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Philip Pullman number two on banned books list

Thu, 10/01/2009 - 7:08am — lambert

Only number two?

The Christianists never give up, do they?

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What, no Harry Potter books on the Top10?

By anniethena on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 1:11pm

Maybe the Christianists are slipping!
And from the linked story :

As for Pullman, he confidently expects to be back in the top 10 next year.

His forthcoming book, a novel for adults, is called The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ.

Can't wait!

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Wouldn't the Christianists

By Jeff W on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 1:29pm

be awfully bored if they got everything they wanted?

I mean, the Massachusetts Bay Colony wasn't exactly a swinging place.*

*Oops, unless you were accused of being a witch, that is.

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Every apathetic citizen is a silent enlistee in the cause of inverted totalitarianism.—Sidney Wolin

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Not just books being banned!

By twig on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 1:58pm

My former hometown in Michigan no longer allows Halloween celebrations in schools. They have some sort of "autumn festival" baloney instead. Parents were freaking out over the pagan tendencies their children might develop after wearing a witch, devil or ghost costume. This is a town with only one bookstore and surprise! -- it sells only Christian "books."

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Dog is my co-pilot!

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Has anyone tried to explain to them that Halloween

By jumpjet on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 3:52pm

is a Christian holiday anyway?

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Nothing is true; everything is permitted.

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No true Christian

By lambert on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 4:40pm

believes that Halloween is a Christian holiday.

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"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi

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No way! These are Fox-TV christians ...

By twig on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 5:36pm

they have no tolerance for new or different ideas or people who aren't exactly like them. They're terrified by anyone from a foreign country. Even food has to be "American." Forget sushi or hummus or tapas. Breadsticks are considered exotic!

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Dog is my co-pilot!

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But it's not 'new' at all!

By jumpjet on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 6:10pm

All Hallows Eve has been recognized as the night before All Saints' Day since the Catholic Church co-opted it at the dawn of the Middle Ages.

These modern types, no comprehension of tradition...

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Nothing is true; everything is permitted.

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point of inquiry

By Valhalla on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 7:15pm

I'm not really conversant with the different Christianist sects. But are the anti-Halloweeners also anti-Catholic Christianists? Actually, to make that "points" of inquiry plural, are Catholics considered Christianists?

I worked with a woman at one point, also from the upper Midwest, who explained to me that her whole church pretty much considered Catholics just one step removed from Satan-worshippers (she was Lutheran, I think), so I'm wondering if the fact that it was the Catholic church that coopted All Hallows Eve would make Christianists even more hostile to Halloween.

I grew up in a vaguely Catholic area and am a lapsed vaguely-Catholic person myself. Until that conversation, I had no understanding whatsoever of how much hate festered among some non-Catholic Christians toward Catholics. I mean, yes, I knew being Catholic almost cost JFK the election, but I never really understood why.

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You don’t know me, son. So let me explain this to you once: If I ever kill you, you’ll be awake, you’ll be facing me, and you’ll be armed.
-Malcolm Reynolds, “Serenity”

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Anti-Catholics, yup, that could be ...

By twig on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 8:34pm

when I was a kid, parents (Protestants) talked about how all the Catholics lived on the other side of town. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement that that was better than having them live next door. But it was very passive-aggressive --no one ever talked trash about Catholics, but clearly they preferred to avoid them.

The people who are there now are a little different. They pretty much hate everything and they don't keep it a secret. They're evangelicals and town hall types. Anyone with an education is suspect. The internet is a scary place. Some of the women don't handle money -- their husbands do it for them(!). They will tell you with a straight face that evolution is a myth and global warming doesn't exist because only god can destroy the earth. Seriously.

Of course, they all voted Republican for years, so none of them have jobs, most of their pension funds have disappeared and all the industry is gone. The only things left are the fast food places, a few bars and the schools that are too poor to buy textbooks. But, yeah, you wouldn't want your kid to dress up like a witch on Halloween and piss off god.

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Dog is my co-pilot!

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They banned Christmas once, y'know

By dr sardonicus on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 7:50pm

Just sayin'.

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...for the rest of us

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