Uncle Bobby under fire again
Categories: Kids 5-7, 2Moms2Dads, That's entertainment, Religion & spirituality
Colorado librarian James LaRue has gotten another challenge to Uncle Bobby's Wedding, the book about a little girl guinea pig's concerns that her uncle won't play with her after he gets married. The idea is simple enough -- Young Chloe loves her uncle but worries that after he gets married, he won't have time to play with her any more. None of that is why parents are getting up set about the book.The "problem" with the book is that it just so happens that Uncle Bobby is marrying his boyfriend Jamie. It's not really relevant to the plot, nor, as I understand it, is it gone into in detail, it's just sort of a part of the background of the story. Big deal. Apparently, to some, it is a big deal and that is cause to want the book removed from the library shelves. After the first challenge, LaRue wrote an intelligent, sensitive response that explained why, in spite of (or even perhaps because of) the reasons for the challenge, the book would remain on the shelves.
Well now a second challenge has come along, this time asking that the book be removed because gay marriage is illegal in Colorado. Once again, LaRue responds in an intelligent, polite manner -- something I'm not sure I would have been able to do. He points out that it is not specified where the story takes place, whether it is in Colorado, in Massachusetts (where the author hails from), or even "in a wholly fictitious universe with its own laws." Yeah, like one where guinea pigs talk and wear clothes and get married? Ya think?
Of course, if we were to follow that line of reasoning -- removing books that depicted illegal acts -- we'd have to get rid of the mysteries, the adventures, the newspapers and news magazines... heck, most of the library would be empty. We'd even have to pull the bible off the shelf because, last time I checked, murder and incest are still illegal most places.
Via Mombian
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Reader Comments (Page 3 of 6)
ANDRE 8-23-2008 @ 7:17PM
AGANDA AGAIN! THGE TIME HAS COME TO GET THE WORD "GAY" BACK TO MEANING HAPPY NOT HOMOSEXUAL! I'AM TIRED OF THE GET THE KIDS IN CHILDHOOD PLOYS OF THE "GAY ACTIVISTS" BY HAVING THESE BOOKS!
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LaceButterfly 8-23-2008 @ 7:18PM
Amen to steven marks. It's nice how the liberal agenda is considered A-OK by the media and by certain people posting on here...but anything conservative or, God forbid, Christian is immediately boycotted and complained about. There can't be double standards. No one should be imposing their beliefs on others...and little kids are no exception.
Not everyone believes that homosexuality is ok. That agenda should not be force fed to kids who are looking to read an innocent story book about guinea pigs. :P Let's keep our political opinions to ourselves and not poison kid's books and minds with this obscene, perverted GARBAGE.
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Messed Up Mama 8-23-2008 @ 7:48PM
LaceButterfly, No one is forcing anyone to read this book. The librarian is only trying to prevent anyone from forcing someone to NOT read the book. If you don't want to read it don't, if you don't want your children to read it, then keep track of them and don't let them read it. If you have children, it's your responsibility to make sure they read only what you want them to read not the library's. Their responsibility is to offer as wide a variety of books as possible, so that we all have a choice in what we read.
There are plenty of books that promote the Heterosexual-Christian life style, there are plenty of books that promote the radical Christian belief system, and I'm sure that library has them available to any who wish to read them.
No one is trying to force you to do anything, however YOU are trying to force people to do what you want them to do. In this case, you are trying to force a librarian to remove a book and you are trying to force all children NOT to be able to read it.
I find it interesting that when people call for equality and tolerance people like you want to whine and complain that you are being discriminated against because your "right" to treat people with intolerance and bigotry is being pushed aside.
Messed Up Mama 8-23-2008 @ 8:06PM
Lacebutterfly, No one is forcing anyone to read this book. The librarian is only trying to prevent anyone from forcing someone to NOT read the book. If you don't want to read it don't, if you don't want your children to read it, then keep track of them and don't let them read it. If you have children, it's your responsibility to make sure they read only what you want them to read not the library's. Their responsibility is to offer as wide a variety of books as possible, so that we all have a choice in what we read.
There are plenty of books that promote the Heterosexual-Christian life style, there are plenty of books that promote the radical Christian belief system, and I'm sure that library has them available to any who wish to read them.
No one is trying to force you to do anything, however you are trying to force people to do what you want them to do. In this case, you are trying to force a librarian to remove a book and you are trying to force all children NOT to be able to read it.
I find it interesting that when people call for equality and tolerance people like you want to whine and complain that you are being discriminated against because your "right" to treat people with intolerance and bigotry is being pushed aside.
Uly 8-23-2008 @ 11:14PM
Forcefed?
Who's reading these books? I know I never check a book out of the library without flipping through it first to make sure it doesn't contain anything I consider objectionable. How stupid do you have to be not even to do that?
Take your oh-so-righteous indignation elsewhere and trade it in for some sense, thanks.
fanny 8-23-2008 @ 7:21PM
Steven Marks: "it promotes unnatural acts, crimes against nature and a crime in the eyes of God!" True as it is, I have to agree with ARWENNOV68 when they bring up judgment and "Yes there are things that are hard to deal with, but God sees ALL sin the same. Including the sin of passing judgment on another. If you believe that being homosexual is so great a sin that they will have to answer to God for it, then you will be standing right beside them, by judging. God judges all in the end." I am a happily married Christian woman with two children of my own. I would prefer they not read this book. I have taught my children that every one is different and that although it is hard, we are not supposed to judge each other. Right on Arwennov68!
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kelly roloff 8-23-2008 @ 7:22PM
live and let live
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babybounce28 8-23-2008 @ 7:29PM
This is crazy. I am a whole-hearted Christian and God is my all. But for his sake, people I personally don't support it, but I don't discriminate. And to JETCHARTER1, abnormal? Give me a break. Discrimination against homosexuals is just like discrimination against african americans- which I happen to be, hispanics, jews, asians, etc.- its still discrimination. On another note- what child is going to automatically assume that 2 male cartoon guinea pigs cannot be together? If anyone against this book being on the shelves listens to Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl, you should have a problem with that song as well. May praise go to anyone who's not afraid to stand up and acknowledge being different.
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Melissa 8-23-2008 @ 7:31PM
first of all the librarian was a man not a woman. Second it isn't up to you to judge anyone we are all going to be judged when it is our time!! I salute him for sticking to his beliefs because it is all we have and when we go with what we know or believe in then we are doing ourselves good. I would like to have my children read this book I then could explain things to them as they have questions and not wait till they learn some stupid crap from ignorant people!!!!!
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CeCe 8-23-2008 @ 7:37PM
If you don't check the book out the child can't read it, can he? A little parental control, which is so sadly lacking in many parents these days, might just control the situation.
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Mark 8-23-2008 @ 8:10PM
Costa Piperakis: How do you feel about telling children that there's some supreme being in the sky who condemns you to eternal suffering when you masturbate? Or better yet, indoctrinating children as christians before they can speak? Morality predated christianity. So did homosexuals, get over it.
By the way the article makes a great point about other "illegal" acts in children’s books such as theft, violence, and murder - shouldn't we ban these books as well? Unless I’m mistaken, a few people are murdered in the Harry Potter books, granted by magical spells in a fictitious world. But in this Uncle Bobby book, two males are getting married, granted they're actually guinea pigs in a fictitious world - isn't that different? (satirical tone)
Kim 8-23-2008 @ 7:38PM
Have you sought treatment for your paranoia?
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pbhj 8-23-2008 @ 7:40PM
@ ARWENNOV68
>>> "Isn't passing judgment on another person considered a sin?"
It's a common misconception, but "no".
For example, Jesus says that the person who is sinless is free to stone the woman caught in adultery (as was the law under the old covenant, before Christ's sacrifice) - that turns away the people, but then he instructs her to "sin no more".
People say "remove the plank from your own eye", but the Bible actually says to do that first, the implication being that we should be introspective and tackle our own sins and then help those around us caught in sin.
FWIW.
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Neal Nicholas 8-23-2008 @ 7:43PM
Gay guinea pigs. Now that's entertainment!
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Kevin 8-23-2008 @ 7:43PM
I read these post and don't know if I should laugh or cry. I can't believe we are living in the 21 century and still have this kind of witch hunt going on. If god does exist he must be having a good laugh at all of us. I for one think when we die its over I was force fed religious BS most of my life and because I am a FREE minded person choose to forgo the hell and damnation track. For us the bible is a nice guide to help live a good life. My family and I are doing well we don't cheat, steal and as far as I know have never "killed" anybody except in thought. Oh and by the way when I was younger (10) my father told us he was GAY. Yes, mom had past due to a car accident a few years earlier for those that were wondering. Today my brothers and sister and I are all happily married, all have wonderful children and dad and his partner are great babysitters. Oh yea the kids love thier 2 Grandpa's as much as my wife's parents. We also all get together for the Holiday's, birthday's etc.. The only problem the kids seem to have is the narrow minded bigots both religious and non that have a problem with the family dynamics. That's my 2 cents, like it or not.
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Wryen 8-23-2008 @ 7:45PM
This book is probably the greastest book for kids to read. It will help kids understand that not everyone is the same. And that it's ok to be a little different. Who cares whether you're male or female, as long as you have love in your life.The people who really believe in God, should know that He will love you no matter what sex, race, color you are, including sexual preference. I personally don't believe in God, but that shouldn't be held against me.
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pbhj 8-23-2008 @ 7:46PM
Hmm, you didn't ever study logic did you?
"We'd even have to pull the bible off the shelf because, last time I checked, murder and incest are still illegal most places."
The key difference is that the books in the Bible tell us murder and incest are bad things. This book clearly seeks to promote homosexual partnerships - which if illegal where you are - means it promotes illegal activity, albeit using anthropomorphised guinea-pigs.
Which other books for toddlers promote illegal activity? Perhaps there's a version of Elmer where he enjoys smoking dope?
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Uly 8-23-2008 @ 11:13PM
Actually, pbhj, they don't consistently tell us that murder and incest are bad things.
Weird how that happens, actually. Even if we take out all the murders that God committed as being "special circumstances" - 2 Kings 2:23-24 springs to mind, as does Psalms 137:8-9 - at good three or four people - Moses, Noah, and Abraham - admit to getting away with incest.
And lots of people commit murder and are totally not condemned for it, not in the Bible anyway. Maybe the writers of the Bible just forgot to include the part where God punished them...?
Winston 8-29-2008 @ 3:11PM
Uly,
For a second there, while reading your post I thought I was reading the wrightings of Vladimir Lenin, circa pre Bolshevik Red Revolution, when he & Trotsky were successfully inculcating the revolutionaries with the frenzied hatred toward Christians necessary to eventually result in 48 million execution style deaths in the former Soviet Socialist Republic.
Lenin shared the same mindset with you regarding Christianity & the Bible, thinking the Bible was a book full of hatred, murder & hypocritical illegal acts.
But that is the result of the observations of those who do not understand what they are speaking evil of. Lenin was a miserable man full of bitterness toward God, the Bible & His followers, & used his misguided beliefs to slaughter untold millions of Christians & political dissidents. He died of syphilis due to his desire to have sex with anything with two legs & slap God in the face in the process. If he was mistaken about his poor judgment, he is also suffering the eternal penalty of his actions.
Of course, all he was doing was fulfilling Bible prophecy, which stipulated that the spirit of anti-Christ would be prevalent as time marched on en-route to the Day of Judgment, which would result in the hatred & slaughter of believers.
He, like so many other like minded individuals, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot (Godless Socialists all), put himself & the human race on equal terms with God, pointing out many of the same Scripture references as you & interpreting them to mean that because God carried out punitive signature judgments against murderous & wicked people, He Himself was guilty of murder & didn’t have the right to make such judgments. Lenin, like you, sympathized with people who murdered, stole, raped, sodomized, assaulted & committed a host of other violations against His Word designed to protect mankind then he did God Himself, & just as long as their name wasn’t God.
Would you justify Lenin & Stalin for their actins more than you would God? Or neither? You would be amazed, or maybe you wouldn’t, at how many people, even in this country, think Christians deserve to be put to death because they think God is a bigoted murderer who wants to deny people their rights to commit whatever acts they want, which in their minds make Christians guilty by association.
And of course, there is the equally misinformed Vicky Porter who agrees with you wholeheartedly & views the Bible as a more dangerous book than those which portray homosexuality & other deviant behaviors as normal.
Your animosity toward God is a form of spiritual suicide, with its ultimate end coming in the life to come rather than this one. The convenient aspect of that for you is that in the mean time you can pretend there is no “life to come,” & if there is, you won’t be disqualified from it. You are harming yourself more than God. God is going to be around long after you have been weighed in the balances for your actions.
For someone as witty as you, I am not sure you recognize that there is obviously a distinction acknowledged in the Bible between the various covenants that I am wondering whether or not you have understood, or whether or not you have arrived at your erroneous conclusions to justify your own lifestyle & beliefs.
Same family marriage, as you so readily pointed out, was legal in the Old Covenant. So were having multiple wives. And Israel was mandated at times to carry out punitive judgment at the direction of God Himself against evil men.
In the New Covenant, mercy for sin rather than punitive judgment in this life is emphasized, which is intended to give people a chance to repent & change before this dispensation ends & punitive judgment is carried out against the non-repentant & those who hate God in the life to come.
This is where you can not comprehend God’s love & are mistaking it for being bigotry & hatred. God’s love is illustrated in the provision of forgiveness for sin & the ability (not guarantee) to overcome it through the “new birth”, whereas your definition of love is to think that everyone should be allowed to do whatever they want without feeling bad about it or hearing anyone else say that it is wrong.
The very fact that you confuse God’s judgment with murder & God’s love with hatred & bigotry indicates that you think yourself on equal terms with God, which is why you question & don’t understand His Word. You confuse love & mercy with hatred & bigotry & do not understand the differences between the Covenants.
It is also simply that you don’t want to comply with His Law, & that you love your sin which is more the primary reason for your animosity toward or denial of your Creator, His Commandments, & those who have chosen to follow Him.
With all of your knowledge of Scripture, you must remember the text which reads, “Vengeance is Mine, says the Lord, I will repay.” In other words, in the New Covenant, only He is allowed to punitively judge men & does not ask the Church to carry out capital punishment like He did the nation of Israel in the Old Covenant. That is distinguished from civil law, however, which can carry out capital punishment against certain crimes.
In addition, marriage to multiple wives was replaced with monogamy to illustrate the level of faithfulness & commitment representative of Christ & the Church, while marriage within families was later made illegal to illustrate different levels of family relationships in order to set parameters & protocols of faithfulness to various kinds of relationships & dispel confusion between carnal lust & unconditional love.
There are obviously a lot of things you are unaware of regarding the people who were judged punitively in the Old Covenant Scriptures, & their actions which merited capital punishment. For you to think that God is a murderer & not understand the difference between murder & God’s judgment for capitol crimes is really quite bizarre.
By the way, the sixth commandment in the original Hebrew text actually reads “you shall not murder,” rather than “you shall not kill.” God can do as he chooses, but we can’t.
Winston
Al 8-23-2008 @ 7:49PM
Steven,
Last I knew James was a mans name. Maybe you should consider your own prejudices by assuming that a librarian has to be female.
I have not read the book but I would find it hard to believe that it actually promotes unnatural acts since the article specifically stated that "nor, as I understand it, is it gone into in detail, it's just sort of a part of the background of the story."
It would appear that the details are in your mind.
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