Books and bullheadedness
An online book discussion? On my newspaper’s Web site? Yes! It happened this week below David Burke’s story on The Big Read. Quad-City Arts is encouraging folks to read Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” and attend several related presentations. That prompted Penelope, Reuther, Mike Olson and Hick from Sticks to expound on some of their favorite books, complete with character
analyses.
At one point, Rotgut chimed in with, “Wow, what a bunch of nerds on THIS thread!”
Absolutely. And I was hanging on every nerdy word, scribbling titles in my reporter’s notebook of books I need to read. That includes “To Kill a Mockingbird,” though as a former English major, I’m embarrassed to admit it. But I have read James Joyce’s “Ulysses” in it’s entirety, so there.
Elsewhere on QCTimes.com, the novel-length stream under David Fletcher’s Sept. 20 letter “Constitution protects against a theocracy,” continued the month-long debate on gay marriage in Iowa. More than 330 comments wrangled over the role of religious belief in setting public policy.
SRM wrote, “What I find the funniest is that we’re fighting so hard in other countries against theocracies (Muslim), but welcoming it with open arms in this country. The fact that regular, everyday ‘Christians’ can’t see that fact boggles my mind.”
Most commenters sided with Fletcher that governments should look at marriage as a legal contract, not a religious one. Many, though, disputed Fletcher’s claim that the Bible is “ancient fables” and all Christians are unthinking, “insecure people.”
Fly on the Wall wrote, “Christianity isn’t the
problem. Fundamentalism is the problem. There’s a huge difference between secular Christians and FECs. Please do NOT lump all Christians into one broad category. It’s counter-productive to good, reasonable discussion, and doesn’t do anything to promote dialogue.”
That’s good advice. Now if only Republicans and Democrats would take it. Liberals and conservatives vilified each other in response to Bob Malito’s Thursday letter, “Just wait until we take out Iran’s military.” (Gee, what got them started?)
Screwball1 countered Malito’s theory that leftist, environmentalist Bush-bashers are responsible for the fighting in the Middle East with another conspiracy theory: “Go to the Program for a New American Century. Once you get there, go to Iraq and the Middle East. Back in 1997 the neocons had a plan for invading Iraq for — guess what — THE OIL! Plain and simple. All they needed was an excuse. So they cooked up the 9/11 mess. The terrorists were trained to fly planes right here in America. So wake up, Bob, and smell the stink this regime has spread across America.”
Atheist tried to pull everyone toward the center. “The Left and the Right both have this country’s best interest at heart, and both parties have answers — some right, some wrong. THE TRUTH is in the middle. Partisanship is what is killing this country, not the Left, and not the Right.”
All the labeling and side-taking made me want to take off to some cozy wilderness retreat where I can get some peace and quiet.
And maybe read a good book.
Melissa Coulter writes on the comments posted online at qctimes.com. Contact her at (563) 383-2243 or at mcoulter@qctimes.com.