Texas pastor demands public library ‘purge’ vampire books: I think it’s dangerous for kids

Call me what you will, but this pastor is seeing firsthand how this type of literature is affecting his community.

Now, I grew up in several small towns in Texas, and I'll tell you firsthand there are a LOT of kids who tend to go a little bonkers and AWOL over things they've read in books.

I'm in a small town here in Arkansas and it's pretty much the same. Teenagers with little to no life experience getting carried away with fictional literature and movies becoming pretty damn reckless and losing themselves in these fantasy worlds to the point they can't conduct themselves with any degree of accountability....the drama these kids pull out of their back pockets is unbelievable sometimes.

Conversely, the adult fiction section around here isn't much better unless you're into Bibles, Dramatic Cloak and Dagger Blood Lust and the Third Reich.....and yeah, it's reflects in the community. Such is the bane of small towns - ain't much to do....and you can get a quick feel for the populace mindset based on what books are offered at the local book seller.

I mean, it's all fine and well to have an opinion regarding banning books - but we aren't seeing the firsthand effects of what might be going on in this tiny town are we? Maybe there is more to this pastors reasoning that meets the eye?

Mind you - this point is just for the sake of argument and discussion...

But is there anyone here that could see a reason to ban Vampire books. Seriously? One good reason? Nope. It's like when they tried to ban heavy metal. Now you don't even hear about heavy metal anymore. not in the news, anyway.

originally posted by: GENERAL EYES
Call me what you will, but this pastor is seeing firsthand how this type of literature is affecting his community.

Now, I grew up in several small towns in Texas, and I'll tell you firsthand there are a LOT of kids who tend to go a little bonkers and AWOL over things they've read in books.

I'm in a small town here in Arkansas and it's pretty much the same. Teenagers with little to no life experience getting carried away with fictional literature and movies becoming pretty damn reckless and losing themselves in these fantasy worlds to the point they can't conduct themselves with any degree of accountability....the drama these kids pull out of their back pockets is unbelievable sometimes.

Conversely, the adult fiction section around here isn't much better unless you're into Bibles, Dramatic Clock and Dagger Blood Lust and the Third Reich.....and yeah, it's reflects in the community. Such is the bane of small towns - ain't much to do....and you can get a quick feel for the populace mindset based on what books are offered at the local book seller.

So why can't they be satisfied with porn like normal people?

a reply to: olaru12

Different thread, dude. Different subject entirely.

But thanks for proving that the media we consume does indeed have an effect on our collective mentalities.

Bravo.

a reply to: midicon

Maybe fantasy is the thing that makes us able to cope with the mess humanity have created in reality. And in a way these books are thinking on how a society can be with more then one dominant specie and maybe how humanity would have to change if something more advanced came along.

I would say that reading Dune might be good for any person who wants to put himself/herself in the role of a prophet and understand how predestination can affect a person psyche.

If you want to understand how the fabric of fate can be woven with life:s being the thread: then Robert Jordan:s Wheel of time is a good book that also takes up the selfishness being the biggest problem to unite a world against a common threat that is going to destroy all humans.

These books are able to in a way thru imagination give insight on current human society and the problems in it.

Church leader pushing petition to ban certain books at Austin Memorial Library LIBRARY RESPONDS

Posted: Thursday, August 21, 2014 6:02 pm | Updated: 6:05 pm, Thu Aug 21, 2014. By VANESA BRASHIER

A Shepherd minister is leading a petition to have certain books removed from the shelves of the teen section at Austin Memorial Library.

The books include Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series, the House of Night series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast, and all other books aimed at a teen audience that perpetuate a theme of vampires in relationships with young teens.

Phillip Missick, pastor of King of Saints Tabernacle, is concerned that the books and others do not bend a child’s character in a positive way.

From Same Source

LIBRARY RESPONDS
AML’s head librarian, Mary Merrell Cohn, was not permitted by the city to respond to the media’s request for comments. However, letters exchanged between the library and Missick explain the city’s stance.

“The library is a public library, open to all, no matter their age, race, sexual orientation, religious preferences or social economic standing. City Council adopted the ‘Library Bill of Rights’ [that] states, ‘Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves .... Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.’

” Cohn’s letter to Missick also explains the library’s policy for checking out books. “No child can check out material unless their parent or guardian signs them up for a card ... Since the majority of the children using the library come with their parents, I believe this is a moot point,” she said.

While pointing out the area of the library in question on Thursday, Cohn said the library’s collection also includes one of the most banned books in the world — the Holy Bible.

I think the Library handled this quite well, and left the pastor with at least a few toes still dangling from his mouth.

I wonder If the book Dracula is on his hit list?.
If so or indeed he wants any book removed he is no better than a nazi book burner.

Well the religious leader from my church "Vlad" feels his fellow citizens of Transylvania have been unfairly persecuted by racist Italians in smocks so.... deadlock bitches!

a reply to: olaru12

Better crack open the book of Judges first "pastor". Plenty of wonderful bedtime stories and lessons for the kids in those pages.

Expect more of this insanity. The Internet has destroyed any credibility the bible had. What you see here, is pathological liars reacting to the dissemination of knowledge, that it is all fraudulent and fiction. They see the end of the save your soul scam. The younger generations are calling bs.

Omega watches are expensive, and end times doom porn is lucrative.

originally posted by: AgentSmith
So he's going after fantasy books about mythical creatures...

Does this mean all of the Bibles and other religious texts will be removed too?

yes, of course. it goes without saying.

because that's what he meant.

obviously.

originally posted by: AngryCymraeg
What's the betting that this pastor hasn't actually read any of the books and has no real idea what they're really about?

interesting, i haven't read them either.

i have no use for vamps and where's, let alone zombo's.

so enlighten me. what are they about?

originally posted by: blupblup
If we ban Twilight books, can we ban the movies too??

In all seriousness, the guy is another religious idiot who thinks his opinion matters.

Just shut up you moron, it's 2014.... crawl back under your rock.

yeah! anything goes!

yay!

i'm free!!! so are you!

a reply to: tsingtao

Yep. Awesome isn't it. Welcome to the new age. :-)

a reply to: beezzer

The Bible. One of the worst mind viruses to have ever plagued mankind. Besides, it may have just been a Roman Psyop according to some. Why let it continue?

Or, at the very least, a historical preamble explaining to the reader it is all make believe, on par with Harry Potter for accuracy and truth. With a giant fiction tag on every cover.

At least in Harry Potter, voldemort, the bad guy, was the evil genocidal madman with a racial superiority complex. In the Bible, the genocidal maniac, with a racial superiority as a vice, is God himself, with over 2 million killings directly attributed to him.

originally posted by: blackthorne
i agree with this pastor! we should get rid of all books that could potentially harm children! let us ban this book from all libraries, okay? inside, this book, a man gets drunk and rapes his two daughters. a bunch of cousins get down with each other. a man watches a woman wash her self on a roof. he then sends her husband to the front lines to have him killed so he can seduce her. another man doesn't want to get his brother's widow pregnant so he spills it on the ground. another passage exhorts men to glorify their wives breasts! a woman performs a strip tease for her step father and in return, she receives a man's head on a silver platter. there also many, many violent massacres and murders in this book too! how can we allow this book into our libraries and corrupt our children. wonder which book this is?

I think someone should point this out and insist that religious books should also come under this potential ban for their content and see what these pastors have to say about it.

Or better still, start a similar movement to have the bible banned from schools, libraries and any other public building where any child might find it and pick it up.

originally posted by: tsingtao

originally posted by: AngryCymraeg
What's the betting that this pastor hasn't actually read any of the books and has no real idea what they're really about?

interesting, i haven't read them either.

i have no use for vamps and where's, let alone zombo's.

so enlighten me. what are they about?

Well, they tend to be about good vs evil. In the case of the Harry Potter books this includes magic. I can see how that might be threatening to children. Oh wait, no I don't.

a reply to: TrueBrit

Well, I don't know, Brit.

Seemed kind of tame to me...perhaps you could word it a bit more strongly?? Be assertive, man!!

LOL

--------------

What is a Cleveland pastor doing bitching about a library in Austin, TX? Gha...I suppose I'll have to actually LOOK at his idiot demands to find out. ....... So, I did. Apparently this Cleveland is in Texas?


Whatever. Texas gets more bizarre by the week.

Anyone remember in the 80's and the religious community damned D&D for being evil and satanic?.
Lol morons just made more of us play the game (Oh I miss my D&D sessions).

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Heh... sorry about that BuzzyWigs (I love that name by the way. It sounds happy!). I just get rather tired of people claiming faith in God, and displaying a total lack of faith by their actions. It makes it all too easy for those with genuine, and robust belief, to be tarred with a brush which ought never to touch us. Normal, or at least marginally polite service will be resumed shortly

a reply to: LittleByLittle


My original post was just a thought I had, not prompted by this thread but by something else I had read a few days previous. You may notice I said ‘as a species’.

Maybe fantasy is the thing that makes us able to cope with the mess humanity have created in reality. And in a way these books are thinking on how a society can be with more then one dominant specie and maybe how humanity would have to change if something more advanced came along.

I was addressing the idea of the supernatural concerning children. So any thoughts regarding coping with the mess or how humanity would have to change is perhaps not so relevant. I merely wonder why we do this and what is the impact on society?

I would say that reading Dune might be good for any person who wants to put himself/herself in the role of a prophet and understand how predestination can affect a person psyche.

I would say that there are no prophets and no such thing as predestination. However I too wonder how this type of literature might affect the psyche.

If you want to understand how the fabric of fate can be woven with life:s being the thread: then Robert Jordan:s Wheel of time is a good book that also takes up the selfishness being the biggest problem to unite a world against a common threat that is going to destroy all humans.

I don’t want to understand the fabric of fate...don’t believe in it. There are plenty of books dealing with the theme of selfishness that don’t require supernatural fantasy. They can be just as delightful.

These books are able to in a way thru imagination give insight on current human society and the problems in it.

Why is the supernatural necessary? Nothing you have said requires the supernatural. I have been talking about children and wondering why we fill their heads with so much fantasy, nothing more.

Why do I feel like I am in the wrong dimension.

Perhaps because you didn’t quite understand what I was saying.