# Why are Christian Bookstores Allowed to Ban Books? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 5, 2021, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271 "2021-03-05T15:24:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 42
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/824 "2021-04-12T01:17:41Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Nothing at all absurd to actually live in accordance to a claimed principle. I don’t assault others based on their freedom of expression. It’s not hard. I don’t assault others based on their religious beliefs, regardless of how abhorrent or primitive. It’s not hard. 1. I don’t see anyone here defending violence. 2. “Canceling Dr. Seuss” or other corporate responses to culture shift do not constitute violence. 3. Saying “We don’t want to listen to racist ideas,” is not violence. 4. Telling a corporation, “We will boycot your product if you keep supporting racism/sexism/hate,” is not violence. 5. People plotting to kidnap, try, and execute liberal governors and senators _are_ doing violence. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/825 "2021-04-12T04:21:29Z")
Oh boo hoo. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/826 "2021-04-12T04:50:57Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > People plotting to kidnap, try, and execute liberal governors and senators _are_ doing violence. > [@octopus](#): > > Oh boo hoo. This is really all anyone needs to know about Tentacles. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/827 "2021-04-12T04:56:06Z")
Yep. Just a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/828 "2021-04-12T05:50:29Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > This is really all anyone needs to know about Tentacles. That buzzing vibrator must’ve got stuck somewhere painful. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/829 "2021-04-12T06:31:00Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > That buzzing vibrator must’ve got stuck somewhere painful. The Thing about octopuses is that their ass is also in their heads. Double the pain… ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/830 "2021-04-12T07:18:40Z")
Shouldn’t the hive be out partaking in the festivities such as unplanned donations of liquor and Little Caser’s up in Minnesota? There is more mostly peacefulness going on. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/831 "2021-04-12T10:12:28Z")
Fapping so hard he can’t even spell right…seems like a 5-arm fap _at least_ (gotta keep one arm free to hold the vibrator in place. And of course, the 8th arm _is_ the [dick](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hectocotylus)\*). \*Well, the whole **octupus** is also _a_ dick in this case, but YKWIM. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/832 "2021-04-12T14:08:37Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > The Thing about octopuses is that their ass is also in their heads. Double the pain… So octupus’ avatar is quite literally a depiction of an asshat? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/833 "2021-04-12T14:23:00Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > So octupus’ avatar is quite literally a depiction of an asshat? And every octopus is by definition a butthead. In his defense, he’s also blue-blooded, with three hearts and nine brains, and he’s practically all muscle. > **[9 brains, 3 hearts: Some wild facts about octopuses](https://apnews.com/article/ba6e3fa5bb804565b9d6d666b6d40a73)** > > BOSTON (AP) — Mythology and superstition have portrayed octopuses as alien beings or evil creatures dwelling in the terrifying dark depths of oceans. ---
**Author:** ![SingleMalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/singlemalt/32/3961_2.png) [@SingleMalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleMalt)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/834 "2021-04-12T15:15:19Z")
I can almost hear my mother saying, “Nine brains! And he doesn’t have the common sense God gave a goose.” ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/835 "2021-04-12T15:58:59Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Shouldn’t the hive be out partaking in the festivities such as unplanned donations of liquor and Little Caser’s up in Minnesota? There is more mostly peacefulness going on. [French oceanographer] 🐙 🐠 . Ahhh ze curious 8 legged double-crossing mahllusk. Notice how eet tries to stuff so mahny lies in a seengle statement ahnd still pretend zat Democrats ahnd progressives ahre not on ze record of not fahvahreeng violence ahnd prosecuting rioters. [A Black-spotted tusk fish appears and grabs a sharp clam and makes the 8 legged freak to swim away leaving an ink cloud] Oooh, ze tusk fish shows how to counter ze silly distractions by ze double crosser. [/FO] ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/836 "2021-04-12T18:29:41Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > This is really all anyone needs to know about Tentacles. To be fair, the post by Irishman that octopus replied “Oh boo hoo” to was not post #824 immediately preceding octopus’s post, but post #823 where Irishman remarked > [@Irishman](#): > > What is problematic is you continually referring to a black man as “son”. There is a looong history of degrading and disrespecting black men by referring to them in dismissive and belittling terms like “son” and “boy”. And quite rightly, too. As I said a while ago in post #501, a white man who doesn’t want to sound like a seriously skeevy racist should not call a black man “son”. Whether or not he intends it in a racist way, that’s definitely how it comes across. So octopus is still being kind of a jackass about this. But at least not so much of a jackass as to actually mock condemnation of a real-life right-wing plot to kidnap and murder Democratic politicians. Although given the way that octopus ignores all the incidents of right-wing violence, but always pops up to pretend that he thinks that the liberal posters here are in favor of any violence committed by non-right-wingers, I’m not sure he deserves to be cut even that much slack on his continual jackassery. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/837 "2021-04-12T23:40:54Z")
> [@WalterBishop](#): > > I think we may have a miscommunication here. I’ve not defended Kelly’s decision to ask why blackface is offensive. I’ve only defended the woman who went to the Halloween party in blackface to make fun of her. You are correct. I did misunderstand what you were talking about. It’s great that you get that Kelly was racist. However, I do not agree that it is plausible that the person who then dressed in blackface is not also racist. The problem is, to know that Kelly’s comment is mockworthy, you must already know that blackface is not acceptable. It seems more plausible to me that the person used that as an excuse. As for the cancel culture thing: my problem is that there isn’t really a middle ground here. Either we let individuals make these decisions, or we take away that freedom. As long as people have the freedoms that I state, people will boycott, advocate for firing, etc, for anyone they think deserves it. There’s no way to make sure that you will agree that they deserve it. Heck, you admit to being conservative, so you’re going to disagree with progressives. I will say that, the vast majority of the time, I agree with the things being cancelled these days. There are some exceptions, but they tend to be right wingers who exploited the whole thing with disingenuousness, like when they went after Lindsay Ellis for a joke that mocked Nazis, acting like she actually was defending Nazis. And, even then, she’s now better off than she ever was. I think the better focus is on stopping the bad things the mob does. The harassment. The bullying. The death threads. And the doxxing. We need to keep fighting that, while letting people have their freedom of speech to “cancel” people. Because, at the end of the day, “cancelling” is just people voicing their opinions, and then other people legally acting on them. And if it’s their opinion you disagree with or think is harmful, then go after that, and not this nebulous “cancel culture.” The more it gets attacked, the more people don’t feel heard and the more they keep on doing it. Oh, and finally, I can’t seem to find which word you marked as “great word.” Maybe I’m just overlooking it, but it’s possible that the other asterisk got swallowed up by the formatting. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/838 "2021-04-12T23:55:51Z")
I’ll call anyone son, male female black white various shades of grey straight gay tall or short. Son. I’m not into this weird infantilization of the so-called minority that the left is so keen on. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/839 "2021-04-13T01:39:45Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > To be fair, the post by Irishman that octopus replied “Oh boo hoo” to was not post #824 immediately preceding octopus’s post, but post #823 “Plausible deniability.” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/840 "2021-04-13T01:43:30Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > > [@Kimstu](#): > > > > To be fair, the post by Irishman that octopus replied “Oh boo hoo” to was not post #824 immediately preceding octopus’s post, but post #823 > > “Plausible deniability.” - It’s **octopus**. _Im_plausible deniability. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/841 "2021-04-13T01:45:24Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > {…} I’m not into this weird infantilization {…} Umm, > [@octopus](#): > > I’ll call anyone son {…} yeah, nevermind, what’s the point, you just aren’t self aware are you? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/842 "2021-04-13T02:44:10Z")
Solid post, @BigT. And people better not go after my Lindsay Ellis because I will cut a bitch.\* \*figuratively ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/843 "2021-04-13T03:36:20Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I’m not into this weird infantilization of the so-called minority As crowmanyclouds pointed out, the “weird infantilization” here is in your own insistence on calling grown men “son”. Nobody’s saying you can’t insult people in the Pit if you want to. But it’s no use your pretending that you’re not trying to be insulting when you call an adult black man “son”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271.md?page=41) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271.md?page=43)