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Revised to correct that Mike Hein did not visit Apple Valley Books nor write the piece cited at the Family Policy Council website. For this error I do apologize.
I've met Rita Moran a few times, for the most part at Democratic Party functions. I found her to be a very pleasant woman, with a sharp mind and quick laugh - what one might expect from an owner of a book store. In her case, Apple Valley Books in Winthrop, just west of Augusta. They carry a wide variety of books, can order whatever you may want, and offer discounts to teachers (even home schoolers), librarians, and members of the clergy, "regardless of religion or denomination."
Mike HeinA "staff member" of the Family Policy Council (formerly the Christian Civic League) visited Apple Valley Books, and it appears that it wasn't quite clear to him what exactly a book store should offer. In this day of Borders and Barnes and Noble, it is difficult for a small store to survive, let alone thrive.
From the way Heinthe "staff member" explains to his readers what's inside Apple Valley Books, it appears that he has little experience shopping:
The customer opens the door to see a brightly-lit, well-kept store. There on the right, however, is an unusual sight. Atop a tall bookshelf sits a large horned devil. The visitor quickly passes by, past rows of bookshelves with nondescript books, and nothing remarkable meets the eye until the section marked "Teenage." Curiously, the top three shelves of this "Teenage" section offer one paranormal-themed book after another.
This section is arranged so that an unsuspecting teen is easily lured into occult literature. The first book to catch the eye is called Godless, a book apparently written to shake a young person's faith in God. Nearby is (You are So) Dead to Me, a novel about a teen girl's use of occult powers to control zombies. Another book is even worse, one of the House of Night (No. 1 Marked) series, books which glamorize vampirism. Close by is Hunter's Moon, a particularly objectionable teen novel in which readers are warned not to be judgmental about the hero of the book, a werewolf who is a serial killer.
On the opposite side of the store, New Age materials are mixed in carelessly with Bibles and a few other Christian books. Close to the counter, where the owner sits, is a section dedicated to the occult. There one finds scores of books on how to practice witchcraft and cast spells. In a word, the section is about ritual magic.
My guess is that Hein the "staff member" is not allowed to go the grocery store, for surely he would not be able to differentiate between the 100% frozen juice concentrates and those whose principle ingredient is fructose. Or that he would err by purchasing cans of refried beans containing lard for that Mexican Night his wife planned for their vegetarian friends. Items at a supermarket have their contents labeled to help a shopper ensure they purchase what they want; book are not too different.
Somehow Barnes and Noble, a national chain, does not create the same fear in Hein the "staff member" as Apple Valley Books does, despite that you can purchase all the same titles there. In fact Godless won the 2004 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. And then think of the books that Hein doesn't mention: the Harry Potter series, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, etc.
The Family Policy Council's view of intolerance is not consistent, but this should come as no surprise. On the FPC website, adjacent to the attack on Apple Valley Books, is this piece from today, 18 December, about eliminating Christmas from, err, Christmas, by Rev. Dallas Henry.
In it, Rev. Henry provides this example:
A couple of years ago, in Broward County, Florida, a Church was told that they could not include the words "Jesus is the Reason for the Season" in their out-door Christmas display. The church filed a suit in the U.S. District Court claiming they had the right to display the words. The presiding Judge agreed with their "free speech" argument and allowed them to keep the words in their display as long as they included the words, "Calvary Chapel says," before the words "Jesus is the Reason for the Season."
I have no problem with the ruling that the Calvary Chapel be permitted to put forth this display, even if it was stage in a public park (see excerpts from the ruling. One wonders how the FPC would react should a pagan group wish to sponsor a similar display, in that the Solstice is so near Christmas Day (by design, as history notes).
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One further note: in researching this diary, I happened upon a site, Sermon Central, that offers sermons for anyone to take and use. Back in 2005, Jeff Strite posted one titled The Land Of Narnia, and I'll be damned if it isn't EXACTLY what Rev. Henry posted just today on the Family Policy Council's site.
And they hold themselves up as leaders of morality.
Update: Be sure to check out the writ up on this by Louise at Pam's House Blend, Maine's Christian Civic League is on a witchhunt!.
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