office supply stores are reportedly delighted.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Oooh... misread that one... didn't realize that was a child saying that... Thanks Dan! You are right, we should pray for her that she doesn't mix up "what God wants" with "what my pastor wants."
Don't ask me why I thought it was an adult making that statement... has just not been a good day for me in terms of brain function...
Posts: 2112 | Registered: Sep 1999
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When I was a kid, I used to visit my grandma a couple times a year. When my uncle moved out of her house, he left his room as he had lived in it, complete with his record collection from the '70s. I discovered some of my favorite bands in the hours that I would spend in his room, including Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Steely Dan, Deep Purple, Rush, and many others. One time I visited at the same time as my uncle. He was so happy that I was enjoying his collection that he gave me mint condition copies of Led Zeppelin II and IV on vinyl. I was about 13 years old, but I'd never received a better present in my life. I went home and showed the records to my mother. Much to my surprise, she had just read a book written by a Mormon (which, of course, means that it is doctrine) stating that Led Zeppelin liked to worship the devil, and their music helped kids to find Satan. So, of course, she took the records and burned them. I asked her to at least send them back to my uncle if I wasn't allowed to have them, but she refused. I've never forgiven her for that, and I try not to think of what they would be worth today.
A few years later, I found a friend that had all the Led Zeppelin albums. I taped them from him and labeled them Fresh Aire, since they have many of the same album names (I, II, III, etc.) As soon as I moved out of the house, I bought all of their albums myself, and I listen to them regularly. If these parents have kids that are anything like me, Rowling not only has some royalties from the books they burned, but she has future hard-core fans for life in the bargain. I guess they sure showed her.
That was sort of how I felt about the nutcases that boycotted Universal because of The Last Temptation of Christ . I think they single-handedly increased the box office of that movie by half, at least.
I have nothing against the movie, mind you, but I could just see the studio execs going, "Thanks for all the free publicity, dips**ts!"
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Suddenly I'm hungry for some Freedom Fries. Mmmmm, Freedom Fries.
Yesterday my wife and I took the kiddos for a walk. We loaded them in the stroller (Erik's carseat snaps into the stroller and Emily rides in the basket underneath if she gets tired) and strolled down the sidewalk. At the corner, some of the neighborhood kids put on a small skateboarding demonstration for us ("Hey, look at this! Watch me manual all the way across this square!) We watched, applauded graciously, and moved on. There were people outside working in their lawns and my wife complimented a couple of them on how nice everything looked. The weather was perfect—about 75 F, partly cloudy, and just a wisp of a breeze.
Halfway down one block some guy was sitting in his Bronco listening to the most wretched music I have ever heard, and at top volume. The guitar and drums were tolerable, I guess, but then the voice came on. It's what I imagine the Nazgul sounded like. Kind of a low, grating screech, filled with all the negative emotions I can think of. Completely unintelligible, completely nasty. My first thought, admittedly, was "That guy's gonna need a lozenge." My second thought was, "I don't want my kids to listen to this." My wife already had a blank look on her face and started pushing the stroller as fast as she could past the truck to where we couldn't hear it anymore.
While I think burning books and CDs is ridiculous (the way a witch hunt is ridiculous), there is definitely some music I am never going to have in my house, or allow in my kids' Walkmans. That stuff is about the same as drinking Drano, IMO. To the extent of my powers as a father, I won't allow my kids to waste their souls on that stuff. The way I won't let them get into the chemicals or jump off the roof.
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What the story forgot to mention is that when you burn The Order of the Phoenix it rises from the ashes about a half hour later, fully formed and with all the dog-eared pages nicely crisp and new.
Posts: 22497 | Registered: Sep 2000
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@#$@@#% Bob. I was going to make the Pheonix joke.
Mr. Squicky, very well done!!
"I don't get it." said Reverend Jimmy. "Everytime I go to the store and buy up all the satanic Order of the Pheonix books and burn them. The next day they reappear, as if out of their own ashes, as if by magic."
(Dan Raven's rule #48 in life. Never trust a preacher named Jim/Jimmy. James is a religious name. Jimmy is not, ie Jim Jones, Jimmy Swaggart, and of course Rev. Jim from Taxi)
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You know, I would be willing to bet anything that everytime there is a burning of HP books, sales of those books skyrocket. I mean, you can't buy publicity like that.
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I certainly thought it was weird to read the N-word in an older copy... I'd always read the reprint before..
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Evidently there are really two different versions of each Harry Potter text. There is the version that is read which tells a rags to riches tale, with a bit of a twist, and then there is the version that only those who have never read the book know about. A step by step instruction in the use of the devils power. It's kinda fun to check out some of the other books they have too. Like:
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Huh, a friend/colleague's family recently moved to Greenville, and I know multiple people from E Kentwood. The Grand Rapids area is oddly fundamentalist, but otherwise nice.
Posts: 4600 | Registered: Mar 2000
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In order to have even a halfway decent book burning, I'd say you'd have to have at least 100 books. You'd burn about ten at a time, and they'd last maybe an hour. So, 100 copies of Order of the Pheonix (the book with the most pages, after all) would be 1700 dollars, if you got them at any neighborhood Walmart, not inclcluding money for lighter fluid, matches, and marshmallows. That is a heck of a waste of money if you ask me. Seventeen hundred dollars would feed the homeless for a month.
My english teacher once said that his youth pastor offered him twenty dollars for his D&D book for a burning. He gave it to him...and bought two D&D books with the twenty bucks.
Of course, the only reason churches hold book burnings is for the press. When some small church in New Mexico burned HP books it made international news.
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quote: "I'm very strongly against witchcraft... because I know it's not of God and I do everything God wants."
Gee, that's funny, I thought the Bible says that the only person who accomplished everything God wanted was Christ himself. Posts: 4229 | Registered: Dec 2002
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We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the constitution says, but everyone made equal … A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man's mind.
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Well then, it sound like they haven't got a brain of their own and are better off being raised in a vacuum, but that doesn't mean they need to shelter me.
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We burnt a library discard of "Love Story" at the cottage one time, page by page, and danced around the fire. Nothing against the story in particular, but rather the asinine "readers' comments" on the back...![[Party]](graemlins/party.gif)
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