http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5856369.html

I don't mean to start a flame war amongst religious and atheist people, but I do find this a to be a little interesting.

This little note they put on the post new thread screen I think sums it up for me.

No similar topics found. Start your thread and let the users answer your questions.

Hah. That's weird. I know at least one person who claims to have "smuggled" bibles into that country...

I find it even more ironix that China produces "Free Tibet" flags.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7370903.stm

I kind of admire their way to fully exploit capitalism though.

Quote from wark :

Hah. That's weird. I know at least one person who claims to have "smuggled" bibles into that country...

I know several people who have. The thing they don't tell you is that if you're Chinese and caught doing it - you go to prison, if you're foreign - they just take the Bibles off you. As they say in the article, you're only allowed to get them through the state-sanctioned church - which, according to what I've heard (not saying it's 100% accurate, I have no way of verifying it) is very restrictive and elitist, even towards 'Christians'.

At the end of the day, the media love a story about China, regardless of how true or false it may be - simply because we know so little of the 'real' China.

its strange to me that they aren't allowed to have whatever books they want from whatever source. I'm pretty sure that mainland China is no better than North Korea, but I've never been there. Then again an American being surprised that other countries don't have freedom is not a new thing
Seriously tho, don't be caught being free in China, they'll go Tienanmen on ur ass.

I agree Mike, it's truly shocking that some countries have bizarre attitudes regarding books, still, at least that would never happen in the US, would it ?


They're Burning Books Again
From Elizabeth Kennedy,
Your Guide to Children's Books.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
Background
In my last article on the censorship of children's books, I focused on why people want to ban books and several of the organizations for and against the censorship of children's books. As I mentioned then, the number of challenges to Harry Potter tripled between 1999 and 2000. Continued challenges to the series have kept the series at the top of the most challenged books list. Lately, with the release of the movie versions of first two books and the publication of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," there has been an increase in challenges to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.
Who Burns Books and Why?
Before the introduction of the printing press, burning books was an effective form of censorship. Since each book was handmade, there were few books, and it was possible to limit the spread of ideas and information by burning books. In recent times, it has had other purposes. Foreign governments have used book burning and other destruction to intimidate and illustrate their power. In the United States, most of the book burnings that I've read about have been motivated by religious views.

However, until the Harry Potter books, it was not that common to find a children's book series as the main stimulus for a book burning event. In early January 2002, Christ Community Church of Alamogordo, New Mexico, became the topic of international media attention. On December 23, the pastor, Jack D. Brock, preached a sermon on the topic "The Baby Jesus Or Harry Potter?". Brock stated he considered the Harry Potter books to be "an example of our society's growing preoccupation with the occult. The Potter books present witchcraft as a generally positive practice, while the Bible expressly condemns all occult practices."

Brock announced that on December 30, 2001, members of the congregation were invited to take part in a book burning, such as was described in Acts 19:19-20 of the Bible. At the bonfire, according to the paster, in addition to the Harry Potter books, "some burned books they felt to be a personal hindrance to them spiritually." Brock has stated that he doesn't understand why there has been such a furor about something that was meant to be a local event. However, the fact that his sermon and other book-burning related information is available in audio or print on the church's web site would seem to indicate that the church is seeking a wider audience.

The Media Response
The pastor's sermon and the book burning event became the topic of news features in both the United States and England. CNN.com reported,

"As hundreds protested nearby, a church group burned Harry Potter and other books."
In an article about the controversy, The Albuquerque Journal reported that
"Brock's announcement last week that he planned to preside over the book-burning spurred protests from the Otero County Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, members of the county's Democratic and Republican parties, Wiccans and other faiths to protest what they consider an aggressive form of censorship."
The BBC News (British Broadcasting Company) reported that,

"Pastor Brock said he had never read any of the four Potter novels - but had researched their contents."
More recently, in August 2003, the Jesus Non-denominational Church in Greenville, Michigan, burned Harry Potter books, according to a report from WZZM13.com. According to the report,
"He [The pastor]says stories like Harry Potter that glorify wizardry and sorcery will lead people to accept and believe in Satan."

Quote from Racer X NZ :

I agree Mike, it's truly shocking that some countries have bizarre attitudes regarding books, still, at least that would never happen in the US, would it ?


They're Burning Books Again
From Elizabeth Kennedy,
Your Guide to Children's Books.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
Background
In my last article on the censorship of children's books, I focused on why people want to ban books and several of the organizations for and against the censorship of children's books. As I mentioned then, the number of challenges to Harry Potter tripled between 1999 and 2000. Continued challenges to the series have kept the series at the top of the most challenged books list. Lately, with the release of the movie versions of first two books and the publication of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," there has been an increase in challenges to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.
Who Burns Books and Why?
Before the introduction of the printing press, burning books was an effective form of censorship. Since each book was handmade, there were few books, and it was possible to limit the spread of ideas and information by burning books. In recent times, it has had other purposes. Foreign governments have used book burning and other destruction to intimidate and illustrate their power. In the United States, most of the book burnings that I've read about have been motivated by religious views.

However, until the Harry Potter books, it was not that common to find a children's book series as the main stimulus for a book burning event. In early January 2002, Christ Community Church of Alamogordo, New Mexico, became the topic of international media attention. On December 23, the pastor, Jack D. Brock, preached a sermon on the topic "The Baby Jesus Or Harry Potter?". Brock stated he considered the Harry Potter books to be "an example of our society's growing preoccupation with the occult. The Potter books present witchcraft as a generally positive practice, while the Bible expressly condemns all occult practices."

Brock announced that on December 30, 2001, members of the congregation were invited to take part in a book burning, such as was described in Acts 19:19-20 of the Bible. At the bonfire, according to the paster, in addition to the Harry Potter books, "some burned books they felt to be a personal hindrance to them spiritually." Brock has stated that he doesn't understand why there has been such a furor about something that was meant to be a local event. However, the fact that his sermon and other book-burning related information is available in audio or print on the church's web site would seem to indicate that the church is seeking a wider audience.

The Media Response
The pastor's sermon and the book burning event became the topic of news features in both the United States and England. CNN.com reported,

"As hundreds protested nearby, a church group burned Harry Potter and other books."
In an article about the controversy, The Albuquerque Journal reported that
"Brock's announcement last week that he planned to preside over the book-burning spurred protests from the Otero County Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, members of the county's Democratic and Republican parties, Wiccans and other faiths to protest what they consider an aggressive form of censorship."
The BBC News (British Broadcasting Company) reported that,

"Pastor Brock said he had never read any of the four Potter novels - but had researched their contents."
More recently, in August 2003, the Jesus Non-denominational Church in Greenville, Michigan, burned Harry Potter books, according to a report from WZZM13.com. According to the report,
"He [The pastor]says stories like Harry Potter that glorify wizardry and sorcery will lead people to accept and believe in Satan."

Book burning lol. that's nothing, in the 1970's a rock Dee Jay in Denver organized a disco record burn. it broke some sort of world record....Disco... DISCO SUCKS!!!

hmmm, well were used to more subtle forms of control in the West, such as rule by fear "they have bombs", rule by intimidation "they want to kill you [you should let us kill them for you first]", and rule by paranoia "you produce too much carbon, your children will die [2nd runway at Stansted approved]"

Because our forms of control are more subtle and we're too stupid to realise it were allowed to mock other couuntries for outlawing something that would never happen over here...

/me trundles off to read the theory of evolution and the first chapter of Spycatcher.

i think religion serves some good purposes. like making people feel better and giving them motivation. i dont see why it should be banned (im atheist btw).

Quote from Racer Y :

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5856369.html

I don't mean to start a flame war amongst religious and atheist people, but I do find this a to be a little interesting.

This little note they put on the post new thread screen I think sums it up for me.

No similar topics found. Start your thread and let the users answer your questions.

It's odd, I no longer find such things ironic. The craving for power and wealth seems to be always rated higher by governments then the people and the law they're suppose to uphold. Be it Socialist China "curbing" it's laws for drives that of capitalistic countries, or Sweden(why i've been thinking about this lately) passing a surveillance law that makes human rights seem like vague suggestions.

Maybe it's not so strange, really, we're territorial social and thus power oriented beings, things like this are the only way we know how to act and live. People like Dalai Lama inspire hope, but it's rather feint.

Quote from IDUI :

It's odd, I no longer find such things ironic. The craving for power and wealth seems to be always rated higher by governments then the people and the law they're suppose to uphold. Be it Socialist China "curbing" it's laws for drives that of capitalistic countries, or Sweden(why i've been thinking about this lately) passing a surveillance law that makes human rights seem like vague suggestions.

Maybe it's not so strange, really, we're territorial social and thus power oriented beings, things like this are the only way we know how to act and live. People like Dalai Lama inspire hope, but it's rather feint.

Really? when I think of the dalai lama... I don't see any sort of hope. I see a socially accepted version of Jim Jones. In fact, I think he's a great example of the territorial and power oriented being you describe.

Quote from flymike91 :

its strange to me that they aren't allowed to have whatever books they want from whatever source. I'm pretty sure that mainland China is no better than North Korea, but I've never been there. Then again an American being surprised that other countries don't have freedom is not a new thing
Seriously tho, don't be caught being free in China, they'll go Tienanmen on ur ass.

North Korea is hard to beat.

China is changing now, we have modern arts which toys with the imagery of Mao and the communist party and the artists didn't get arrested, they actually got rich.

Now try that in North Korea.

Quote from JJ72 :

North Korea is hard to beat.

China is changing now, we have modern arts which toys with the imagery of Mao and the communist party and the artists didn't get arrested, they actually got rich.

Now try that in North Korea.

Well getting rich hasnt been glorious there since Pol Pot ran rampant... In any case i'm keen to see how many translation errors there are in the Chinese bible, and I wonder how many pages will be left intentionally blank.

Then again, if the translations are anything like the ones on the manual of my MP4 player...

This was quite a funny one.

Today we were supposed to be getting Sky HD but the sky man had broken down. My dad looked on the back of the sky magazine and saw it had gone down to £140 fro £189. So he canceled it because sky had breached their part of the contract. So overall he saved £49. He's hoping it goes down at christmas due to the recession.

I hope computer parts go cheap :P perfect chance for a 9800gx2 lool.

Quote from Racer Y :

Really? when I think of the dalai lama... I don't see any sort of hope. I see a socially accepted version of Jim Jones. In fact, I think he's a great example of the territorial and power oriented being you describe.

Too bad you focused on the part I was too lazy to edit out, my baseless opinion, as I know practicaly nothing of the man.
To me it seems the only way a person can recognize tendencies that I mention is through self inquiry(how els?). For any leader this should be a requirement, to understand why they act the way they do, more so then for any less empowered person. I take it you mention the cyanide cult guy for a reason, so perhaps this doesn't work either.

EDIT: To get on topic: Thiis is kinda of funny, I was just surprised that it makes sense as well.

Quote from Racer Y :

Really? when I think of the dalai lama... I don't see any sort of hope. I see a socially accepted version of Jim Jones. In fact, I think he's a great example of the territorial and power oriented being you describe.

I'm going to preface my comments here by stating that as a Buddist I'm completely disagreeing with you.

Whilst your completely entitled to your views I'd like to see some level of justification or proof to support your opinion. I completely fail to see any similarity between Jim Jones who was a christian meglomaniac who felt he was the only person who had the right to tell people what they should think or do, or in fact live or die, and His Holiness who in fact tells people to think for themselves, to do your own research and reach your own conclusions. He has never suggested that anyone should become a buddist and in fact is on record as saying that whatever people believe is right for them.

I'm interested in hearing how you feel that these two opposing views are similar ?