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Monday, November 17, 2008

Books / Religion "It Should Be Christlike"

Posted by Paul Constant on Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 3:08 PM

Poet Patrick Jones was going to do a release party and signing of his book Darkness is Where the Stars Are at Waterstone's, a British chain bookseller. The day of the reading, Jones suddenly received an e-mail from Waterstone's telling him the reading was cancelled. The reason? Pressure from a group called Christian Voice. They insisted that the book was obscene and threatened to protest the reading.

The national director of Christian Voice, Stephen Green, said the decision was a triumph "for the Lord, not for us".

"The Lord had not even showed me what we should do at Waterstone's, only that it should be Christlike.

"Just the knowledge that we were on our way has put the fear of God into the opposition."

As with any of these Christian book-banning nutcases, simply stopping the reading wasn't good enough for Green. Now he's trying to get Waterstone's to stop carrying the book altogether. Waterstone's insists they will keep the book on the shelves, but they've already demonstrated how principled they are at keeping their word to authors. This is another reason why chain bookstores suck: they have no goddamned spine.

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blech.

and they're just inviting more protests....

Posted by boxofbirds on November 17, 2008 at 3:16 PM

That's all right, I'm sure Powell's has it, and they deliver. I'll be sure to make it's on my next order. Nothing makes me want to buy a book more than having it banned by obnoxious Jesus freaks. If it weren't for them I'd never have picked up Harry Potter and thus made JK Rowling just a little richer.

Posted by yucca flower on November 17, 2008 at 3:25 PM

Powells isn't likely to be too much help in the UK, where Waterstone's is, not with international shipping going the way it's going. But there's always Amazon., about whom booksellers love to complain -- but then go out of their way to make even more necessary, with bogus stunts like this.

Posted by Fnarf on November 17, 2008 at 3:29 PM

Even better, Waterstone's says that it's all the poet's fault.

Posted by Travis Nichols on November 17, 2008 at 3:35 PM

It sucks the chain canceled on him, but I don't have a problem believing he provoked a confrontation for publicity, either. BTW, the Manic Street Preachers SUCK.

Posted by Dougsf on November 17, 2008 at 3:48 PM

Actually, if he did purposely cause a "furore" to generate interest in his book, that's clever as hell. And the dumb ass bookstore pitched right in to his successful PR campaign.

Taken altogether, Waterstone's is to be congratulated on their knee jerk predictability.

Posted by Oh that on November 17, 2008 at 4:01 PM

I hate poetry, but will order the book just to annoy Jesus. Fuck you Christ!

Posted by Giffy on November 17, 2008 at 4:08 PM

English Christianette groups going after smut was a fad Mary Whitehead got going in the 60s, and didn't quit until 2001-odd. PBS did a Masterpiece thingy last night with Julie Walters as Whitehead. Excellent period decor and outfits, and a kicky BBC Director General.

Not perfectly done, but you can see it anytime here:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/filt…

Posted by tomasyalba on November 17, 2008 at 4:17 PM

I want some journalism from the BBC, they didn't say why these fundies were upset in the first place, i need info.

Posted by vooodooo84 on November 17, 2008 at 4:17 PM

i'm with you, vooodooo84. what did he write to get their knickers in a twist? it's probably just a storm in a teacup.

Posted by scary tyler moore on November 17, 2008 at 4:22 PM

Well, it seems a problem for the mastermind Stephen Green that the poet in question is gay. Oh, and the mastermind tried to bring his own prosecution against the BBC for planning to air a broadcast of "Jerry Springer: The Musical," it turns out. Which private prosecution technique was pioneered by Mary Whitehead, the focus of PBS Masterpiece's "Filth," oddly enough. Oh, and the mastermind published home addresses of BBC execs so his followers could persecute them at home too, which seems sort of familiar from recent events relating to Prop 8. This is all getting creepier.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/…

Posted by tomasyalba on November 17, 2008 at 4:39 PM

Christian Voice are the lunatic fringe of the lunatic fringe. Their spokesman Steven Green is regularly asked for opinions on religious issues and he will promptly spout bizarre contradictory nonsense and veiled threats. They have so much influence as they are good at stirring and threatening noisy, intrusive protests. In reality they are a very small group with little bite, and anyone with an ounce of sense would stand up to them and sue/bring charges if it gets nasty. Bloody Waterstones wimps.

Posted by Fluffy Bunny on November 18, 2008 at 3:21 AM