Posted on 11/17/2006 3:29:42 AM PST by rightwingintelligentsia
SHILOH, Ill. - A picture book about two male penguins raising a baby penguin is getting a chilly reception among some parents who worry about the book's availability to children - and the reluctance of school administrators to restrict access to it.
The concerns are the latest involving "And Tango Makes Three," the illustrated children's book based on a true story of two male penguins in New York City's Central Park Zoo that adopted a fertilized egg and raised the chick as their own.
Complaining about the book's homosexual undertones, some parents of Shiloh Elementary School students believe the book - available to be checked out of the school's library in this 11,000-resident town 20 miles east of St. Louis - tackles topics their children aren't ready to handle.
Their request: Move the book to the library's regular shelves and restrict it to a section for mature issues, perhaps even requiring parental permission before a child can check it out.
For now, "And Tango Makes Three" will stay put, said school district Superintendent Jennifer Filyaw, though a panel she appointed suggested the book be moved and require parental permission to be checked out. The district's attorney said moving it might be construed as censorship.
(Excerpt) Read more at kevxml2adsl.verizon.net ...
And children aren't idiots, by the way.
March of the Penguins on Christopher Street
I don't know about you folks but I am getting pretty sick and tired of the way the fags are working thier sick ife style into my children and grandchildrens life..
No matter what their parents want or think. This is subtle psychological steering in the guise of innocent child fare. This is a tactic of which this book is only one example.
Figgers.
Maybe I'm missing something here ...do two male animals, in this case, penguin's sometimes care for an egg and/or young? If so I can see the interest in a having a book about it and don';t see why it should be censored or restricted/
If that's true, I don't see how it has any bearing on whether its a sin for two male humans to have sex. The bible still says what its a sin, two birds aren't gonna change what the bible says.
Nor would it mean the governmenment should leglaize gay marriage. Just because its possible for two birds, or two men or two women (or for that matter one man or three men) to raise a chick or a child doesn't mean the government is under any obligation to encourage it. Marriage is an incentive designed to promote what we think is the best environment, not evey possibe environment.
On the surface, it sounds like this is a to do about something that it is even related to.
And putting pressure on libraries for political reasons just makes the side doing ity look bad.
I don't know much about penguins. But some humans kidnap, rape and torture people to death. Perhaps a book on that topic would be appropriate.
Or maybe responsible adults are supposed to make choices about what children should be exposed to.
The problem is the motivation behind the book. If we lived in a world where a powerful and influential sector of the population wasn't trying it's utmost to push the culture into deviancy and decadence then it might just be an interesting nature book. But, with the issues of the day being what they are, it's quite likely that the purpose of this book is something other than penguin behavioral study.
"March of the Penguins on Christopher Street"
You owe me a keyboard.
The penguins are not gay. They found an abandoned egg and claimed it. After the chick was hatched and on its own, they both found female mates.
These penguins can set an example for human behavior, unfortunately some people with an agenda are twisting this story on its head.
"On the surface, it sounds like this is a to do about something that it is even related to."
Sort of like the to do about something in saying the pledge of allegiance in the morning when getting to school?
Acts of stupid censorship like this just make children cynical.
I always knew there was something off about penguins. I prefer the more manly puffins.
I understand that when the baby penguin came of age, his parents wouldn't let him join the guinscouts.
Check out this link on the book and its teaching guide. From the link:
The Central Park Zoo is home to all kinds of animal families. But Tango the penguin's family is a bit different -- she has two fathers. This heartwarming story will open the minds of readers, resonating long after the story has finished.
"A little miracle for children. Funny, tender, and true, the story of Tango will delight young readers and open their minds." -- John Lithgow
2. "Family" is a prominent theme in And Tango Makes Three. Discuss the concept of a "family." What constitutes a family? Tango's family is different, but how is it the same as any other family in the zoo? In the world?
Looks to me like learning about penguins is indeed a side issue.
Guilty - of anthropomorphization
I blieve this book is aimed at children aged 4 to 8. Those kids are not going to see this as censorship, or be cynical about the politics of it -- unless adults with an agenda work very hard to "explain" the situation to the kids.
No, that was March of the Penguins. This book is guilty of something else.
Yeah, the folks using the book as a teaching tool. Check out the study guide in my above link..
Imagine you gave this book to some kids, and then on further reflection took it away, on the grounds that it contained something 'inappropriate.' When I was that age, in that situation, the book would have stayed in my mind and perhaps I would have made an effort to find it again. Similarly, the tv shows kids really want to watch are the ones they aren't supposed to watch. On the other hand, if you leave a book like this in plain sight, it will never generate more mystique than a boring, mostly ignored picture book about a family of penguins deserves.
They will keep on trying to get to the kids to eventually get their way.
Children should read what they want, or whatever they pick up, and come to their own conclusions as they grow up
Making a big deal about a picture book with 'gay' penguins is stupid because anyone who politicizes the behavior of a couple of birds only makes himself looks ridiculous - and that goes for the authors of the book too
At that age kids should read what their parents want them to read. That's why God made parents :)
By the time I was eight, I knew what I liked and had some discretion
You had discretion because your parents permitted it. Like I said, if parents want to buy the book for their kids, fine by me. My problem is with teachers, school districts, and Viacom trying to shove their agenda down families' throats.
It's undeniable that homosexuality is present in various species. Take it to mean what you will.
My parents weren't overly concerned about these sorts of issues...
I always suspected that Opus was gay, or at least metrosexual...
It will be interesting to see which agenda wins out when the muslims and homosexuals clash as they each attempt to push their ideologies on this country.
They should re-read "The Emperor's New Clothes".
Pretending that the abnormal is normal does not make it so.
"Three Men and a Baby" was quite a popular movie about 20 years ago. Maybe Tom Selleck & Steve Guttenberg can reunite as penguins in the movie version of this true story?
"Three Men and a Baby" was quite a popular movie about 20 years ago. Maybe Tom Selleck & Steve Guttenberg can reunite as penguins in the movie version of this true story?
This story leaves out the fact that these two males were simply babysitting someone else's kid, after that the two males found females and had their own chicks. How would one apply this to, perhaps, bovines? OK, two bulls found a lone calf and proceeded to care for it, then the calf slowly starved to death for obvious reasons, end of lesson!
Opus was just a little insecure. ;)
That title had me all messed up. I wasn't sure if...
The book was about gay penguins...or, considering that Penguin Books is a publisher, it could have been (2) that the book's topic had something to do with gayness, or (3) the book itself, was gay, either in the sophmoric "that's gay" sense or in the literal sense that the book was actually gay, although to my knowledge books have genders, but then again, what do I know....
After reading the article, I realized that it was actually choice 4, all of the above. How gay.
that should read "books don't have genders"
And this book has much more to do with "Three Men and a Baby" than "Adam & Steve," although I get the feeling that those who attempt to impart a lesson from the book will not keep this in mind.
Homosexuality is a fetish... animals don't have fetishes...
This indoctrination would make Joseph Goebbels proud !
"And putting pressure on libraries for political reasons just makes the side doing ity look bad."
You are suggesting that it was NOT politics that got the book placed on the library shelves to begin with. That is doubtful. No, that is not believable.
For a reality check of why this book was written, you should check out its page on Amazon.com.
People interested in the book also bought "King and King", a story about a prince who decides he doesn't want a princess, and marries another prince, instead.
They also bought "The Sissy Duckling", a book about an obviously gay duckling.
We are all grownups, here. This isn't really a book about penguins.
If that's true, I don't see how it has any bearing on whether its a sin for two male humans to have sex. The bible still says what its a sin, two birds aren't gonna change what the bible says.
It's a problem because homosexual advocates have used the story behind these two penguins as proof and reason that their perversion should be embraced as normal and natural. Why don't they tell the rest of the story..about how one of these two penguins left the other for a female.
>>Maybe I'm missing something here
Check out this link on the book and its teaching guide. From the link:<<
From that excerpt it sure does sound like the teaching guide has an agenda. Changing the teaching guide is a different issue than rstricting or banning a book from a school library.
For example, I went to a very conservative private high school. We read the Communist manifesto so that we could understand America's opposition and see the weaknesses in Marx's arguments. A different way of teaching that book could have been innappropriate.
Me : If that's true, I don't see how it has any bearing on whether its a sin for two male humans to have sex. The bible still says what its a sin, two birds aren't gonna change what the bible says.
CAPTAINSUPERMARVELMAN: It's a problem because homosexual advocates have used the story behind these two penguins as proof and reason that their perversion should be embraced as normal and natural. Why don't they tell the rest of the story..about how one of these two penguins left the other for a female.
Well if you ban all the other books then the devil will quote scripture for his own ends... It sounds like the problem here is in the teaching not what books are available.
>>You are suggesting that it was NOT politics that got the book placed on the library shelves to begin with. That is doubtful. No, that is not believable.<<
I have no idea how popular the book is or what method of selection was used - the story doesnt go into that.
Don't you ever get tired of trolling?
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