November 24, 2010 6:07 AM
Amazon returns - here's why
I am restoring Amazon to my blog. This was a difficult decision until I sought out the counsel of people who know more than me. Then it was easy. That's the short story. Because I think there is something to learn from the process I went through, the long story follows:
A few nights ago I woke up, troubled by the Amazon mess. I was realizing that my personal embargo on Amazon was having little effect and that the only people it was hurting were you and me, as we no longer were able to save the time, money and energy we were able save by shopping Amazon. Without links, I couldn't direct you to customer reviews, which helped us make good choices.
I also was becoming aware of the irony that through Amazon, I had been able to introduce so many good spiritual resources into the lives of families - like the Passion Tree puzzle and Handel's Messiah. Now I had no way to link to these, to make them easily obtainable.
Then there was the issue that Christian authors - everyone from Charles Swindoll to Pope Benedict - were listed at Amazon. Was it wrong for Christian publishers to market books at Amazon?
As I wrestled with these questions, I reached out to eight longtime readers for their thoughts, which ran the gamut from "We have no problem shopping at Amazon" to the same kind of wrestling I was going through to "Our family will never use Amazon again."
One reader suggested I write Jeff Mirus at CatholicCulture, so I did:
Message From: Barbara Curtis - Bluemont, VA (Permission granted) User is an Unregistered VisitorOne of my readers suggested I contact you. I am a mother of 12 and recent revert after 20 years of evangelicalism. I am also a professional writer, who five years ago fell in love with blogging because I could reach readers and get feedback immediately. I currently have 10,000 visits a day and have been through many issues with my readers, including the whole process of my reversion.
In trying to compensate for my lost writing income, I have depended on my affiliate relationship with Amazon. That came to an end a few weeks ago when I announced my own personal boycott of Amazon until they dealt more thoroughly with the pedophilia. While I was gratified with their dropping the first book, I wrote two letters to Jeff Bezos beseeching them to respond with a statement and to clean their inventory of other such books.
This decision comes with a price as my family depends on my Amazon revenues to supplement my husband's school bus driver income - and Christmas brings in 1/3 of the entire year's revenue. But I was willing to pay it.
But it's not just the money - it's also the fact that I write for moms like me. For 12 years I have used Amazon to save time, energy and money. And I have taught my readers to do so not only to help me financially but to become better stewards of their time. There is also the wonderful benefit of reading customer reviews to make wiser choices. When I suggest homeschooling materials or vitamin supplements or music selections, I link to Amazon hoping they will fill their homes with wholesome materials which will enrich their family lives.
Any substitute for Amazon would be second rate. But I applied to Borders and Barnes and Noble. I was turned down - I think because of my conservative political views, particularly those that are anti-Shariah.
I woke up the other night feeling that perhaps this embargo was something I did not have to do - that it was not accomplishing what I had hoped and that it was actually doing more harm than good.
I sent an email to a few of my trusted Catholic readers asking what they thought - not that I was taking a vote, but I wanted to hear what God might say to me through them. One suggested contacting you:
Barbara, The Catholic Faith distinguishes between formal cooperation in sin and material cooperation in sin....and this is a HUGE distinction. I think you need a well-respected Orthodox Catholic to explain this, so that you could then discern God's will for you and also use it as a basis for explaining your decision to your readers - if you choose to go back to Amazon. Throw yourself on Jeff Mirus' mercy [CatholicCulture.org] - explaining you are a revert to the Faith and mom of 12. Maybe HELP - I Have 12 KIDS in the subject line will get a quick response. He's a clear, lucid faithful and well-respected Catholic. He also still has his Amazon link up.http://www.catholicculture.org/contact/ When you go to explain it to your readers, you can have them think of the areas in their lives where they may have some remote/material cooperation in the sin of another. I think Triipp is right that some readers may be disappointed. But, this will also give you the opportunity to explain how Catholics form their consciences and help others in similar quandaries.I think formal cooperation would be people buying immoral stuff from Amazon through your link - so that you would directly profit from evil...you have to be personally doing/assisting/profiting from evil - as I understand it.
Another reader just wrote:
Barbara, Thank you for the email, I have been following your blog anxiously everyday hoping for a statement from Mr. Bezos. Like many moms, my time is a premium. Shopping takes time and finding deals takes time. Amazon has helped with both.Last night I was in Walmart buying diapers that I would normally buy on Amazon. I felt very frustrated as I walked through the store, thinking of how Amazon saves me time and less trips to Walmart that take me away from other things I need to be doing for my family.
First thing I did after reading your email was to check to see if the 2 book titles were missing from Amazon. This title is still there: The Idiot Guide to Love Honestly, I need more time to pray about this... Off the top of my head, I would say that if Amazon is willing to pull titles when customers complain, I might consider shopping there again. I showed you email to my husband. He says that if we boycott every store that supports something offensive, we'll never be able to buy or do anything.... So yes, Barbara, I think you have a point.
If Amazon is willing to support your blogging on controversial subjects, and others ( like Borders) are not, then it is worth some reconsideration.... If you want my vote, I cannot give you one at this time. I need more time to pray about it...my husband basically said the same... If they are willing to pull titles when we complain, it might be a big step in the right direction... Maybe enough...but I haven't had enough time to pray about this.... I don't know if this was a help or not? Thanks for all you do. With love,
I would appreciate whatever guidance you can give me in this matter. I am feeling inclined to restore my Amazon links, but don't want to do anything wrong.
Barbara -
I threw this out like a message in a bottle, not really expecting to hear back soon, but within hours I received this reply - for which I'm truly grateful. Jeff has given me permission to print it here, noting: "You may certainly share it - though it might be best to make sure people know that it was a quick and very rough response via email!"
Thank you for your email. You raise a complex question, but I'll give you a quick sketch of what I believe are its most important elements.Being loosely associated with an organization which sells EVERYTHING is different from being associated with an organization that deliberately selects material to promote for an evil purpose. We might wish that Amazon did not sell everything--that it exercised prudent editorial control over its offerings. However, it will never do that or, if it did, it would cease to be the world's dominant sales medium, and so it would be of little or no use to you.
I am not going to use technical moral language to assess this situation. Some have already suggested to you some of the relevant technical decisions. Instead, I'll write this up the way we ordinarily think about things.
Faced with the reality of what Amazon is and your past relationship with it, it seems to me that there are two things to consider here:
(1) Your motivation. The pedophilia problem does not present any new dilemma for Amazon users. Amazon has never screened out materials you and I would regard as evil. It just happens that pedophilia is one of the few sexual evils that a majority of people in our culture continue to oppose. So the question here is simply this: Why get on that bandwagon if adultery, pornography, homosexuality, etc. didn't bother you? Or what about the many non-sexual evils that are promoted by materials sold on Amazon?
What I am saying is that the moral situation for Amazon is no different than it was before. Logically, if the other stuff was not an issue for you, then pedophilia shouldn't be either. Or, if pedophilia is an issue, than the other stuff should have been as well.
What this suggests in your case is that you have been reacting EMOTIONALLY to pedophilia, and not clearly assessing the moral issues involved. If Amazon banned pedophilia, its overall moral situation would not be substantively changed as a result.
(2) The solution to the general moral dilemma. Participation in Amazon is a mirror of participation in life. I would argue that you are no more complicit in evil by promoting and selling good materials through a universal store than you are complicit in evil by acting in any way that tends to keep our larger society and culture going. Paying taxes? Using public transportation? Paying phone bills? Being connected to the Internet? Buying gasoline? Watching television? All of these universal entities promote or allow specific evils, but those evils are in general secondary to their purposes. If they were primary, you would try to avoid them by selecting alternatives, though in many cases that is not possible (e.g., refusing to pay taxes, or finding a moral phone company).
The very nature of life in the world means that we always have an irreducible (though very remote) involvement with a wide range of moral evils. This is inescapable. We are not bound to drop out; instead, we are called to be in the world but not of it. And, in fact, insofar as we participate in the normal mechanisms of our culture, we are bound to use all these mechanisms for good.
This is true of Amazon as well. They sell everything. (And the phone company provides service to thieves and murderers.) But you promote and sell only good things through their universal store. You cannot bring Amazon down, nor is it at all clear that you would be creating a better situation if you did. But you can do good through Amazon. You can use the system for good. My advice is to be at peace, and get on with doing good.
God bless you.
Jeff Mirus
Trinity Communications
When I sent Jeff's response to Judy - who had suggested I write him - she replied:
This is an amazing answer; thank you Holy Spirit for prompting me to think of Jeff. The beauty of the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, is how we can help each other and how our Faith is based on a shared and objective Truth - not just a bunch of relativistic ideas competing in the marketplace. His website Catholic Culture and yours are 2 of my daily must reads.
I am grateful for the Holy Spirit too - for prompting me to reach out to readers and for continuing to lead me in the right direction. I am grateful for people wiser than I who make themselves available to teach us how to think through issues like this. I will be visiting CatholicCulture daily myself from now on.
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Comments
I'm so glad that Mr. Mirus can clearly express his ideas in a rough email. :) His first point has been one I've been ruminating on but haven't been able to adequately express in writing or in talking with my family. He makes an extremely good second point as well, which I didn't really consider. Thanks for sharing this with us. I'm sure this won't be the last time the Body runs into problems like this.
Posted by: JenS | November 24, 2010 8:08 AM
Barbara, I'm so thankful that you received such a clear answer. I know this was a difficult decision for you. I also wanted to point out one minor point that occured to me. With boycotts we often talk about voting with our pocketbook in a negative sense, but that certainly applies in a positive way as well. The more Christian, familiy friendly products we buy from Amazon, the more of those products they will carry. By not shopping there we may not have made much difference in their bottom line, but we were affecting the number of 'good' things being sold.
I'm glad to hear you're lifted your embargo - I always enjoy clicking through MommyLife when I shop.
Posted by: Shannon Miller | November 24, 2010 8:12 AM
I've purchased a lot of Bibles from Amazon and also a lot of good books, many classics and a few homeschooling materials. But probably the bulk of what they sell as "literature" on Amazon I would find objectionable.
Thanks for the input on this issue, Barbara. I'm still thinking about it.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
CW
Posted by: Cynthia | November 24, 2010 9:19 AM
Jeff's answer was perfect Barbara! After talking it over with my husband, he made some of the very same comments. Glad to see you're back and that you took the time to thoughtfully consider your next steps. Wishing you and your family a beautiful and blessed Thanksgiving!
Posted by: Kim Schofield | November 24, 2010 9:30 AM
I heartily agree with Mr. Mirus. Each time we stop at a drug store, we support a place that sells contraception. Or, purchase gas, essentially we're "supporting" them in selling pornography through their magazine stands.
Though, we may find better means to purchase things (say, a gas station that does not sell pornography), it is impossible to avoid at all costs.
I agree that Amazon is a place where we can purchase MANY good things, and will continue to shop there myself.
Peace to you this Thanksgiving!
Posted by: Jen Raiche | November 24, 2010 9:41 AM
Excellent response.
There's an organization called Life Decisions International that researches and publishes which companies donate to Planned Parenthood. They have also pointed out that boycotts don't normally produce change. What does help produce change are letters, lots of letters, so you have already done and encouraged others to do what may have the greatest effect.
Posted by: Denise | November 24, 2010 10:28 AM
This is a great response, thank you for sharing it with all of us. I too ended up ordering some items on Amazon. I don't want to give up precious time with my family to research each and every penny spent - otherwise that's all I would be doing! We have to trust that God knows our intent is not to support immoral things. Thank you for taking a stand! Happy Thanksgiving :)
Posted by: Jen | November 24, 2010 11:42 AM
Barbara,
It seems that God has answered prayers for wisdom!
Sometimes we must pray, seek, and wait. You have done all of these things.
I am still praying about what is right for me, but I commend you for your diligence.
Lisa
Posted by: Lisa | November 24, 2010 11:46 AM
very thoughtful
Posted by: priest's wife | November 24, 2010 12:58 PM
Wow, I see many well written sentences here to justify why returning to amazon is okay. And yet I am saddened (actually, a little sickened) as I read these lines of reasoning. It is so reminiscent of Abby Johnson's explanation of her 9-year involvement with Planned Parenthood. There is always a "reason" (read "snare of the devil") ready and waiting to allow us to do what we want, what the world wants.
My amazon links are staying down (including my link to Abby Johson's "unPLANNED") because I would never work in a brick&mortar store that sold pedophilic materials. Would the fact that it's a "universal" store make me feel okay working there? How would I feel walking through the pedophilia section to restock the Bible section? Hopefully sickened. Hopefully sickened enough to quit. Hopefully sickened enough to quit, and to never shop there again, and to make sure everyone I knew never shopped there again.
Okay, maybe I couldn't bring the store down with my own mini-boycott, but I could guard my own heart, the wellspring of life, by not contributing to the store's profit. Then again, maybe my mini-boycott could bring down the store... we can't forget Jericho. Regardless of what effect my mini-boycott would or wouldn't have, there is no hope of the walls, or the store as it were, coming down if not one employee or shopper boycotted.
Please, Barbara, please prayerfully reconsider. How are Christians ever going to take back a neighborhood? a school system? a country? if this is the standard to which we strive to conduct ourselves and our affairs?
I can only imagine the stress of this situation, given that so much of your income depends on amazon. However, my experience, much like what I've read of yours, shows that God will provide for those faithful to Him. To supplement those assured-to-come spoils of faith, I would suggest checking into ChristianBook.com's affiliate program. I just switched all my amazon links over to them. (I have a newish blog that would be much better off financially in staying with amazon, but if I ever sell my soul, it should be for a lot higher price than what amazon could ever pay me, considering that Jesus paid for it with his life.) I'll be praying with you and for you.
Posted by: juliea | November 24, 2010 1:10 PM
Glad to read this and glad you posted it.
In the last couple of months, I wrote two blog posts explaining why I no longer care who is on the Life Decisions boycott list regarding Planned Parenthood. Much of the answer/reasoning you received about Amazon dovetails with why I don't care about shopping at stores or restaurants that support Planned Parenthood. (Even while your response and blog post is presented calmly, whereas I'm a very blunt writer and I got some flack for my views.)
For me, it boils down to this "cooperation in sin" concept (even while I didn't know that's what it was called.) I am not responsible for what Kohl's or anyone else on that boycott list does with their money, nor am I responsible for the decisions made by women who walk through the doors at Planned Parenthood. When I buy a pair of shoes at Kohl's, even if 1/18th of a cent of my purchase makes its way to Planned Parenthood, I am not the one physically handing that 1/18th of a cent to Planned Parenthood. And quite honestly, I cannot worry about 1/18th of a cent - which is about how much of that purchase *might* end up at Planned Parenthood, when you consider the size and scope of Kohl's and the MILLIONS of purchases made there every day.
Additionally, the historical and traditional system upon which commerce is based says that if you have something I need/want, then I give you money for it and in exchange I receive a good or service. Once money is exchanged, I no longer own or have claim on that money anymore. I may not like that you take the money and go directly to a bar and drink it down, but it's not my money.
The Church does not ask us to forego a new pair of shoes for my child just because Kohl's sends a $350,000 check to Planned Parenthood once a year. But the boycotters would have us believe that the Church DOES ask us for such actions. It's not true. I resent the guilt trips laid on people who are 100% pro-life (like myself) over issues like this. There are a myriad of ways to fight abortion. If the boycott list people want to fight it that way, God Bless them. But not all of us agree that these boycotts are effective.
Posted by: Charlotte | November 24, 2010 1:37 PM
juliea -
Are you truly comparing my providing Amazon links to a woman who worked for Planned Parenthood for 9 years??????
Did you even read what Jeff wrote? They're not just well-written sentences, they're well-reasoned. Which your rant - which accuses me of selling my soul - is not.
I am well aware that God has individual plans for each of our lives and I try not to judge others, particularly when the lives they live demonstrate their obedience to God. Not too many people are crazy/obedient enough to adopt three kids with disabilities. I hope that would at least make you a little more cautious about accusing me of being less a Christian than you judge yourself to be.
btw, this was not a decision based on financial fear - I am long past that as anyone who reads my blog regularly would understand. My questioning was prompted by the Holy Spirit, but that is not something you will understand if you are a rigid thinker. If you had truly read what I wrote - about my concern for other mothers' time and stewardship you would have gotten that it was about more than money. Your lack of listening skills leads me to believe that you are a indeed a pretty rigid thinker. It's hard for the Holy Spirit to work with people who have their minds made up.
You surely could have expressed your personal views here without insulting me. I will tell you from experience that self-righteousness and spiritual pride will always keep us from reaching our potential or ministering to as many people as we might if we were free of that bondage. God's ways are not our ways. And only God is our judge.
Posted by: Barbara | November 24, 2010 2:02 PM
God Bless you Barbara!!
I appreciate your thoughtfullness on this matter SO much!!! I had not bought anything from Amazon since this whole thing broke.
I will tell you that living in a rural area, I REALLY depend on Amazon for an awful lot! Where I live we have a Wal-Mart, K-mart and Kroger. So when Kroger and Wal-Mart stop carrying the particular flavor of Lipton Herbal tea that I like what am I to do? I could drive in to the city of Lexington (approx 75 miles to the north) or Knoxville TN (approx 100 miles to the south) and spend the day hitting grocery store after grocery store looking for this particular tea, wasting gas, fighting traffic, and just in general getting stressed-out and worn out or I could go on Amazon and in about two minutes have a case of six boxes of it on its way to me. That's just ONE example of many. I have several friends with Amazon links so I try to alternate and have used your link several times too.
I thank you so much for your time addressing this and I will be able to shop with them again. Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving.
Posted by: Heather | November 24, 2010 2:06 PM
Oh Barbara, thank you for teaching me my first painful lesson as I embark in public writing: that I must be much more aware of the readers' perspective.
I am heartfully sorry to sound as if I was accusing you of anything. Of course amazon links are not the same as providing abortions. My worry, which Abby made me aware of in my own life, is why we find something wrong one day, but seek out a different response to it the next? And how do we be sure we're not falling into snares in that process? Certainly your seeking counsel of someone far wiser than juliea to avoid snares was a wise choice. But I'm still left with the worry of where this all may lead, which is what prompted my comment.
A heartfelt apology, too, for sounding as if I was accusing you of selling your soul. What I was trying to express was my OWN thought process in coming to MY OWN amazon decision. I shared MY thought process because in you reaching out to others for counsel, I sensed that you may still be the tiniest bit uncomfortable with the situation, and that it might be of some benefit to go through the decision process with someone who held the position of amazon dissenter.
That is why I shared my thoughts: that "I" changed MY links because "I" felt like staying with amazon was harmful to MY soul. Because "I" would never work in a store that sold pedophilic material even if they sold Bibles, and to ME amazon is the same thing. (I highlight the "I/ME" to emphasize that I really am referring to myself, not being hypothetical... perhaps that was a problem in my first comment. It seems as if my "I" may have been read as "you".)
I hope I'm not making this worse by trying to explain... I guess what I want you to know is that I recognize the wonderful things you and your family have done, have recommended your blog and books many times, and love checking your site daily (usually several times a day), as I find it an enjoyable source of Christian guidance on the very secular net.
Please understand that everything I wrote, including a request that you reconsider, was out of the impression that you might be still a little torn, and that hearing one amazon dissenter's voice could give you the courage to go on with the boycott, should you feel led in that direction.
Well, I hope I've cleared up my intention... otherwise I guess you can call me julieathehalftroll.
Posted by: juliea | November 24, 2010 3:25 PM
Barbara wrote:
And only God is our judge
What Barbara has written is backed up by Romans 14.
I might also suggest reading Psalm 37 to help make a decision in this matter.
BTW, Barbara... I suppose we could get into an interesting discussion about which, if any retailers are squeeky clean these days...?? Hmmm Even so, I hope that Christians will continue to write letters and scream and yell even if they are not doing a boycott.
Posted by: Lisa | November 24, 2010 3:42 PM
Well, juliea I guess I need to apologize now for being too harsh in my reply. So I'm sorry too.
What I really hope you understand is that I was woken in the middle of the night by a stirring in my spirit which I wrestled with for a couple days, thinking through the Amazon thing and then began seeking some counsel from others. I did not set out wanting to put amazon up and looking for ways to do it. I sincerely think the Holy Spirit was there from start to finish.
The fact is that Amazon is not a bricks and mortar bookstore - it is something very different. A place where you can buy everything from refrigerators to gluten free pancake mix. So your analogy doesn't resonate with me.
I do believe that God often requires different things of different believers - He alone knows our spiritual needs and how we fit into His plan for us and for others. I do believe that Amazon was not just a money-making tool for me but something which helped me guide other moms in adding spiritual and cultural resources to their homes. I know that it's been very helpful for me with my son with celiac disease to find gluten-free products not available where I live - and to use customer reviews to choose things that taste good and avoid things that don't. I trust the opinions of other moms, and I find them there gathered in one place. For me, Amazon is much more than a bookstore - it is like an opportunity to have my own storefront and pick and choose the things I would want to carry.
Something else I've learned over my Christian lifetime is that God can ask us to do some things that others would deem wrong. Ironically, when we moved to Purcellville VA (homeschool capitol of the world) in 2002, after 12 years of homeschooling in CA I felt led to put my kids in public school. It was very embarrassing as I've never felt comfortable saying "God told me to do this" - so often you don't know until afterwards whether you were right. But in the 8 years since we moved here I've been very engaged as a watchdog in the public school system and have been able to accomplish some good. I must say that Virginia schools are not as threatening as others, but they still have issues where principals buckle to atheist parents about Christmas music and need to be reminded that the law says Yes You Can.
I do think it's completely understandable that God might tell me I can lift my embargo and tell you you can't. And I feel very secure that this was not a cheap rationalization.
Anyway, I'm sorry for being harsh.
love,
barbara
Posted by: Barbara | November 24, 2010 4:07 PM
Um... Actually, when I read juliea's original comment I have to say I didn't think it was personally accusatory. Rereading it, I guess I can see how it may have come across that way, but I thought I should mention that it also doesn't have to come across that way.
To be blunt, it is a rationalization to return to Amazon. (To also be clear, I supported Barbara's decision in an earlier post above, and still do.) Rationalization typically has a bad connotation, perhaps justifiably since we too often let our emotions tangle us up. But in its purest form, I think it's what God calls us to do: use our abilities as a rational, intelligent being - guided by the Holy Spirit - to figure out what God wants of us.
Some will be called to boycott as many stores as they can for as long as they can, and there is good reasoning behind that. Some will not be called to boycott but put pressure in other ways, and there is good reasoning behind that, too. The difference in decisions is that small, still voice that God plants inside us.
Posted by: Denise | November 24, 2010 4:14 PM
Barbara,I am glad you have come to a place of peace with this.When I thought of the financial ramifications for you and your family it really saddened me.I have been praying for you.That you where willing to give that income up until you felt right about it says a lot about you.There have been times in my life when God has said go and I stayed anyway.Those are sins I am still paying for and regretting.
Posted by: melita | November 24, 2010 4:29 PM
Barbara,
I too am glad you have restored your link to Amazon. I wrestled with this issue too because I know your family benefits from purchases made on Amazon through your link. Last week I ordered two carseats on their site and it killed me that I couldn't go through your link so you would get credit. Praying for your continued peace.
Posted by: Addie | November 24, 2010 7:47 PM
Barbara, thank you for being willing to share your own personal struggles as you came to this decision. You don't have to open yourself up like that, and I hope your readers will respect your honesty rather than using it as an opportunity to attack decisions they don't agree with.
Every one of us is accountable to the Holy Spirit for a clean conscience. As the early believers struggled over the choice of whether or not to eat meat sacrificed to idols, we must be careful not to condemn others that have more freedom in areas of conscience than we do.
As I began looking for alternative companies to partner with on my blog, it certainly got me thinking. Is there a single company where I agree 100% with EVERYTHING that they sell? Probably not. Should I also boycott Waldenbooks for selling books about witchcraft? And Barnes & Noble for selling Hitler’s “Mein Kampf� And Christianbook.com for selling books promoting heretical Liberation Theology (twisting scripture to promote Marxism) and children’s dinosaur books that promote evolution? I mean, how far should I be willing to take this?
After reading your blog post, I realized I wasn’t the only one asking these questions.
The truth is, all these companies carry SOME things that we disagree with, but they also carry fantastic resources for conservatives and Christians to encourage them in their faith and fight for liberty. We communicate our values to these companies through the items that we choose to purchase, and that is a very effective way to influence what they choose to carry.
To me, it's the same as choosing which movies I watch. There isn't a single Hollywood company that hasn't produced I movie I find morally offensive, but I hope to redirect their efforts by supporting good movies when they DO make them. In the same way, I hope to influence Amazon and companies like them through my purchasing decisions, and the resources I recommend to my readers.
For this reason, I have decided to reinstate Amazon links on my website.
Posted by: Rachel | November 26, 2010 1:23 PM
I wrote this on your facebook but I thought I would post it here too for your commenters to think about...
One of the blessings of free press is that we can have access to just about any information we want. So long as people are free to write down anything they think we can know what people think.
The pedophile propaganda books selling on Amazon may be used by pedophiles or it may be used by police officers who go after pedophiles. Or it may be used by researchers seeking to understand the pedophile mind so they can create programs to combat it.
I have read a lot of books I don't agree with simply for the sake of research. I read the Satanic Bible...I read a book by a pick-up artist on how to convince women to sleep with you....I've read books on every religion... I have read books on almost every single controversial topic so I can then write about that topic in the most effective way.
Posted by: paigeu | November 26, 2010 5:47 PM
