martinf Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Did you read the thread? OP got it for free from > the library. If said library were giving away > critiques of mormonism at the same time, you might > have a point.
I read the thread. And I could give a rat's arse about the book being free. That is NOT the point.
Doesn't the O/P realise the ammunition this kind of behaviour gives to TBMs? clearly not.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/2010 07:31PM by matt.
Thanks for restarting the thread. I was going to reply, but it was closed by the time I pressed Post. Dammit!!
I don't know how I feel about destroying a book. I threw out all my Mormon books when I left the Church, and I would do it again. They were my books, and they were garbage so I placed them in their proper receptacle. I would never destroy someone else's book though, and I think that's the issue with "losing" library books.
But all the original poster did was throw one of her own books that she got for free in a lake. If Todd Compton was giving out free copies of In Sacred Loneliness, I don't see anything wrong with Mormons doing the same thing, so long as it's their book. And it wasn't like it was the Hitler Youth, for heaven's sake. I don't think anyone would advocate censoring all copies of a book for ideological reasons. Although, I do like a bonfire with friends and good conversation, and there's all that good flammable material going to waste. :)
That being said, I'd like to reiterate my idea of just tearing out the page with Moroni's Promise in Moroni 10:3-5. What if the original poster had just torn out that page and regifted it to a Mormon? It's wrong and a dirty trick, and it could cause some Mormon a lot of stress, but I bet the Mormon church could make a stirring film about it that would bring the house down. Some poor boob in Italy finds the book with the last page torn out, and the film is about his struggle to find out if all this business about cureloms and cumoms and steel bows losing their springs is really true. So, after agonizing about it his whole life, he bumps into the Mormon missionaries and listens intently to their message, anxiously asking his question, only to be be told...
I re-read the original post, to check and what happened was the O/P went in to a library, found a brand new Book of Mormon, took it out of the library and threw it in the lake.
BTW, Mak, if a thread is closed after made your post, just hit the back button and you will find you post, ready to be used to start another thread! ;o))
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/2010 07:55PM by matt.
I trust my humor will help defuse things a bit; I see "Way Out" is laughing at themselves at least, and I trust I didn't give offense with a bit of a "therapeutic metaphor."
And I need to agree with Matt about giving TBM's--especially apologists--ammunition, but on the other hand those yayhoos will always find a way to holler, even if they have to make crap up...
Right now some of them are hollering about what a horribly dishonest liar I am (never mind the redundancy), but they don't repeat what I said... And that pales in comparison to what they say about Steve Benson or Will Bagley or even Simon Southerton...
Like I said, I have strong passive-aggressive tendencies myself, and one way to "disarm" a "hostile" shot is to treat it lightly...
Even playing peacemaker here can be hazardous (especially when the trolls start tossing turds around), but what I saw was Little Nevermo here both wanting to "understand the Mormon experience" and at the same time discovering some of it is outside of the realm of their experience...
From my days working in the rehab (with one TBM therapist accurately described as "emotional boot camp"), I've come to realize that Mormons are masters of a broad range of interactions that function to maintain a "status quo" that has its own unique "pathology." In many cases it's not the "inappropriate behaviors" that serve this function, it's behaviors that would ordinarily be laudable...
So tensions will arise in a community like this one and need to be met with understanding...
There is no reason to destroy library books. Your library used public money to buy that book for people to read. If you don't like the book, don't check it out.
How would you feel about TBMs bragging about throwing "No Man Knows My History" in the lake?
The way to defeat bad ideas is through public debate, not censorship. This is vandalism and it's vandalism of ideas.
it was most likely donated-- she mentioned a testimony and photo inside the front cover. And, Topper didn't check it out-- the library was giving it away for free (I assume because it didn't suit their catalog).
I understand the knee-jerk reaction, but as Makurosu pointed out, all she did was "throw one of her own books that she got for free in a lake".
Not sure why a few seem so upset about tossing the BOM in the water, apart from mild littering concerns. To me it is like burning up a OUIJA Board. It is bad. Good riddance.
PS: If you want to keep a BOM to establish beyond a doubt that it has been changed constantly, that is okay. Otherwise, put me down as a vote for tossing it. That the most correct book in the history of mankind has so many changes is an oxymoron (oxymormon?) anyway, but that is another story!
Because the book belongs to the library. It's theft, vandalism and just the idea of destroying a book for censorship is disturbing.
If you want to throw a BofM in the lake, get your own or ask the missionaries for it. Library books belong to the public and are not your property to destroy.
Badger John Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Not sure why a few seem so upset about tossing the > BOM in the water, apart from mild littering > concerns. To me it is like burning up a OUIJA > Board. It is bad. Good riddance. > > PS: If you want to keep a BOM to establish beyond > a doubt that it has been changed constantly, that > is okay. Otherwise, put me down as a vote for > tossing it. That the most correct book in the > history of mankind has so many changes is an > oxymoron (oxymormon?) anyway, but that is another > story!
there was no way I was going to leave it around my house for the new owners when I fly out of here on Wednesday. garbage collection isn't until Thursday. I am normally a fanatic about recycling, so get to do this once in my life, don't I. After the summer from Hell trying to finally get my house sold in this economy, I needed to do something vindictive. And it felt GOOD. :-)
I have to agree with some others. If it's yours, do what you want with it. Picking it up in the "free" section and tossing it is your choice. Picking one up off the shelf that is available for checkout is different (I should know, I work in a library and there's been a book of mormon sitting on the shelf since March- so tempting but I have to remind myself, the longer it sits there the more certain I am that nobody around here gives a hoot as to what it is or represents- even though the missionaries come in 3-4 times a week).
As far as toilet paper goes, I was thinking the triple-combination "rice paper" variety may be nicer in that department. And then I even went so far as to wonder what kind of treatments could you give to the pages of the $1.50 BoM variety to make them more suitable for this purpose. Would soaking them in a vinegar/water solution leave too much acid and cause them to be an irritant in this most delicate of usages?
Of course, after soaking so as to soften the paper fibers, you'd have to let them dry out again as well. Very time-consuming.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/2010 11:29PM by Way Out.
First, I find the "it's mine" chorus here a bit juvenile (like "finders keepers"), as if possession of something is license to do anything with it. Ownership doesn't mean the end of responsible behavior (at least save a tree and recycle it). Also the vandalistic intent--a kind of zealous joy in desecrating someone else's idol.
To me there is a difference between later discarding something picked up in a free bin and picking something up with the intention of discarding it. At what point would this be seen as an obsession? What if there were two copies there, or a dozen?
I'll be more careful to not throw books into the Columbia River in Eastern Washington, when I get back there. There's a TBM on every corner in the Tri-Cities. I'll just let some grown use it for target practice.