Are we becoming so politically correct that we have taken leave of our senses? I actually could not believe this when I read it. But sure enough, booksellers and librarians are refusing to stock a book by a prominent children's author because the bad person portrayed in this particular book was a Muslim terrorist. 'Baddies' in just about all children's books are always foreign and usually that would have been fine. But to ban this book because two of the bad characters were Muslim terrorists reeks of political correctness gone mad in my opinion. What's going to be next? Are crime and adventure novels going to be banned altogether simply because the portrayal of the evil character might offend one particular nationality or religion? There are countless of books where the bad character are Muslim, just as there are equally countless books where the bad characters are French, German, English, etc. It is a story, a work of fiction. I wonder had the terrorists been of any other religion, if it would have been happily stocked by the booksellers and librarians. It is a shame that they have such a power to dictate what people read. If children enjoy this book, it does not mean they are going to look at every Muslim they see and brand them a terrorist. That job is left to the paranoid adults. Let children be children and enjoy books without bringing politics and hatred into their world. It is a work of fiction and one that kids would probably have enjoyed. This book is not written with the sole purpose of instilling hatred for a particular religion or group of people. It might instill hatred for terrorists, but so what? We're meant to hate them, aren't we? Every adventure book has a 'baddie' and a 'goodie'. It's what makes them fun to read. I remember how Christians protested about the Harry Potter books because they contained witchcraft and how silly that was. But to ban books outright because of political correctness... how sad a society have we become?
Meh, that's not the craziest case of political correctness I've heard this morning. I don't even like muslims, but it is kind of ridiculous to be making kids story books with muslim terrorists as the bad guys. It's also so incredibly unimaginative, that's why I would have pulled the plug on it. It would technically be "because the baddy is a muslim terrorist" but it would have nothing to do with political correctness.
Seems to be a sensitive issue in the West. We have love stories with Muslim terrorists in India.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! http://fanaahthemovie.com/
What puzzles me is that librarians in the U.S. will go to the mat for controversial books (e.g. Michael Moore's Stupid White Men; see Salon.com for info on that one). Booksellers, though ... depends on their size. Still, the situation seems strange. I did a search on the phrase "army of the pure" and came up with some links regarding terrorism. The LeT’s professed ideology goes beyond merely challenging India's sovereignty over the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The Lashkar's 'agenda', as outlined in a pamphlet titled Why are we waging jihad includes the restoration of Islamic rule over all parts of India. Further, the outfit seeks to bring about a union of all Muslim majority regions in countries that surround Pakistan. Towards that end, it is active in J&K, Chechnya and other parts of Central Asia. Hafiz Saeed, a scholar of Islam, has said that the purpose of Jihad is to carry out a sustained struggle for the dominance of Islam in the entire world and to eliminate the evil forces and the ignorant. He considers India, Israel and US to be his prime enemies and has threatened to launch Fidayeen (suicide squad) attacks on American interests too. The Lashkar-e-Toiba does not believe in democracy and nationalism. According to its ideology, it is the duty of every 'Momin' to protect and defend the interests of Muslims all over the world where Muslims are under the rule of non-Muslim in the democratic system. It has, thus chosen the path of Jihad as the suited means to achieve its goal. Cadres are drawn from the Wahabi school of thought. Jihad, Hafiz Saeed said during the All Pakistan Ulema Convention held on July 17, 2003, at Lahore, is the only way Pakistan can move towards dignity and prosperity. The LeT has consistently advocated the use of force and vowed that it would plant the 'flag of Islam' in Washington, Tel Aviv and New Delhi. (South Asia Terrorism Portal) The Institute for Counter-Terrorism notes, "Literally meaning 'Army of the Pure', the Lashkar-e-Toiba has proved to be the most brutal terrorist group presently active in Jammu and Kashmir." Since it's booksellers and librarians who are protesting, though, I don't see PC as an easy cover story for cowardice. (American ideas more often than not would prefer to seem stupid than cowardly; pulling the book for fear of Lashkar-e-Toiba would only serve to validate the power of terrorism.) Strangely, nobody seems to have picked up on the Waldren and Murray report; The Australian is the only link showing up right now in Google News. Checking the website for Scholastic Australia, I find that they haven't yet mentioned the issue on their news page. Of course, were I them, I probably wouldn't want people to know, either. Then again, I wouldn't have backed down. I just would have looked to overseas markets (e.g. United States) and pitched the book directly over the web. I wonder how this story will develop. Right now, it's disgusting.
The idea that people being offended is more important than getting the truth out is insane. But as we all know, the West is dying and the East and middle east will follow it into third-world, has-been status.
I just do not understand how we have let ourselves come to this point. Everyone knows there are Muslim terrorists, just as there are terrorists of other faiths as well. Prior to 9/11, terrorists were portrayed from every country or religion, including Islam. This story is not saying that all muslims are terrorists. 2 characters constituting the 'evil' characters could hardly be construed as saying it was inclusive of all of the religion. I just find it pathetic that even children's books are being banned for political correctness. Although I should not be surprised considering Enid Blyton's (for starters) books were altered to include terms and names that are deemed to be politically correct. It is pathetic how as a society we have become so scared to offend anyone that we take steps to ban books. I wonder who we are hiding from. Our own discomfort at our hatred maybe?..
Another good example is the movie based on the Tom Clancy novel about Moslum terrorists setting off a nuke in the US. In the movie, they changed the Muslims to Nazis!!!! Give me a break. Nazi terrorists?! They're a real problem, these days.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Are there any good examples of political correctness? Any good examples of multiculturalism? No, there aren't. Let's do away with 'em.
bells: see? this is exactly the type of response that the propegators of "political correctness" want to stir up from the masses, which is why it's an inherently deceptive concept as I said before.
see what I mean? another narrow minded degenerate offer's his two penneth and is deluded into actually thinking that what fills his inbred white trash skull equates to reality.
There are?? What other faiths have terrorists? ...remember now, you said "faiths", as in religious-based terrorists. For example, the Oklahoma City bomber was a terrorist, and he was raised as a Christian, but his religious faith had nothing whatsoever to do with his actions. Baron Max
Well, for all of that ....why didn't you answer his question? "Any good examples of multiculturalism?" I think that's a damned good question ....and one for which I ain't got no answer, and I've never heard of anyone else having a good answer, either. Baron Max
So ....let me get this straight. Are you suggesting that someone or the government or whoever should force those free merchants to carry books that they don't want to carry or sell? Baron Max
You couldn't think of any, either, huh? And so you resort to insults and name-calling. ....LOL! Baron Max
