Book Burning

[FizbansTalking_Hat]

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) -- A church's plan for an old-fashioned book-burning has been thwarted by city and county fire codes.

Preachers and congregations throughout American history have built bonfires and tossed in books and other materials they believed offended God.

The Rev. Scott Breedlove, pastor of The Jesus Church, wanted to rekindle that tradition in a July 28 ceremony where books, CDs, videos and clothing would have been thrown into the flames.

Not so fast, city officials said.

"We don't want a situation where people are burning rubbish as a recreational fire," said Brad Brenneman, the fire department's district chief.

Linn County won't go for a fire outside city limits, either.

Officials said the county's air quality division prohibits the transporting of materials from the city to the county for burning.

Breedlove said a city fire inspector suggested shredding the offending material, but Breedlove said that wouldn't seem biblical.

"I joked with the guy that St. Paul never had to worry about fire codes," Breedlove said.

The new plan calls for members of the church to throw materials into garbage cans and then light candles to symbolically "burn" the material.



This truly disgusts me, that such thign still occur, do people not realize by banning or burning something like this, a book, knowledge, you just increase the ignorance and fear of it. But then again maybe they do realize this, cuz you can prey on fear and help fuel it so that you can control it. Such ignorace makes me cry.

[Myste]

I almost did my undergraduate thesis on book-burnings and the meaning of fire. (i ended up doing it on the impact of self-censorship on one's art, in case anyone cares.)

The destruction of a book of any kind bothers me. Didn't you work in a bookstore, Fiz? Having to rip the covers off the mass market pbs, knowing that the books themselves had to be destroyed--not even allowed to give them to the homeless shelters--was one of the worst parts of the job. It's different from burning them, psychologically at least, but they're still destroyed.

What's worse: burning a book as a symbol of one's disagreement with its philosophy, or shredding it & mushing it back into pulp because one couldn't sell it?Either way, the book is destroyed. Either way, more copies of it will be published and printed.

Devil's advocate time: I almost think I'd rather see a book burned to make a political statement than thrown in the garbage simply because the publisher couldn't be bothered to sell it.

[FizbansTalking_Hat]

I agree with you baout the mulching and the burning aspect, they're both pretty much equivalent, but some things you can't avoid. Our book company does at least, donate a vast number of magazines and some books to charities, hospitals, and shelters, they do try, but alas the publishers have some power when it comes to the book selling industry.

Cheers.

[Bucky OHare]

Oh my god! (and i HATE using that saying)

books are things to be treasured, not destroyed (even when they're crap). Do they get the facist connotations? I mean fine, if you really hate a book, put it in the bin, but a public burning, its the same as burning a cross.
Your thesis sounds fascinating. what grade did you get? have you posted it anywhere?

Anyone seen the film Fahrenheit 451? (but please god lets not get confused with film titles)

[Myste]

Your thesis sounds fascinating. what grade did you get? have you posted it anywhere?

I don't remember if they gave me a specific grade, but I know I passed. It's not posted anywhere, sorry.

a public [book] burning, its the same as burning a cross.

I really don't think they're the same thing. Before the KKK, the burning cross was a call to arms; I think it was actually practiced by the Scots to gather the clans together for war. The KKK took this symbol of community and gathering and turned it into a scare tactic and a promise of violence against individuals and families.

Book-burning (or any other art-burning), is a way of showing disgust for a particular set of values or of a particular method of representation. It's really fairly impersonal unless a specific author's works are targeted, and even then it's about the work, not the person.

The only points of comparison are the uses of fire and the fundamental intolerance of the people who set them. The reasons those fires are set are very, very different.

[Edinburghemma]

Oh my god! (and i HATE using that saying)

books are things to be treasured, not destroyed (even when they're crap). Do they get the facist connotations? I mean fine, if you really hate a book, put it in the bin, but a public burning, its the same as burning a cross.
Your thesis sounds fascinating. what grade did you get? have you posted it anywhere?

Anyone seen the film Fahrenheit 451? (but please god lets not get confused with film titles)

I hate to lower the tone, as you all well know, but Gullible, does this business apply to the Gap novels too, pray tell?

[Bucky OHare]

fair enuff. my bad.

[Edinburghemma]

darn tootin' right, buster. get ye to the apologies thread post haste.

[dANdeLION]

If I were to write a book, and some cult tried to burn all the copies, and were paying for all the copies; then I'd throw in a free book of matches with every purchase of ten or more books!

[Myste]

And then you could alert the media, so they'd do a story on your writing is so...inflammatory!

[dANdeLION]

Yeah; capitalism at its finest!

[Baradakas]

Cedar Rapids??? I'm a hop skip and a jump from there! I grew up in Iowa my whole life, and never realized this sort of madness could occur there!!! Geez, I guess no matter where you are, you'll find a few rotten apples to spoil the bunch......



Fascists.



-B

[ZefaLefeLaH]

I dunno. I guess I would be upset if they burned a SRD original manuscript or the 1st pressing of Lord of the Rings or something, but really, so what if they want to burn books. There are plenty more. It's not like in the older times when burning a book meant that a person might not be able to get another copy for a long time, if ever.

Whole new world now.


People burn the flag too. I don't really care. This has no affect on me at all. I guess it's probably entertaining for the general forum since a lot of people here are book lovers.

[Loredoctor]

That's a good point, Zeph.

[CovenantJr]

Yes, I have to say I basically agree there. Burning a run of the mill, everyday book is petty and I don't see the point, but it's just paper. Paper being burnt. I don't have it in me to get worked up about that, other than to be mildly irritated at the kind of mentality that finds burning things a good idea.

[FizbansTalking_Hat]

"Where they have burned books,
they will end in burning human beings."

100 Years Later the Nazis did just that, they burned books and people. And that is where the feeling of getting worked up is all about. Burning a book isn't just symbolic of some pettiness. It's a burning of knowledge and a creation of ignorance. It can lead to so many other things. I mean, suppose we burn the Constitution, (I'm not saying its a perfect document.) But suppose we start with that and then work down the list of other such documents that give us all the rights we have, its a start to a veyr horrible end. Thats why I feel outraged.

[Ylva Kresh]

I detest all burning of books, even if it nowadays mayby is not possible to eradicate them (but was that ever possible?). I find book burning one of the more obvious symptoms of a society in trouble where parts of the population feel that they have to force their ideas on others.

We talked about this in the Rowling Forum some time ago, and I have not changed my oppinion...

"People who burn books must be insane. I think all books have the right to exist (with the possible exception of my 4th grade math-book ), they are a piece of someones mind. It is up to the reader to judge whether it is a good book or not. By burning books you have pre-judged the intelligence of all people who might have read it. I like to make my decisions myself.

Hoom-hoom. Perhaps book-burning is a sign that a book is really worth reading."

[Theo]

Sorry if I'm being flippant, but I can't really work up any righteous indignation about this - it's too hilarious. The fire department thwarting a book burning, for safety reasons... priceless.

Now I can't wait for when this happens with someone trying to burn a witch...

[Worm of Despite]

If they bought it, they can burn it. I don't care what wackos do with their money. Same goes with the flag. I don't like it that people burn flags, but I like the fact that they have the right to. If the government starts telling people they can't burn certain symbols/objects, then you're going to see what REAL fascism is.

And someone please enlighten me as to how a small group of Church nuts burning books will turn an entire country into the Fourth Reich.

[onewyteduck]

Of course some of you can remember how people started burning disco records. That was just awful