Book Nazis making a comeback

[NorthSideSox72]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/c...1,7884747.story

 

I read this in today's Trib. It makes me ill. To me, this is yet another example of the conservative religious movement in this country trying to place their values on the entire country. I find this trend disturbing and, frankly, Unamerican. I sometimes feel we are in the midst of some sort of modern version of the Red Scare of the 50's. Its sickening.

 

Some of those books are classics, and they speak volumes about American culture. You aren't supposed to agree with everything you read! Learning means being challenged. God forbid your 17 year old child figure out that masterbation exists. Heresy!

[FlaSoxxJim]

Pinney, the mother of a District 214 graduate, admits she has not read all the books.

 

But that doesn't keep her from being an ignorant busybody. Like there was no oversight before this by the school district on what books should be covered in class.

 

Among her objections are a bestiality scene in "Beloved," graphic violence in "The Things They Carried" and masturbation references in "Wallflower."

 

Don't tell her the Bible contains references to all of these.

[southsider2k5]

I'm sure the ACLU would take the case if they weren't so busy trying to get the bible banned from everywhere...

[FlaSoxxJim]

I'm sure the ACLU would take the case if they weren't so busy trying to get the bible banned from everywhere...

 

Or trying to keep a couple with 5 kids from getting thrown out of their Missouri Bible Belt home because they are (*gasp*) not married.

 

Damn evil ACLU.

[LowerCaseRepublican]

I'm sure the ACLU would take the case if they weren't so busy trying to get the bible banned from everywhere...

I'm really hoping that is sarcasm because I'd really expect more from you, SS.

 

The Book Nazis are the same people who said it was racist to read Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer years ago.

 

Several conservative groups have rallied to Pinney's cause, saying that the books promote porn, which has prompted community members on both sides to flood board members and teachers with e-mail.

 

In 2005 the American Library Association received more than 400 requests to pull books from the shelves of school and public libraries, a spokeswoman said.

 

The call to ban books is timeless, but it is important to continue supporting literature that makes readers think, said Mary Dempsey, commissioner of the Chicago Public Library.

 

Mayor Richard Daley selected "The Things They Carried" in 2003 for the One Book, One Chicago city reading series. The book, about the Vietnam War, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1990. The themes--love, hate, war, kindness and cruelty--along with the author's ability to convey the harshness of war outweighed concerns, Dempsey said.

 

So it seems for many of these social conservatives that supporting the actual war is good and patriotic (i.e. Vietnam, WW II etc.) but when an author writes a book about the horrors of the war like The Things They Carried or Slaughterhouse Five, then they become dirty, vile and objectionable.

 

Unless we all fall in lockstep in agreeing with the social conservative theocrats, there is no way that we can remain free.

[southsider2k5]

Some sarcasm, some seriousness. What people don't realize is one persons religion is another person's life. No thought is given when people talk about banning the bible based on sensitivy towards certian other religions, but when we talk about other things, other peoples sensitivies get thrown right under the bus. I don't see why there is less right to be a Christian in public than their is a pervert.

[Drew]

A similarly disturbing trend in what kids are reading at school these days, excerpts from a blog post I made about six months ago:

 

At my sister's high school, [st. Charles East] Literature course syllabi list not a single Classic or recent Pulitzer Prize finalist as required reading for 10th graders. Instead, they point our Nation's future to what is quickly becoming the new standard of literary excellence: Oprah's Book Club.

 

Yes, Oprah, the Chicago talk show hostess turned media magnate with the Midas touch. Her official webpage proclaims in its header "Oprah.com is your leading sorce for information about love, life, self, relationships, food, home, spirit, and health."

 

Let's think about this. The soup-to-nuts for all your boggle is a rags-to-riches diva who fawns over celebrities, her monologues so riddled with name-dropping they may as well be razored directly from People Weekly, the woman who gives away more cars at a single taping than Elvis did during all the fat years combined, and uses humanitarian aid as self-promotion.

 

No one person should be that empowered in advice.

[NorthSideSox72]

I'm sure the ACLU would take the case if they weren't so busy trying to get the bible banned from everywhere...

I personally believe that the Bible, as well as the Q'uran and other major religious texts should be offered for reading and analysis in high school as well, on an optional/elective basis. They are extremely important texts, and understanding them (and their various interperetations) teaches us a lot about the state of the world today. I don't think they can be required (in public schools), due to Constitutional considerations, but I think an elective course on comparitive religious texts would be enlightening.

[FlaSoxxJim]

I don't see why there is less right to be a Christian in public than their is a pervert.

 

And in reality, you don't see anywhere where this is actually tha case, correct?

[Rex Kickass]

Some sarcasm, some seriousness. What people don't realize is one persons religion is another person's life. No thought is given when people talk about banning the bible based on sensitivy towards certian other religions, but when we talk about other things, other peoples sensitivies get thrown right under the bus. I don't see why there is less right to be a Christian in public than their is a pervert.

Who is banning the Bible again?

 

A similarly disturbing trend in what kids are reading at school these days, excerpts from a blog post I made about six months ago:

 

At my sister's high school, [st. Charles East] Literature course syllabi list not a single Classic or recent Pulitzer Prize finalist as required reading for 10th graders. Instead, they point our Nation's future to what is quickly becoming the new standard of literary excellence: Oprah's Book Club.

 

Yes, Oprah, the Chicago talk show hostess turned media magnate with the Midas touch. Her official webpage proclaims in its header "Oprah.com is your leading sorce for information about love, life, self, relationships, food, home, spirit, and health."

 

Let's think about this. The soup-to-nuts for all your boggle is a rags-to-riches diva who fawns over celebrities, her monologues so riddled with name-dropping they may as well be razored directly from People Weekly, the woman who gives away more cars at a single taping than Elvis did during all the fat years combined, and uses humanitarian aid as self-promotion.

 

No one person should be that empowered in advice.

 

She did get people to read East of Eden again. That should count for something.

[EvilMonkey]

I don't think they can be required (in public schools), due to Constitutional considerations, but I think an elective course on comparitive religious texts would be enlightening.

Guess again.

 

http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArti...&issue=20060519

 

Teaching Johnny About Islam

Posted 5/19/2006

 

Education: In our brave new schools, Johnny can't say the pledge, but he can recite the Quran. Yup, the same court that found the phrase "under God" unconstitutional now endorses Islamic catechism in public school.

 

In a recent federal decision that got surprisingly little press, even from conservative talk radio, California's 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled it's OK to put public-school kids through Muslim role-playing exercises, including:

 

Reciting aloud Muslim prayers that begin with "In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful . . . ."

 

Memorizing the Muslim profession of faith: "Allah is the only true God and Muhammad is his messenger."

 

Chanting "Praise be to Allah" in response to teacher prompts.

 

Professing as "true" the Muslim belief that "The Holy Quran is God's word."

 

Giving up candy and TV to demonstrate Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting.

 

Designing prayer rugs, taking an Arabic name and essentially "becoming a Muslim" for two full weeks.

 

Parents of seventh-graders, who after 9-11 were taught the pro-Islamic lessons as part of California's world history curriculum, sued under the First Amendment ban on religious establishment. They argued, reasonably, that the government was promoting Islam.

 

But a federal judge appointed by President Clinton told them in so many words to get over it, that the state was merely teaching kids about another "culture."

 

So the parents appealed. Unfortunately, the most left-wing court in the land got their case. The 9th Circuit, which previously ruled in favor of an atheist who filed suit against the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, upheld the lower court ruling.

 

The decision is a major victory for the multiculturalists and Islamic apologists in California and across the country who've never met a culture or religion they didn't like — with the exception of Western civilization and Christianity. They are legally in the clear to indoctrinate kids into the "peaceful" and "tolerant" religion of Islam, while continuing to denigrate Judeo-Christian values.

 

In the California course on world religions, Christianity is not presented equally. It's covered in just two days and doesn't involve kids in any role-playing activities. But kids do get a good dose of skepticism about the Christian faith, including a biting history of its persecution of other peoples. In contrast, Islam gets a pass from critical review. Even jihad is presented as an "internal personal struggle to do one's best to resist temptation," and not holy war.

 

The ed consultant's name is Susan L. Douglass. No, she's not a Christian scholar. She's a devout Muslim activist on the Saudi government payroll, according to an investigation by Paul Sperry, author of "Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington." He found that for years Douglass taught social studies at the Islamic Saudi Academy just outside Washington, D.C. Her husband still teaches there.

 

So what? By infiltrating our public school system, the Saudis hope to make Islam more widely accepted while converting impressionable American youth to their radical cause. Recall that John Walker Lindh, the "American Taliban," was a product of the California school system. What's next, field trips to Mecca?

 

This case is critical not just to our culture but our national security. It should be brought before the Supreme Court, which has outlawed prayer in school. Let's see what it says about practicing Islam in class. It will be a good test for the bench's two new conservative justices

[FlaSoxxJim]

Guess again.

 

http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArti...&issue=20060519

 

Based on that report, yes, I'd agree that an excessive amount of time is spent delving into Muslim religious aspects – something that shouldn't be done in mandated classes in public school for any religion.

 

The writer's bias certainly shows, though, in his/her NUKE-like use of quotes around "peaceful" and "tolerant" when mockingly describing Islam. And for the vast majority of Muslims, an "internal personal struggle to do one's best to resist temptation" is exactly what personal jihad is.

[NorthSideSox72]

Guess again.

 

http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArti...&issue=20060519

Well, I guess there are people on both ends of the political spectrum, and from all religions, who seek to place their religious values onto others. Not a big surprise. I still stand by my statement.

[BigSqwert]

Guess again.

 

http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArti...&issue=20060519

I didn't realize NUKE wrote for investors.com.

[Rex Kickass]

ZING!

[illinilaw08]

Based on that report, yes, I'd agree that an excessive amount of time is spent delving into Muslim religious aspects – something that shouldn't be done in mandated classes in public school for any religion.

 

The writer's bias certainly shows, though, in his/her NUKE-like use of quotes around "peaceful" and "tolerant" when mockingly describing Islam. And for the vast majority of Muslims, an "internal personal struggle to do one's best to resist temptation" is exactly what personal jihad is.

 

Wow, I agree that seems to be excessive, but I remember learning the various tenants of religion in a World History class my freshman year of high school. It did not involve reading any form of scripture, but rather discussed how the religions were founded and what they teach. I think in the modern world it is beneficial to teach the tenents of different religions in order to foster a greater understanding of other cultures.

 

With regard to the article in question, it seems the books are required reading in upper level high school classes... what will these parents say if these books come up on a college reading list? Callk the professor and protest?

[Balta1701]

With regard to the article in question, it seems the books are required reading in upper level high school classes... what will these parents say if these books come up on a college reading list? Callk the professor and protest?

Dude, they just go to places like Liberty University and never have to worry about such problems.

[YASNY]

Dude, they just go to places like Liberty University and never have to worry about such problems.

 

In all seriousness, at least they have that option instead of going to some state run institution of so called higher learning.