Wednesday, December 05, 2007

It's Been On The Shelves How Long ???

Okay, the whole uproar over The Golden Compass just became a farce.

According to the CBC, the books have been on library shelves for a decade in Calgary Catholic schools. So please explain to me how it is they are "no problem" for over ten years, and suddenly because a bunch of wingnuts are crying about how "evil" they think it is that the book portrays organized religion as a dark force.

I'm sorry, but bitching about a book after it's been on the shelves for a decade is simply whining.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ironically all of the whining by the religious wing-nuts is actually helping to drive the sales of the book up. A manager of a local bookstore said that a lot of people are buying the book because "...any book that gets the religious nuts all twisted up can't be all that bad..."
Phillip Pullman must be laughing all the way to the bank!!

SB

Anonymous said...

I think that the situation is being blown totally out or proportion. As noted in earlier, this book has been out for several years, yet only now is it being complained about? And apparently this can of worms was initiated by a handful of parents who most likely never even read the book. They're probably the same ones who complained about the Harry Potter franchise.

I haven't read the book yet, but given the controversy I'll probably go have a look, just to see what the fuss is about.

To give the Catholic schoolboard some credit, I did hear an interview earlier on the CBC on this issue and they are only responding in this matter since the complaint occurred during the school year. They've pulled the books and are reviewing the contents and will release their findings in the near future. Apparently the same thing happened with the Harry Potter series but these were never pulled off shelfs as the complaint and subsequent review occurred during the summer which resulted in no actions taken.

Now, this doesn't mean I agree with the parents who are complaining about the whole issue. But from the school board's point of view they are obligated to take the parents complaints seriously and are only doing their jobs. I think that the issue is really about the author who is a professed atheist.

E.

MgS said...

Specifically, they have had six complaints. If it was within the first five years of the book being available, I might buy that there is legitimacy to the complaints.

At this point, a decade after the books appeared on library shelves, it's really about the "incorrectness" of the author's beliefs, and I find that appalling.

It really makes me wonder how fragile the faith of these people really is.

Collective Punishment

Ever since Pierre Poilievre opened his mouth and declared that Trans Women need to be banned from washrooms and locker rooms , there's b...