# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2021, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/141 "2021-03-05T21:30:40Z")
“When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” But Amazon sells a nearly infinite number of both flags _and_ crosses, so I don’t think we’re at serious risk here. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2021, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/142 "2021-03-05T21:32:24Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > Break it up, then the problem goes away. Or apply the same free speech rules the government has to follow - I don’t know how feasible that would be. Excellent, I will send you a list of private companies that I think the government should break up. This new era of Government oversight is going to be fantastic! ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2021, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/143 "2021-03-05T21:32:30Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Am I silencing you if I don’t ask to sign up for your newsletter? Look at these headlines: > **[Inside the Beltway: 66% of Americans now fear speaking their minds in a...](https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/22/inside-the-beltway-republican-party-gets-some-maga/)** > > Is the nation switching from the land of the free and the home of the brave — to the land of the silent, and the home of the reluctant? Citizens are wary of speaking their minds, a new poll suggests. [https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/510402-afraid-to-speak-your-mind-maybe-were-not-as-free-as-we-think](https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/510402-afraid-to-speak-your-mind-maybe-were-not-as-free-as-we-think) > **[Opinion | We’re staying silent out of fear](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/we-need-the-exhausted-majority-to-speak-up/2018/10/15/160440fa-d090-11e8-83d6-291fcead2ab1_story.html)** > > Pressure to conform is silencing the wide political center. > **[Why Students Are Terrified (to Speak Their Minds)](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/rabble-rouser/201811/why-students-are-terrified-speak-their-minds)** > > Fear of offending or being singled out drives self-censorship. > **[Survey Identifies ‘Dangerous’ Student Self-Censorship](https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/04/29/survey-identifies-%E2%80%98dangerous%E2%80%99-student-self-censorship)** > > More than half of college students in the United States say they are reluctant to share their views about politics, race, religion and other controversial topics with peers and professors in the classroom, according to a campus climate survey of... ---
**Author:** ![WalterBishop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@WalterBishop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WalterBishop)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2021, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/144 "2021-03-05T21:32:57Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Hate speech isn’t a “free exchange of ideas”. I think, when it comes to the issue of transgenderism, we oughtn’t be too quick to use labels like ‘hate speech’ and TERF etc… Transgender issues are complicated and nuanced, and there’s legitimate debate to be had over whether currently employed strategies for treating transgenderism have optimal outcomes for patients. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2021, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/145 "2021-03-05T21:34:53Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > And that’s really what the debate has been all along. Some conservatives are pissed that the line has changed – that no longer was it, generally, just minorities, women, etc., who dared challenged the white supremacist and patriarchal status quo getting “canceled” – now conservative whites face the possibility of what they used to dish out. An in-group _you_ are part of, and I am not. No. Cancellation still comes down harder and more frequently on women and minorities. But now we have to fear it from both sides. Thanks so much. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2021, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/146 "2021-03-05T21:35:09Z")
But this ain’t that. It’s that simple. And I’m not sure that a tsunami in one direction is the appropriate way to counter a **perceived** tsunami coming from the other direction. Raise the individual issues, like this Amazon issue or the – whatever her name is from _The Mandalorian_ – and let’s rip into it thoughtfully. Which still leaves me with … this … just ain’t that. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2021, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/147 "2021-03-05T21:35:09Z")
The dishonest and pedantic here are going to say it’s not the government doing the censorship so what’s the problem? ---
**Author:** ![WalterBishop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@WalterBishop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WalterBishop)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2021, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/148 "2021-03-05T21:35:32Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > Look at these headlines: I think people who are skeptical about whether ‘cancel culture’ exists should be obliged to explain why, if it’s just another far-right moral panic, so many sensible left-leaning people take it seriously. Barack Obama has spoken out against it, as have Emmanuel Macron and Salman Rushdie, and there are many more. If cancel culture doesn’t exist, what are these people seeing? ---
**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:** [March 5, 2021, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/149 "2021-03-05T21:36:34Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > Look at these headlines: Your answer to this is to force Amazon to sell every book? ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2021, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/150 "2021-03-05T21:37:47Z")
The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation doesn’t seem to give **shit one** about people dying because of distracted drivers. It it time to Pit Komen ? Octopus ? Go. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2021, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/151 "2021-03-05T21:38:09Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > You are the only one saying socialist dystopia here, > [@Atamasama](#): > > You’re literally demanding that the US government dictate what private companies do. That’s not “vaguely to the left”. That’s asking for the Soviet Union. Ahem. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2021, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/152 "2021-03-05T21:40:16Z")
Who has denied it exists? It’s existed for decades and much longer. Black people and women have been getting “canceled” for centuries if they stepped outside of the narrow guidelines society had for them. The only big difference is that now it’s not just rich white folks who get to decide who is canceled. Now pretty much everyone has some influence, to varying degrees. The powerful still have the most influence, of course, but this is the first time that the “little people” can actually consistently create consequences for speech from the powerful that they find unacceptable. And the powerful (and their pawns) are really, really pissed about it. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2021, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/153 "2021-03-05T21:40:55Z")
When an article says "Fifty-five percent of students agreed their campus climate “prevents people from saying things they believe because others might find them offensive.”, that leads me to wonder: 1. Is this any different from before? 2. Are these people even conservative? Perhaps they’re afraid of the demonstrably violent right-wing bigots. 3. Why are conservatives suddenly OPPOSED to personal responsibility? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2021, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/154 "2021-03-05T21:41:10Z")
> [@WalterBishop](#): > > Transgender issues are complicated and nuanced, and there’s legitimate debate to be had over whether currently employed strategies for treating transgenderism have optimal outcomes for patients. There’s legitimate debate to be had over how best to handle medical issues involved with transgender identity, true. And people who disapprove of transgender rights still have the same constitutional rights they always had to hold and express their opinions, which is naturally going to result in debate (if nothing worse) with people who disagree with them and are willing to engage with them. But I don’t think any legitimate purpose is served, from a human rights standpoint, by treating transgender identity as though its very existence is open to debate. (I also think it’s inappropriate to pathologize the existence of transgender identity, but I’m assuming that when you referred so broadly to “treating transgenderism” in “patients”, what you meant to say was “treating gender dysphoria”, or some such.) ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2021, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/155 "2021-03-05T21:41:27Z")
Gibberish that doesn’t address the issue at all. Par for the course from you. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2021, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/156 "2021-03-05T21:43:36Z")
Translation: “I can’t address your argument.” ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2021, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/157 "2021-03-05T21:44:09Z")
That’s a bit misleading if you think that it contributes to any sort of silencing. That’s always been the case. There are plenty of subjects that you don’t bring up in certain situations. I avoid politics of any sort with my family. That’s not any sort of nefarious plot, that’s because they will always end with hurt feelings. I don’t engage in politics with my clients, or most of the random people that I am surrounded by, because that will start unpleasant arguments. The only thing that has really changed is that there are a few more things that are generally not acceptable. It used to be acceptable to tell race based jokes, and now, unless you are with people you know will find them funny, it’s not. It used to be acceptable to bash minorities, and now, it’s not so acceptable. If people are living in “fear” then they are simply being paranoid. It’s not thought police, it’s not conformity. Free speech has _never_ meant that you were free from the consequences of speech. It _has_ meant that for certain groups for a while, that there were certain groups who were more or less immune to facing the consequences of advocating certain positions. That’s really the only thing that has changed. Those groups no longer have the same protections that they used to have, and now have to face similar consequences (but still usually not nearly as severe) of their speech that everyone else has had to face for centuries. Stop playing the victim. You are not being persecuted. People judging you for your actions is not the fascistic state that you like to pretend that it is. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2021, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/158 "2021-03-05T21:44:50Z")
I think he addressed it nigh unto perfectly: > [@Why are Christian Bookstores Allowed to Ban Books?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/140): > > It’s amazing (or maybe entirely predictable) how Demontree continually refuses to answer questions as to whether she thinks Amazon should be able to decline from selling books that advocate for the legalization of pedophilia, or for re-enslaving black people, etc. At most she’ll give some milquetoast “maybe” and then pretend it doesn’t matter. But that’s the whole issue. If you think it’s okay for them to decline from selling pro-pedophilia books, then there’s no broad philosophical disagreem… ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2021, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/159 "2021-03-05T21:46:04Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > The only thing that has really changed is that there are a few more things that are generally not acceptable. And, with the Interwebs, instead of just offending the 35 people at the PTA meeting, you can offend hundreds of thousands, or even millions, in an instant. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2021, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271/160 "2021-03-05T21:47:48Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > If people are living in “fear” then they are simply being paranoid. It’s not thought police, it’s not conformity. @k9bfriender. People are not being paranoid. They are rationally afraid of these ‘consequences’ you speak of. The consequences of losing your job, friends, respect… that’s the opposite of irrational. It has a chilling effect. It silences people. The only question is, do you want them silenced? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-christian-bookstores-allowed-to-ban-books/937271.md?page=9)