And the Number One most Challenged Book in America for 2006: (a little drum roll if you please)…….. “And Tango Makes Three” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell. Not only can God not stand same sex parenting by homo sapiens, he can’t even stand same sex parenting by penguins, now. Kinda makes you wonder why he made them in the first place, doesn’t it?From Wikipedia we learn the following about Tango: “In 2006 it was named an American Library Association Notable Children’s Book. It received the APCSA’s Henry Bergh Award and the Gustavus Myer Outstanding Book Award. It was named a Nick Jr. Family Magazine Best Book of the Year, a Bank Street Best Book of the Year, a Cooperative Children’s Book Council Choice, and a CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book. Tango was also a finalist for the 2006 Lambda Literary Award.”And this book joins three others in the top ten most banned books for 2006 that were condemned for homosexual content. Toni Morrison gets honorable mention for having two books on the list of the top ten most banned books in America due to sexual content and inappropriate language.Good news, after who knows how many years, “Catcher in the Rye” and “of Mice and Men” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” failed to make the list.I am really glad the American Library Association takes the time to bring us this list and that the religious organizations work so hard to identify these books for us. If it weren’t for the banned book list, I wouldn’t know what to read.
“And Tango Makes Three” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, for homosexuality, anti-family, and unsuited to age group; “Gossip Girls” series by Cecily Von Ziegesar for homosexuality, sexual content, drugs, unsuited to age group, and offensive language; “Alice” series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor for sexual content and offensive language; “The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things” by Carolyn Mackler for sexual content, anti-family, offensive language, and unsuited to age group; “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison for sexual content, offensive language, and unsuited to age group; “Scary Stories” series by Alvin Schwartz for occult/Satanism, unsuited to age group, violence, and insensitivity; “Athletic Shorts” by Chris Crutcher for homosexuality and offensive language; “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky for homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, and unsuited to age group; “Beloved” by Toni Morrison for offensive language, sexual content, and unsuited to age group; “The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier for sexual content, offensive language, and violence.
Peter Nuhn
That’s what they get for choosing to be gay.
Hooray for Banned books! I had a feeling that book would have to face the fate of being banned. And speaking of god making things he hates, I once saw a button that said “god made marijuana, could god be wrong?” I’m certain the religious right thinks liberals manipulated these penguins into appearing to be gay as part of the “gay agenda.” But any real biologist and thiking person knows otherwise.
I’m surprised Harry Potter isn’t in that list. Unless he was gay of course.
I can’t remember what thread it was in to find the whole quote by imforgivn, but do you think the penguins chose to be gay to be “hip”, “intellectual’, or one of the other adjectives he offered?
Karen, I think they chose the tuxedos to be hip. They chose to be gay because it’s “Bohemian.”
Bohemian penguins. That is cool. Im4gvn was right.
Rusty, DVan,
Bohemian! Yes, I forgot that modifier.
Of course. You know, I do have such a hard time knowing when it’s gauche to be Bohemian-or gay. I’ll just follow the penguins.
The Tango story is the true tale about Silo and Roy, the two male penguins in the NY City zoo that tried to hatch an egg shaped rock. The zookeepers decided to give them a real fertilized egg to tend, and Tango was the resulting hatchling.
What a gruesome, terrible tale! I can see why it MUST be banned! Oh, the horror! Protect our children!
If stupid was a necessity, then all of the Fundamentalist parents in Amerika would be a great national resource.
We must protect our children from the knowledge of the fact that homosexuality occurs naturally in over 400 animal species, otherwise they might not be inclined to be judgmental of human homosexuals.
If we examine the fairy tale of the Garden of Eden, the original sin in this overtly anti-intellectual primitive fantasy is the interest of Adam and Eve in acquiring an education. Their validation of the usefulness of the Tree of Knowledge was the original, evil, despicable sin.
Thus the basic theme of Christianity is that a pious person will strive desperately to remain as ignorant as possible. TV Evangelists serve as a beacon of highly refined stupidity, this is why they always surge in popularity among Christians when the media seizes upon an unusually idiotic utterance, like the outing of Tinky Winky. By demonstrating in public their extreme stupidity they achieve epoch levels of religious heroism and increased respect among their fellow idiots.
Since the Bible is amazingly bereft of facts, reading the Bible is not a sin. But books that accurately depict reality are very dangerous, especially when the aspect of reality portrayed flies in the face of a favorite tidbit of faith-based bigotry – like homophobia.
I have seen Harry Potter books on some banned lists as objectionable because of supernatural and occult/witchcraft ocurrences.
But I forgot which one had him turning into a pillar of salt– oops- wrong supernatural story.
UnGodly you explained the xian mindset very eloquently.
I’m surprised that “King & King” wasn’t on this list. It’s a children’s “fairy” tale about a prince who falls in love with another prince and then they marry each other. The follow up book “King & King & Family” is about them adopting a kid. The best part is that they live happily ever after.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_&_King
http://www.amazon.com/King-Linda-Haan/dp/1582460612
“Good news, after who knows how many years, “Catcher in the Rye” and “of Mice and Men” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” failed to make the list.”
I don’t know if that is good news or not. Does it mean that just ignorant bigots have stopped reading them, or has there been a drop-off in the general public?
Bernarda,
Maybe it just means that there are a lot more books with gay content which, of course, is the single biggest threat to Western civilization.(sarcasm)
“Gay Marriage Killed the Dinosaurs”-seen on a t shirt at NC Gay Pride.
If you are interested in gay penguins and other fabilously gay animals then read this book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/031225377X/qid=1076461454/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-8222077-2426430?v=glance&s=books
I like how the word homosexuality is bolded every time it is mentioned in the blockquote. I think homosexuality should always be emphasised as such, not to draw a negative reaction but to promote realisation that homosexuality is so much better than that alternate lifestyle called “breeding.”
Reed,
Amen, sister!
Alex, I went with friends to the Pride festival in Durham last weekend. One of my friends is a pro photographer (and atheist). Here’s some photos he took: http://flickr.com/photos/fotodawg/
Spanders,
Ok I admit it, that pic of Wonder Woman is me (not really).
We might have passed each other and not known it!!! I was there most of the day with my friend and her dog. It was well worth my time because I
won a drawing for a HDTV that one of the vendors was giving away.
More info on banned books for children and teens…
Go to any peer-reviewed journal such as the School Library Journal and they usually have a section dedicated to censorship of books. SLJ and Media Connection (I believe it’s Media Connection) give the names along with the backgrounds of the people involved in the effort to ban the book. The biographical information usually boils down to a profile repeated over and over and over and over…
“Jane Doe, mother of eight, from Texas, Utah, Alabama, etc.” I love to read the profiles…lots of fun.
Peer Reviewed:
“Peer review (known as refereeing in some academic fields) is a process of subjecting an author’s scholarly work, research or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field.”
Focus on the Family, the American Research Council, et. al. are not entities qualified to do any sort of “peer reviewing”. James Dobson was recently mauled by a giant homosexual squid.
OOPS, I think that’s the American FAMILY Research Council…
FairyDogMother,
I’m sure most if not all religious organizations banned Harry Potter from their congregations. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the American Library Association banned such a best-seller. Apparently homosexuality is worse than witchcraft.
You guys are all wrong. When I was a child my parents read “And Tango Makes Three” to me. After that, things were never the same. My father turned to homosexuality because he had never heard of it until the idea was planted in his head by this gay agenda book about penguins. He figured, if it’s good enough for penguins…well. He left my mother, who couldn’t take care of me anymore. We were very poor. Then I turned to drugs. Not only doing them, but also selling them, TO CHILDREN! I have no moral compass, because I have no idea what is right or wrong. I blame it all on the penguins. If only I had been shielded from such a devastating book I would have turned out fine. Damn those Penguins!
the gay people must face the fact they are not going to be accepted by society.yes they will probably get the right to marry,serve openly in military but they are dreaming if they think they will be accepted by society not even in officialy atheist nations does this happen.
reason – that is so untrue. In China and Japan, before the xians came, homosexuality was condoned – also in pre-xian greece, rome, and most of the middle east before islam. It’s only in countries that suffer under the yoke of the abrahamic religions that homosexuality is not tolerated.
Reason,
What, The Soviet Union? Fuck them.
ANY form of government that forces ideas on people is bound to fail. Even if they’re pushing Atheism.
This is why American Atheists exists, to separate the church from the government.
I hope you don’t think we’re trying to force Atheism on anyone.
arvadaatheist made a pretty damning refutation of your statements on the history of homo/bi-sexuality. Learn your history before saying something as stupid as “gay people must face the fact they are not going to be accepted by society.”
The fact that you think you can predict the future and state it openly as fact is deeply disturbing.
Alex, our Halloween party is coming up on Saturday, November 3. Come on by! http://www.yellowhousedesign.com/halloween (my wife is Wonderwoman and I’m the guy in the black tophat)
Many societies have accepted homosexuality. Saint Aelred the Queer…
http://www.bidstrup.com/phobiahistory.htm
when did china and japan become christian nations.gov’t forces things on people all the time.i am not writing this to bash gays.all i’m saying is changing a law is not the same as changing whats in your mind/heart.it is not just gay people we have millions who feel they must hide any mental illness or substance abuse problem to protect a carrear particpate in public life etc.even though we have laws to protect their rights.
as for romans,greeks etc. what proof do you have that their religious and civil laws condoned same sex relations.
reason
For your last question, read the article barbie just linked. It’s great. I just finished it. Muy interesante.
karen
i will read it.hope all is well with you and those you love.i know i sound harsh at times but i have little faith in humanity to be kind an loving.take care and have a great weekend.
alexatheist, here are a couple of links for entertainment. First, Serge Gainsbourg does a gay version of “Mon L?gionnaire”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aU-esFUtIw&mode=related&search=
Then, here is the original by Marie Dubas–with English translation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uedAKhkGxF8