Or so I hear. West Bend residents Ginny and Jim Maziarka are very concerned that the West Bend Public Library dares to stock books that portray homosexuality in a less than negative light. In an email sent to the West Bend Daily News, they offered the following commentary:
There's nothing I adore more than watching the lunatic fringe get up in arms about library books that talk about things they don't like. Once upon a time it was black people, now it's those darned gays.
So all hell is breaking loose because a couple of folks are wound up about the fact that the library is stocking "pro-homosexual" material and, horror of horrors, including a link to a LGBT booklist on its website. Here's the link.
Apparently our resident Christian soldiers did not notice that just a few spots down the list is a heading titled "Faithful Fiction," which lists a bunch of pro-Christian books. Quick, someone tell the Muslims of West Bend that the library is promoting a pro-Christian agenda on its website! Muslim kids might accidentally check out books that glorify Jesus!
I also love how in some communities, any book that doesn't advocate tying homosexuals to fence posts, beating them up, and leaving them to die is somehow labeled by a reporter as being "pro-homosexual." That, in and of itself, is a sad commentary on the mindset of some individuals. To simply write a book that acknowledges variations in sexual orientation without passing judgment is apparently unacceptable to some.
As we all know, it's entirely possible for heterosexual individuals to engage in behaviors that outwardly appear homosexual. This whole concept has made Joe Francis a millionaire many times over. Straight college girls + booze + free t-shirts + videocamera = hot, quasi-lesbian action. It's also entirely possible for a homosexual man to get married, have kids, and work to convince himself that it's what God wants or that it's the right thing to do.
But it doesn't change the fact that deep down, he wants to have sex with other men. Once again, we have a pile of legitimate scientific data on one side of the argument, and a bunch of religiously-inspired hocus pocus on the other side of the argument. And one more time, the hocus-pocus crowd wants an equal seat at the table.
It's the creationism in biology class discussion all over again. Religious conservatives have no qualitative argument to make that can withstand any type of scientific scrutiny, but they demand to be heard anyway simply because they don't like what science has to say.
The best part is when the Maziarkas complain that some of these books pursue "the illegitimate goals of transforming the views of other people's children on the contentious issue of homosexuality."
Isn't any book that a kid checks out that conflicts with their parents' worldview going to potentially transform their views? And what exactly is a non-contentious issue? Should we also pull all the books about flag burning, or abortion, or gun ownership, or religion? Last I checked, religion was the single most contentious issue on the planet. Maybe the library should also get rid of all those books it purchases that promote and romanticize Christianity. A lot of Christian fiction is nothing but faith-affirmative, agenda-pushing garbage - yet the library stocks some of it. I know because they have a link to it on their website!
In a society filled with people who clearly have no problems being outwardly condemning of homosexuality in a public forum, maybe it's an okay thing that a kid who is figuring out his or her sexual identity has some place to go where they can read about others who have similar experiences. I would imagine that growing up being attracted to people of the same gender isn't the easiest experience to comprehend in a world seemingly filled with straight people.
Finally, nobody at the library is forcing any kid to click on a link or check out a book, let alone read the darn thing. If this small handful of parents is so concerned, perhaps they should do a better job policing their children to make sure they aren't exposed to any contrarian viewpoints. Or perhaps they should purchase some of their favorite ex-gay books (you know, the hocus pocus ones) and donate them to the library. I'm guessing the library would stock them, even though it's a viewpoint that's been thoroughly discredited by scientists over and over and over again.
While I'm a Christian and do my best to abide by the teachings of Christ, I've always thought it better to love my neighbor and leave the judging part up to God. It saddens me to see people like this so poorly represent my faith. And some Christians wonder why young people keep turning away from the church? Maybe it's because this is the kind of closed-minded, judgmental, loveless Christianity they have to look at everyday.
"We find the books for youth on homosexuality to be biased, gay-affirming, promotional and romanticized... We believe our library should be offering appropriate, wholesome literature to our youth instead of pursuing the illegitimate goals of transforming the views of other people's children on the contentious issue of homosexuality."
There's nothing I adore more than watching the lunatic fringe get up in arms about library books that talk about things they don't like. Once upon a time it was black people, now it's those darned gays.
So all hell is breaking loose because a couple of folks are wound up about the fact that the library is stocking "pro-homosexual" material and, horror of horrors, including a link to a LGBT booklist on its website. Here's the link.
Apparently our resident Christian soldiers did not notice that just a few spots down the list is a heading titled "Faithful Fiction," which lists a bunch of pro-Christian books. Quick, someone tell the Muslims of West Bend that the library is promoting a pro-Christian agenda on its website! Muslim kids might accidentally check out books that glorify Jesus!
I also love how in some communities, any book that doesn't advocate tying homosexuals to fence posts, beating them up, and leaving them to die is somehow labeled by a reporter as being "pro-homosexual." That, in and of itself, is a sad commentary on the mindset of some individuals. To simply write a book that acknowledges variations in sexual orientation without passing judgment is apparently unacceptable to some.
As we all know, it's entirely possible for heterosexual individuals to engage in behaviors that outwardly appear homosexual. This whole concept has made Joe Francis a millionaire many times over. Straight college girls + booze + free t-shirts + videocamera = hot, quasi-lesbian action. It's also entirely possible for a homosexual man to get married, have kids, and work to convince himself that it's what God wants or that it's the right thing to do.
But it doesn't change the fact that deep down, he wants to have sex with other men. Once again, we have a pile of legitimate scientific data on one side of the argument, and a bunch of religiously-inspired hocus pocus on the other side of the argument. And one more time, the hocus-pocus crowd wants an equal seat at the table.
It's the creationism in biology class discussion all over again. Religious conservatives have no qualitative argument to make that can withstand any type of scientific scrutiny, but they demand to be heard anyway simply because they don't like what science has to say.
The best part is when the Maziarkas complain that some of these books pursue "the illegitimate goals of transforming the views of other people's children on the contentious issue of homosexuality."
Isn't any book that a kid checks out that conflicts with their parents' worldview going to potentially transform their views? And what exactly is a non-contentious issue? Should we also pull all the books about flag burning, or abortion, or gun ownership, or religion? Last I checked, religion was the single most contentious issue on the planet. Maybe the library should also get rid of all those books it purchases that promote and romanticize Christianity. A lot of Christian fiction is nothing but faith-affirmative, agenda-pushing garbage - yet the library stocks some of it. I know because they have a link to it on their website!
In a society filled with people who clearly have no problems being outwardly condemning of homosexuality in a public forum, maybe it's an okay thing that a kid who is figuring out his or her sexual identity has some place to go where they can read about others who have similar experiences. I would imagine that growing up being attracted to people of the same gender isn't the easiest experience to comprehend in a world seemingly filled with straight people.
Finally, nobody at the library is forcing any kid to click on a link or check out a book, let alone read the darn thing. If this small handful of parents is so concerned, perhaps they should do a better job policing their children to make sure they aren't exposed to any contrarian viewpoints. Or perhaps they should purchase some of their favorite ex-gay books (you know, the hocus pocus ones) and donate them to the library. I'm guessing the library would stock them, even though it's a viewpoint that's been thoroughly discredited by scientists over and over and over again.
While I'm a Christian and do my best to abide by the teachings of Christ, I've always thought it better to love my neighbor and leave the judging part up to God. It saddens me to see people like this so poorly represent my faith. And some Christians wonder why young people keep turning away from the church? Maybe it's because this is the kind of closed-minded, judgmental, loveless Christianity they have to look at everyday.
11 comments:
Does West Bend mandate that every "young adult" in the city limits go through a Goth phase --- that font of the library's web site is pretty sad, lonely and disenfranchised.
Last go-around it was the Harry Potter books. Seriously, these are the people that frighten me.
Boy, Owen, Glenn and Charlie won't like this blog. West Bend or Closed Bend, is depressing area with a lot of bitter people with cash and serious mental problems.
I still don't understand how tolerance of homosexuality (and respect for committed same-sex relationships) threatens straight marriage. I mean, do the wing-nuts really think that their children will choose to be gay if society stops making it so onerous? If heterosexuality is really the natural state for everyone, wouldn't everyone choose it naturally? How can they make both arguments simultaneously?
Jill, don't even try. Your head will explode and you will still not understand it. There is absolutely NO logic. None. Zip. It makes no sense. In any universe but their own. Seriously, I've gone around and around on this with a couple of folks and . . . don't even try.
RS - You do yourself and your blog a disservice by immediately labeling these individuals as “lunatics”. Honestly, I could care less what people do or do not see at a public library. But the quote you offered from their letter, whether you disagree with it or not, did not appear to be the ramblings of a lunatic. Their prose was lucid and coherent. Thus, as soon as you castigated them for being lunatics, I stopped reading.
Lunatic fringe: A characterization of members of a usually political or social movement espousing extreme, eccentric, or fanatical views.
I think that pretty much sums them up. While their views and actions are perhaps justified in a lucid and coherent manner, they are nowhere near mainstream.
Sorry, but that's a mere colloquialism.
Well it's a good thing I'm writing a blog and not a thesis then, huh? :-)
I agree that this is pure lunacy. If parents have issues with the content of the booklists featured in the website or the materials within the library, it is the parents' responsibility to act accordingly and monitor what their children have access to. Don't like the website? Limit and monitor Internet use. Don't like the books at the library? Visit the library with your child. Do not tell the community and other parents what is and is not right for their children/community.
I am a West Bend resident and hope that this complaint is quickly dismissed as being what it is; a blatant attempt at censorship and a clear example of intolerance.
The issue here is that pornographic material is being made available to our youth at our library. I would not call it lunacy to not want this type of material readily available for our young people of West Bend. What ever happened to protecting our youth?? Where are your morals?
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