In the land of the free, how is it possible for one group to step up and use threats against a bookstore chain to prevent one poet from selling and reading his work? Just as author/poet Patrick Jones was preparing to launch his latest book of poetry Darkness Is Where The Stars Are, Waterstones Bookstore in Cardiff, Wales withdrew its contract to host the event which was to include book signing and reading by Mr. Jones. Allegedly, Stephen Green, National Director of Christian Voice based in the UK, contacted the bookstore and advised that his organization would stage a demonstration unless Mr. Jones’ book was removed from the shelves and the book launch did not take place. On November 12, as Mr. Jones and his publisher, Cinnamon Press, were preparing to attend the launching they were advised by Waterstones that the event had been cancelled.
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Across the ocean in another part of the free world, on October 25th, four teenage girls were driving home after cheerleading at a high school football game in Scott County, TN. The rainy weather and the infamous East Tennessee fog were principal factors in the accident which took the lives of the four teens, a grandmother and an unborn child. Just prior to the funerals for the four girls, Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, KS made it known that they would descend upon the small town of Huntsville, TN to protest at the funerals claiming that the four girls died for the sins of Tennessee.
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Anywhere that someone or some group is not happy they find a way to justify their anger and ill will by claiming to be appointed by God to destroy whatever it is that has caused their irritation. Can we justify everything we do by one simple yet complicated phrase? Every statement we make and every practice we keep should always be proven out in facts. With the internet and wide access to many historical documents and archives it is relatively easy to study and gain the facts that we need to correctly justify our lives without causing harm to anyone else.
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Each of these preceding paragraphs are parts of my latest article with the same title of this post. I was heart sick regarding the incident in Huntsville, TN surrounding the funerals of four innocent girls. Then I became outraged when told of the incident in Wales. I knew I had to write this out and tie the two together. I read and re-read news articles and postings of both these incidnets. Links to the sites I used in my article follow.
If you are interested in the complete article for publication in a newspaper, magazine, eZine, etc, please contact me.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7725790.stm
http://thebookaholic.blogspot.com/2008/11/did-waterstones-wimp-out.html
http://www.christianvoice.org.uk/about.html
http://www.cinnamonpress.com/darkness/
http://www.volunteertv.com/home/headlines/33550394.html#http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/oct/26/scott-crash-fatal-to-six/
2 comments:
So Fred Phelps and his hate monger congregation rear their ugly heads again? They are so far from what Christ taught, if confronted with their "savior" they would no doubt stone Him themselves.
Fortunately most people rise above that type of behavior, but it's too bad we even give these jerks the publicity they crave. I guess we have to shine the light on them nonetheless.
Thanks for posting this, Parker. :-)
Trust me, my full article is not positive for them at all. I had to fight to keep my personal views from taking over.
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