Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Idiot of the Week

An international idiot this week. The UK idiots have been quiet for a while, but I expect stupidity will surface here again soon.

This week's winner is poached from a link on Miss Snark's blog to this article.

And the winner is... Gerald Allen, a lawmaker in Alabama who wants to remove all books from circulation that are either written by gay authors or which include even the slightest hint of gayness.

I have no direct axe to grind here. I'm not gay. Never have been, never will be. I make no claim to having 'loads of gay friends'. I have no idea whether any of my friends or associates are gay. It's none of my business. I don't have a questionnaire for potential friends. I either like people or I don't. Mostly I don't.

This degree of censorship, and the paranoia of this lunatic, is what qualifies him as Idiot of the Week. Here's a quote:

"It's not healthy for America, it doesn't fit what we stand for," says Allen. "And they will do whatever it takes to reach their goal."

What on Earth is 'their goal'? What does this man think the world's gay people have in mind? An entirely gay world? Oh, sure, that's going to do well, isn't it?

As far as I can see, gay people care even less about me than I do about them. I am not remotely interested in 'converting' them to my way of life, and I do not for a moment believe they are interested in converting me to theirs.

If this floating detritus from the shallow end of the gene pool has his way, he will ban, among others, Clive Barker. One of my favourite authors. Where will he turn his attention next? Anyone who does not fit his denomination is going to be a target. Orson Scott Card was (is?) a Mormon, so he'll be on the list. Mickey Spillane, I recently learned, was a Jehovah's Witness. So wave goodbye to Sam Spade and all those Bogart movies. Give in to Allen on this point and eventually every library shelf in Alabama will be stocked with many, many copies of the Bible. Nothing else.

I know that both the Mormons and the Witnesses, and indeed almost all religious denominations, denounce homosexuality as 'against the way of God'. So they'll be in at least partial agreement with this part of Allen's scheme. I hope they will disagree with his implementation of his potential dictatorship.

It's the thin end of the wedge, guys. You'll be next.

When I read a book, I read it because it's a good book. I don't care if the author has deep religious feelings. I don't care if the author is gay. I don't care if the author is green and has two heads. I don't care if the author is a gay Buddhist fish from Pluto who dictates everything to a schizophrenic drug-addict Nazi armadillo who spends his weekends in a rubber suit slapping badgers because they can't make up their minds whether their faces are black or white.

I'm not likely to ever meet the author. I don't even want to meet the author. I just want to read the book. I do not want anyone telling me which books I can and cannot read.

Well... maybe I should admit I'm not entirely impartial here. If he can ban anyone whose work goes against his chosen way of life, then parapsychology is going to be pretty high on his list.

I suppose I'd better strike Alabama from my list of Places I Must Visit.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I find myelf in pretty much total agreement with most of your points here. But that's not my reason for writing right now.

As the Halloween event draws near, I though you might like to see my costume:

http://www.buycostumes.com/ProductDetail.aspx?productID=21737&PCatID=Search%20Results&ccatid=mermaid&refProdID=21757

I'll send you more details soon.
Have you decided on a costume or shall I just bring a cape, top hat, gloves and a magic wand for you.

Romulus Crowe said...

So you're going to look like that? It looks completely impractical. Will you be able to move your legs? I hope I won't have to carry you everywhere.

Perhaps I should wear my fishing gear.

Anonymous said...

You must post photos of the two of you in your costumes!

I was just in Miss Snark's blog. I got a server error for yours, went over and read that, and came straight (no pun intended) back here. I told you Southerners are ignorant, didn't I? Okay, not all of them, but too damned many. Do not count me among them, please.

Romulus Crowe said...

I haven't experienced the variety of the USA yet. I hope to, one day, although I doubt I'll ever manage to see it all. I also hope to find that not every Southerner wears dungaress and plays banjo, not every Californian smokes dope and says 'Hey, man', and that New York isn't segregated into those who wear suits and rush a lot, and those who wear string vests and hurl abuse. (we get an awful lot of stereotypes on UK TV. Many people still think everyone in Chigaco dresses like Al Capone. They don't, do they?).

I didn't see this idiot as a southerner, I saw him as a politician and religious fundamentalist. A deadly combination for someone in power in any part of the world (and there are too many of them in too many parts of the world).

Anonymous said...

Ohhh Rom! I think going as a fisherman is brilliant!!! Good for you!!
Here's one and it's on sale too:
http://www.buycostumes.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=21995&PCatID=Search+Results&ccatid=fisherman

If you prefer to see legs i could opt for this one but it is so much like my last year's costume I thought the more colorful one would be better. I'll leave it to your choice.
http://www.buycostumes.com/productDetail.aspx?productid=21757

Anonymous said...

Sorry I forgot to sign that! Trying to cook at the same time!!

Romulus Crowe said...

I don't need a new fisherman's costume. I just have to rinse the fishy smell out of the one I normally use. Mine has whisky-flask pockets, so I'll stick with that.

Any male readers be warned: those links Heyjude is putting up lead to high-blood-pressure images.

Anonymous said...

Sounds good to me.

Now that you've been given a choice, which costume would you prefer I wear?

Romulus Crowe said...

The second one looks more practical. I'd suggest a coat also. The temperature is dropping rapidly now.

Will this party end by midnight? I have some video cameras to modify, and I hope to have one ready to test next week.

That does assume I don't ruin them all the process, but they were cheap.

Anonymous said...

You can play with your gadgets all weekend. Tues eve we'll pick you up about 8:00p - it's the white stretch limo - you can't miss it - we can get it into your street can't we?
No time guarantees. Revelry until revelry ends - whenever...
But a diverse and interesting mix of people so I'm sure you can have a good time - if you try.
See you them - in the green outfit. Can barely wait to see yours!

Anonymous said...

Hey Rom, Since Steven King is going to be doing a short reading at 7:30, we'll pick you up at about 7:15. Some of the writers in attendance may make an exodus around midnight to get to their yellow pads or keyboards as soon as NaNoWriMo begins. We can gauge our departure according to how enjoyable you are finding the evernt.
See then.

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