Waterstone's has had its day and is starting to close up shops across the land. This means we can get back to the days of bookshops being vibrant places, not bland and soulless.
If religious people are so confident in the existence of their god then why do they try to censor anything that questions them? Shouldn't they be eager to present their case and convince those of us who don't buy it? Shouldn't they wish to answer our questions with rational reasons? The fact that they try to censor any criticism says everything I need to know, that they cant make a convincing case and they simply are afraid of being humiliated.
I saw Patrick Jones last night, supporting Billy Bragg. He did the religion poem, and I'm going to buy the book. Thanks Christian Voice, for bringing his poetry to my attention.
Being an ardent supporter of small press and freedom in all its many facets, I support your position and feel you have shown yourself the better person and entity by not grouping all Christians into this fanatical and hypocritical embarrassment better known as the fundamentalist movement. Good luck with your challenge, you were so correct when you mention in the epilogue how if the roles had been reversed, how quick they would be to expect financial reimbursement. Good luck with this.
Thank you, I'm pleased to say that since posting this video (although Waterstone's haven't altered there position) things have been going well for patrick jones and his book. Thanks for your comment and support.
Waterstone's haven't changed their position regarding a launch, but thanks to other (braver) venues jones has been able to hold events to publicise the book. This competition here on YT was a great morale boost and we are incredibly thankful to everyone that participated; it also went some way to making up for Waterstone's decision.
Glad to hear... religious warriors are a worry as usual. A Jewish group has recently manipulated Canadian law to prevent George Galloway speaking there.
Indeed there is. Go to the video called 'Cinnamon Press Competition: Winner and Runners up'. It is on my channel and it is linked to this video as a response.
I'm a Christian, and I have to say, Christian groups should NOT censor stuff. For one, it does NOTHING but put a negative image on other Christians and actually has the opposite to the desired effect. If people want to read certain things, let them.
God gave humans free will and people have a choice to believe whatever they want, and I hardly think a book of that sort is going to affect someone's beliefs at all.
This book is hardly something to be worried about.
I think that is a great attitude and I'm sure you, rather than Stephen Green, are representative of Christianity at large. It is very important to understand that most people of faith are nothing like the extremists who censor (or worse) to get their point across. Thanks for this comment.
I wonder why no one in America says christian the way you do. There are SO many words in the U.S. that sound nothing like how it should. :/ Pretty funny, if you ask me.
Good job man. I was really impressed that you said said that Christian Voice was not representative of every other christian. It really enhanced your Ethos. They are extremists, not representative of the rest of us :).
The submission deadline is upon us, and I just wanted to thank Rowan and all you guys at Cinnamon Press for creating this contest.
I also want to thank everyone who took part in this project. This has been a very enlightening and real experience for me. I enjoyed listening, reading, and viewing your work.
Freedom of expression is one of the most important things in the world, though we may not always agree with what is being said.
I hope this contest helped raise awareness of your cause!
Yonatan Hurwitz, that was really eloquently said. And thank you too; your support, comments and poems are really appreciated. As are the contributions of everyone on YouTube who has submitted poems, made vlogs on this subject or favourited, rated and commented on this or related videos.
There are a few more hours (GMT) before the deadline is officially reached. A video announcing the runners up and winners will be uploaded on the 1st of December.
I am sorry that I didn't hear about this sooner. I would have loved to have submitted a video response. I may do that anyway if it is allowable. It would have been nice to have a chance to win a prize, but the evils of censorship and the spineless response by Waterstone deserve a response regardless of contest deadlines. I would like your permission to post a video response along with an explanation that it was submitted after the contest deadline. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much too. It is always great to encounter more people on YouTube who believe and support freedom of speech and the arts.
If you submit your poem today (GMT) you can still enter the competition. It officially ends on the 29th, which I take to be a 12pm tonight. If you cannot make it by then I still welcome and would be grateful for the response, although it would be unfair to extend the deadline.
i have a youtube video with a passage about satans offer to jesus. i am looking for my raw copy so i can turn it into poetry for this event. maybe i will make the deadline and maybe not, i can not push things, they have to unfold or i am not there so imagine my hand raised in a toast....."here's to making deadlines"
i can not find my video. isn't that weird? did youtube remove it? i do not know but it is back to the drawing board. i've already got the words from the passage i wanted.
It doesn't seem that serious. Waterstones didn't mention any threats of physical violence. They should have gone about it more reasonably, possibly just asking for one or two particularly offensive poems to not be read out, but the right to protest is part of democracy. I mean, it's like that Russel Brand controversy. One of the poems talked about sex with Jesus. Brand talked about sex with an old man's daughter. Both got people pissed. Sexual insults rarely go down well.
Just to mention that I have put these poems etc together as a playlist, because I think together they are of some value. If anyone would like to share the playlist they are welcome.
Well said, although Im quite happy for them to speak their bile and reveal their own ugliness, just so long as they dont threaten and harass poets. Thank you for the comment and for supporting artistic freedom.
Not at all, in fact I'm grateful for it; I believe atheism should be just as open to mockery as Christianity if it is to argue in favour of free speech, so a poem of that nature is very appropriate for the competition. I thank you for submitting it and supporting artistic freedom.
Don't know if that really applies, I just felt like saying it. People of any faith (or lack thereof) need to feel safe with each others company without thinking it will somehow contaminate them, or compromise their beliefs. It was Jesus that ate with those who everyone hated, the outcasts, prostitutes, anyone. Hell, we don't even do that in society in general...
As a fellow Christian, and fellow poet, I'm very proud of you, sir. It takes guts to stand up to reverse bigotry, especially when it could offend so many of your fellow artisans. Well done, sir.
I'm totally for free speech. As a Christian, I should be fully aware of its importance, especially in my relation to more reserved Christians. But in my lifetime, I find it highly amusing that I've never had Christianity shoved in my face, yet Atheism has been stuffed down my throat by near-strangers on multiple occasions. A lack of belief in something can be equally as obnoxious as a zealous belief in something else. Some could stand to learn that.
I wouldn't generalise too much and as an atheist myself I can assure you that I wouldn't shove my views in your face. Also, I have never had atheists knocking on my door, atheists telling me I'm going to burn for eternity or atheists inform me that I can't offend their beliefs; suffice to say, many Christians have shoved their views in my face. I understand and respect that most Christians are not like that and I'm glad you support free speech, thank you.
«Il souhaitait que tous les grands de la Terre et que tous les nobles fussent pendus et étranglés avec les boyaux des prêtres.» "He said he wished that all the great men in the world and all the nobility could be hanged, and strangled in the guts of priests."
I remember, a long time ago, when The last temptation of christ came out, and I was young, and signed a pettition against it. I wouldn't do that now. I grew up. But the movie still sucks, as well as the that book. I don't know if the book of poetry you are showing is any good or not, but I wouldn't boycott it. We christians forget too easily how christianity was once boycotted by the romans, and forms of it, by the catholic church. Ah, history does indeed repeat itself.
Thank you for this comment, I'm really happy to hear from all the mature Christians that don't want to be associated with this kind of behaviour. It is a shame how we keep making the same mistakes, but if the reaction of people on YouTube and elsewhere is anything to go by we have also come a long way.
We remember as well but not that it was so long ago, sharpening our hatchets in eager anticipation of cutting debates with protesting Baptists- but by the time Last Temptation hit the dollar seat cinema, the cretins had long gone. Such disappointment! Such chagrin! Our axe was all dressed up with no where to go.
Go into Waterstones and move all their Bibles an Qur'ans into the Fiction section where they belong. Weird, ritualistic, superstitious cults like this should be banned from humanity!
That is certainly true of certain Christians and Muslims; I dont want to generalise though. Just because Christian Voice presumptively call themselves that does not mean they speak for all of Christianity. Thanks for the support.
Individualism, liberalism and private judgement are positive values of western culture that emerged DESPITE prevailing judeo-christian values IMO, but other than that I totally agree. These wingnuts should keep their indignation to themselves and shame in Waterstones for having no spine.
I'm going to adapt a poem of mine, or write a new one, performance wise, purely for the purpose of trying to win a collection of your books. As to the actual issue and actions of Christian Voice, I'm neither here nor there. One can clearly see you're going to milk it for as much publicity as you can get.
I cant wait to see your entry. We are certainly going to try and reclaim whatever we can from the mess Christian Voice has made; we lost a lot from that launch and this dogmatic organization continues to threaten patrick jones events.
I'm sickened by this attack on the freedom of artistic expression, I'm no poet my self and can offer no poem of my own, the beat I can do is to share this video across youtube *****stars;)
I wish, the truth is I'm badly dyslectic, and I didn't learn to read properly and till I was twenty-two, and then it was only with the help of the dyslexia institute, so what little I know of poetry come from what I've leaned for my self in the past five years.
For the most part I get what most poems try to get across, but write one, that's a different ball game.
Thank you. Things are certainly looking up for patrick jones and his collection and there has been a lot of positive attention; from YouTube and elsewhere. I look forward to your poem.
can it be posted as text? does it have to be read aloud? does the author need to be on cam? You see... I'd love to contribute but I've lost all my equipment cam/mic/etc in a recent move...
A video response would be cool, but it is not obligatory. Text is fine. Feel free to post it in the comments section of this video or, if it is too long to fit the word limit, on my YouTube profile or as a PM sent to me.
As I said before there is no obligation, it would just be cool to see you read it and videos are great for getting more attention. Thanks for the poem, its really interesting. And thanks for supporting artistic freedom. :)
I'm really crummy with poetry and after looking at Swift Satirical Poets, I'm intimidated. So I'll stick to a bit of haiku fun and look forward to what other creative minds have to offer.
Thank you for your entry. You dont have to, but it would be great if you could do this as a quick vid response? Not obligatory though, everyone has limits on their time. Just cool you joined in. Dont worry too much about the Swift thing; its more of a general indicator of the kind of satire Im looking for rather than an entry rule. Anyway, thanks again, for the poem, comment and supporting artistic freedom.
I hope so too. Christian Voice's actions do have a history of backfiring; I've heard that Stephen Green (the organizations leader) currently owes a great deal of money in court costs for the Jerry Spring The Opera stuff. A deeply unpleasant man and a deeply unpleasant organization.
i find it absolutely unbelievable that when considering the mindset and actions of people such as stephen 'birdshit' green' and the supporters of organisations such as christian voice, it would appear that the intelligence of the human race has actually fallen dramatically during the last few decades.
whatever happened to "love thy neighbour" or "do as you would have others do unto you"?
this suggests to me that all intelligent people should noisily picket 'birdshit' green and christian voice
It is indeed alarming that stuff like this can still happen in twenty first century Britain. I also found myself wondering whether this kind of nonsense would have happened during the nineties. I suspect the like of Christian Voice, knowing that their extremism is a failing cause, are becoming more and more desperate to gain relevance.
I will do a video response, in Ireland athistIE is forming an Irish Atheist society, I think we need a Blasphemer Society, I will also go down to Waterstones and order my copy.
It is indeed. From an interview I've just heard on the beeb Stephen Green doesn't seem to have even read 'darkness is where the stars are'. I imagine Christian Voice just heard a few poems and decided that it is as good a target as any. As it has got him on the radio and TV Green is probably happy.
Stupidity needs censorship. Although I dont want to generalise, I know plenty good Christians who don't want to silence all opposition. As I say in the vid, Christian Voice does not represent all Christians, just one particularly ugly group.
That's all true, Christian oppression is an historical fact and has done a lot to harm development in the arts and elsewhere, but I'm glad and recognize that at least some of Christianity has liberalised and surpassed this aspect of its past. It is a shame the likes of Christian Voice remain so firmly locked in this outmoded and disgracefully dogmatic mentality.
That open letter was beautifully revealing. I'll do my part by not shopping at Waterstone's ever again. Not that they'll loose much business, as I've never even been inside one of their buildings yet.
Waterstone's has had its day and is starting to close up shops across the land. This means we can get back to the days of bookshops being vibrant places, not bland and soulless.
boondoggle6 1 year ago
If religious people are so confident in the existence of their god then why do they try to censor anything that questions them? Shouldn't they be eager to present their case and convince those of us who don't buy it? Shouldn't they wish to answer our questions with rational reasons? The fact that they try to censor any criticism says everything I need to know, that they cant make a convincing case and they simply are afraid of being humiliated.
s5b678 1 year ago
any satirical work on judaism? or only on Christianism and Islamism?
Reasonable99pct 1 year ago
I saw Patrick Jones last night, supporting Billy Bragg. He did the religion poem, and I'm going to buy the book. Thanks Christian Voice, for bringing his poetry to my attention.
MarxBakuninMe 2 years ago 3
This comment has received too many negative votes show
This book can not make nay good for you so dont buy it, don sell it, shit you can get in the toilet.
sjrodovalho 3 years ago
Agreed-ban the bigots not the books!
Powerful stuff.
hellcatty 3 years ago 3
Fair play to you.
Burn the book burners.
luciendelapeste 3 years ago 3
Being an ardent supporter of small press and freedom in all its many facets, I support your position and feel you have shown yourself the better person and entity by not grouping all Christians into this fanatical and hypocritical embarrassment better known as the fundamentalist movement. Good luck with your challenge, you were so correct when you mention in the epilogue how if the roles had been reversed, how quick they would be to expect financial reimbursement. Good luck with this.
MrVisions 3 years ago 2
Thank you, I'm pleased to say that since posting this video (although Waterstone's haven't altered there position) things have been going well for patrick jones and his book. Thanks for your comment and support.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
What is the current situation Rowan?
Colston 2 years ago
Waterstone's haven't changed their position regarding a launch, but thanks to other (braver) venues jones has been able to hold events to publicise the book. This competition here on YT was a great morale boost and we are incredibly thankful to everyone that participated; it also went some way to making up for Waterstone's decision.
RowanFortuneWood 2 years ago
Glad to hear... religious warriors are a worry as usual. A Jewish group has recently manipulated Canadian law to prevent George Galloway speaking there.
When I have some spare cash I will get a copy.
Colston 2 years ago
I see where your saying and stuff =] i subed looking forward to more vids
Crowhunter688 3 years ago
Thanks
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
where can i get this book
asherlewis9879 3 years ago
Cool, I'm glad your interested. Go to the description and click on the link where it says 'purchase book'.
Thanks.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
Yet again Christian Voice being a pain in the arse again - I came up against them at the launch of "Jerry Springer: The Opera" incident...
ziggydamaestro 3 years ago
They really are an irritating bunch.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
...are you jesus?
goatunkown 3 years ago
Yes. I'm the atheist Jesus.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
Oh my god.
And they said you never existed.
I proved those bastards wrong.
goatunkown 3 years ago
Conclusively proved, I'm axiomatic.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
"certainly not in need of censorship"
I dunno man, I don't think I can handle.. thinking D:
Better just censor it to be safe.
lootsorrow 3 years ago
lmao
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
The thing is, this really doesn't suprise me.
nameless616 3 years ago
Any chance of finding out what the winners were?
xtrsu 3 years ago
Indeed there is. Go to the video called 'Cinnamon Press Competition: Winner and Runners up'. It is on my channel and it is linked to this video as a response.
Regards,
Rowan
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
youre pretty ugly
AzathothMetal666 3 years ago
I'm a Christian, and I have to say, Christian groups should NOT censor stuff. For one, it does NOTHING but put a negative image on other Christians and actually has the opposite to the desired effect. If people want to read certain things, let them.
God gave humans free will and people have a choice to believe whatever they want, and I hardly think a book of that sort is going to affect someone's beliefs at all.
This book is hardly something to be worried about.
Daracon75 3 years ago 5
I think that is a great attitude and I'm sure you, rather than Stephen Green, are representative of Christianity at large. It is very important to understand that most people of faith are nothing like the extremists who censor (or worse) to get their point across. Thanks for this comment.
Regards,
Rowan
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
I wonder why no one in America says christian the way you do. There are SO many words in the U.S. that sound nothing like how it should. :/ Pretty funny, if you ask me.
OriginalDigit 3 years ago
It is interesting the way languages evolves differently in different places. I quite like American pronunciations.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
YOU like OUR pronunciations? XD Wow. Somehow I feel honored in that.
Thank you!
OriginalDigit 3 years ago
Good job man. I was really impressed that you said said that Christian Voice was not representative of every other christian. It really enhanced your Ethos. They are extremists, not representative of the rest of us :).
USMCDEVILDOG1021 3 years ago 3
Definitely.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
boring O.o i only got up to 41 seconds
Comedianest 3 years ago
I must admit that it is not quite as interesting as a muted, poor quality, Nesquik advert, but we can't all be as interesting as you.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
bitch you boriiing
hipwelly 3 years ago
I guess that's why you have so many more people interested in your channel.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
then why bother watching retard!
0800Author 3 years ago
interesting
MeepullStewray 3 years ago
Rowan? Why was it taken away. I mean, WHY were they against it?! *Bottom lip quiver*
XoXoSakuraKissXoXo 3 years ago
The submission deadline is upon us, and I just wanted to thank Rowan and all you guys at Cinnamon Press for creating this contest.
I also want to thank everyone who took part in this project. This has been a very enlightening and real experience for me. I enjoyed listening, reading, and viewing your work.
Freedom of expression is one of the most important things in the world, though we may not always agree with what is being said.
I hope this contest helped raise awareness of your cause!
YonatanHurwitz 3 years ago 2
Yonatan Hurwitz, that was really eloquently said. And thank you too; your support, comments and poems are really appreciated. As are the contributions of everyone on YouTube who has submitted poems, made vlogs on this subject or favourited, rated and commented on this or related videos.
There are a few more hours (GMT) before the deadline is officially reached. A video announcing the runners up and winners will be uploaded on the 1st of December.
Warm Regards,
Rowan & Cinnamon Press
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
one good thing has come from this action and that is i have been introduction to a publishing comp that has ethics.
marysez 3 years ago
I am sorry that I didn't hear about this sooner. I would have loved to have submitted a video response. I may do that anyway if it is allowable. It would have been nice to have a chance to win a prize, but the evils of censorship and the spineless response by Waterstone deserve a response regardless of contest deadlines. I would like your permission to post a video response along with an explanation that it was submitted after the contest deadline. Thank you very much.
John
jgottlied 3 years ago
Thank you very much too. It is always great to encounter more people on YouTube who believe and support freedom of speech and the arts.
If you submit your poem today (GMT) you can still enter the competition. It officially ends on the 29th, which I take to be a 12pm tonight. If you cannot make it by then I still welcome and would be grateful for the response, although it would be unfair to extend the deadline.
Thank-you for the kind comment.
Warm Regards,
Rowan & Cinnamon Press
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
i have a youtube video with a passage about satans offer to jesus. i am looking for my raw copy so i can turn it into poetry for this event. maybe i will make the deadline and maybe not, i can not push things, they have to unfold or i am not there so imagine my hand raised in a toast....."here's to making deadlines"
marysez 3 years ago
I can drink to that. Good luck, I look forward to your entry.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
lol that is good.
i can not find my video. isn't that weird? did youtube remove it? i do not know but it is back to the drawing board. i've already got the words from the passage i wanted.
thank u rowan.
marysez 3 years ago
Whatever happened to freedom of speech? Keep up the publicity! Waterstones will do THEMSELVES more damage and be known for being unreliable!
weeyin1155 3 years ago
Thank you, I certainly hope Waterstone's wil be know for their unreliability after all of this.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
It doesn't seem that serious. Waterstones didn't mention any threats of physical violence. They should have gone about it more reasonably, possibly just asking for one or two particularly offensive poems to not be read out, but the right to protest is part of democracy. I mean, it's like that Russel Brand controversy. One of the poems talked about sex with Jesus. Brand talked about sex with an old man's daughter. Both got people pissed. Sexual insults rarely go down well.
Ytaker 3 years ago
Just to mention that I have put these poems etc together as a playlist, because I think together they are of some value. If anyone would like to share the playlist they are welcome.
dashpoet 3 years ago
That's great, thank you for doing this.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
Christian Voice should just piss off. They fail to realise we live in something called a DEMOCRACY .
DisturbedbyDeth356 3 years ago 2
Well said, although Im quite happy for them to speak their bile and reveal their own ugliness, just so long as they dont threaten and harass poets. Thank you for the comment and for supporting artistic freedom.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
I posted my latest story, it's not satirical and it doesn't apply specifically to atheism, but it'll at least promote the contest :)
thinkmorepink 3 years ago
It has humour and attacks bigotry so it fits perfectly. Thanks a lot for entering it.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
Will you be hosting an online petition in support of the books release?
visionghost 3 years ago
We're considering it.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
going on my fav!!;)
elviradark6 3 years ago 2
Thanks.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
Best of luck reversing this injustice!
BodineSpeaks 3 years ago 3
Way to come through Bodine!
DavidRandallCurtis 3 years ago
Thank you.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
Wanna know what the Jewish national anthem is?
Onward Christian Soldiers.
OligarchHeritageFund 3 years ago
Here's my little effort.. FREE WILL
Free Will his poisened challace gift,
Leaves me cold and slightly miffed,
'Free Choice', 'Rejoice' he says 'No Pressure'
Just make my book your moral measure,
But, should you choose a different path,
You'll suffer his unholy wrath,
Free Will's a gift so use it well,
Obey his word; or go to Hell!
Thank you very much!
brokenwings707 3 years ago
Thanks for contributing to the competition and for supporting artistic freedom.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
Not at all, in fact I'm grateful for it; I believe atheism should be just as open to mockery as Christianity if it is to argue in favour of free speech, so a poem of that nature is very appropriate for the competition. I thank you for submitting it and supporting artistic freedom.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
A rational man, how unusual. I like your style.
Nyhee7 3 years ago 2
I posted a satirical poem on Atheism called "Salvation Anxiety". Wrong place for that one, I guess. Haha...
BERSERKERpoetry 3 years ago
Don't know if that really applies, I just felt like saying it. People of any faith (or lack thereof) need to feel safe with each others company without thinking it will somehow contaminate them, or compromise their beliefs. It was Jesus that ate with those who everyone hated, the outcasts, prostitutes, anyone. Hell, we don't even do that in society in general...
BERSERKERpoetry 3 years ago
I entirely agree.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
As a fellow Christian, and fellow poet, I'm very proud of you, sir. It takes guts to stand up to reverse bigotry, especially when it could offend so many of your fellow artisans. Well done, sir.
Nyhee7 3 years ago
I'm totally for free speech. As a Christian, I should be fully aware of its importance, especially in my relation to more reserved Christians. But in my lifetime, I find it highly amusing that I've never had Christianity shoved in my face, yet Atheism has been stuffed down my throat by near-strangers on multiple occasions. A lack of belief in something can be equally as obnoxious as a zealous belief in something else. Some could stand to learn that.
BERSERKERpoetry 3 years ago
I wouldn't generalise too much and as an atheist myself I can assure you that I wouldn't shove my views in your face. Also, I have never had atheists knocking on my door, atheists telling me I'm going to burn for eternity or atheists inform me that I can't offend their beliefs; suffice to say, many Christians have shoved their views in my face. I understand and respect that most Christians are not like that and I'm glad you support free speech, thank you.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
It's bad. I'll spread the word.
happy2oblige 3 years ago 2
Thank you.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
«Il souhaitait que tous les grands de la Terre et que tous les nobles fussent pendus et étranglés avec les boyaux des prêtres.» "He said he wished that all the great men in the world and all the nobility could be hanged, and strangled in the guts of priests."
Jean Meslier
MiguelDeCorella 3 years ago 2
I remember, a long time ago, when The last temptation of christ came out, and I was young, and signed a pettition against it. I wouldn't do that now. I grew up. But the movie still sucks, as well as the that book. I don't know if the book of poetry you are showing is any good or not, but I wouldn't boycott it. We christians forget too easily how christianity was once boycotted by the romans, and forms of it, by the catholic church. Ah, history does indeed repeat itself.
Nyhee7 3 years ago 2
Thank you for this comment, I'm really happy to hear from all the mature Christians that don't want to be associated with this kind of behaviour. It is a shame how we keep making the same mistakes, but if the reaction of people on YouTube and elsewhere is anything to go by we have also come a long way.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
We remember as well but not that it was so long ago, sharpening our hatchets in eager anticipation of cutting debates with protesting Baptists- but by the time Last Temptation hit the dollar seat cinema, the cretins had long gone. Such disappointment! Such chagrin! Our axe was all dressed up with no where to go.
WetlandsRemediation 3 years ago
nice poem ;)
Nyhee7 3 years ago
Go into Waterstones and move all their Bibles an Qur'ans into the Fiction section where they belong. Weird, ritualistic, superstitious cults like this should be banned from humanity!
Brainstormer2302 3 years ago 3
That is certainly true of certain Christians and Muslims; I dont want to generalise though. Just because Christian Voice presumptively call themselves that does not mean they speak for all of Christianity. Thanks for the support.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
united my freak! ^_^ i will Spread the word!
(and enter too if i can pull it off in time)
TheUnitedFreak 3 years ago
Thanks, that is appreciated. I hope you can do a poem; I will look forward to it.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
thank you my dear ^_^
i did finally mange an entry, but with many flaws due to the time... though even that is poetic to the theme ^_^ (hugs)
TheUnitedFreak 3 years ago
Your entry is great, thank you for your support.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
my pleasure darlin' ^_^
sorry it took me so long to make my way back here! ^_^ (hugs) to you!
TheUnitedFreak 3 years ago 2
Why can't ya do what ya want to do, damn man to many people playing god, god ain't come down and say hey don't release your book that's a damn shame
Wilmrbadguy 3 years ago 2
Indeed, these people are very arrogant to assume such power. Thanks for the supportive comment.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
woo hmm sounds exciting!! thanks DavidRandall for the send =)..
elviradark6 3 years ago 2
Thanks for the comment.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
Individualism, liberalism and private judgement are positive values of western culture that emerged DESPITE prevailing judeo-christian values IMO, but other than that I totally agree. These wingnuts should keep their indignation to themselves and shame in Waterstones for having no spine.
yeahwotevaman 3 years ago 3
I have no problem with their indignation, it is sort of comical, but stopping launches and harassing poets is unacceptable. Thanks for the support.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
I'm going to adapt a poem of mine, or write a new one, performance wise, purely for the purpose of trying to win a collection of your books. As to the actual issue and actions of Christian Voice, I'm neither here nor there. One can clearly see you're going to milk it for as much publicity as you can get.
TheDisexists 3 years ago
I cant wait to see your entry. We are certainly going to try and reclaim whatever we can from the mess Christian Voice has made; we lost a lot from that launch and this dogmatic organization continues to threaten patrick jones events.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
I'm sickened by this attack on the freedom of artistic expression, I'm no poet my self and can offer no poem of my own, the beat I can do is to share this video across youtube *****stars;)
Kabuki0009 3 years ago 2
Thanks, attention is very important so anything you can do (from replying to faving the vid) to increase views is really appreciated.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
Kabuki: Oh come on... you have to have at least one dirty limerick in you! :P
DavidRandallCurtis 3 years ago
I wish, the truth is I'm badly dyslectic, and I didn't learn to read properly and till I was twenty-two, and then it was only with the help of the dyslexia institute, so what little I know of poetry come from what I've leaned for my self in the past five years.
For the most part I get what most poems try to get across, but write one, that's a different ball game.
Kabuki0009 3 years ago 3
yeah man i agree with davidrandall!!!
everyone has a song to write!!! ;-)
thanks for the share man!!!
ianboonmusic 3 years ago 2
[haiku]
Speech, liberated:
sound waves for us to float on.
In Water stones sink
AlwaysReadTheLabel 3 years ago 3
Thats hilarious and brilliant. Thanks for enter this in the competition.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
I will definitely be doing this... sometime soon. I hope you get a lot of press out of this unfortunate circumstance.
ninapoetry 3 years ago 2
Thank you. Things are certainly looking up for patrick jones and his collection and there has been a lot of positive attention; from YouTube and elsewhere. I look forward to your poem.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
can it be posted as text? does it have to be read aloud? does the author need to be on cam? You see... I'd love to contribute but I've lost all my equipment cam/mic/etc in a recent move...
infernalikeness 3 years ago 2
A video response would be cool, but it is not obligatory. Text is fine. Feel free to post it in the comments section of this video or, if it is too long to fit the word limit, on my YouTube profile or as a PM sent to me.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
It is now sitting in you inbox. Thx. If I can muster the time I'll put it to video... but don't hold your breath. :D
infernalikeness 3 years ago 2
As I said before there is no obligation, it would just be cool to see you read it and videos are great for getting more attention. Thanks for the poem, its really interesting. And thanks for supporting artistic freedom. :)
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
I'm really crummy with poetry and after looking at Swift Satirical Poets, I'm intimidated. So I'll stick to a bit of haiku fun and look forward to what other creative minds have to offer.
the needle eye blinks
wealthy in the welfare line
parable advice
thanks for the heads up
deiloh 3 years ago 2
Thank you for your entry. You dont have to, but it would be great if you could do this as a quick vid response? Not obligatory though, everyone has limits on their time. Just cool you joined in. Dont worry too much about the Swift thing; its more of a general indicator of the kind of satire Im looking for rather than an entry rule. Anyway, thanks again, for the poem, comment and supporting artistic freedom.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Wake up people.Stop the Islamification of this once Christian country.
There are 1350 mosques in Britain and that number is growing rapidly...
There are no Christian churches in Saudi Arabi.
This is a war being raged upon our culture.
bnprenaissance 3 years ago
This video is about artistic freedom of speech; it is not an appropriate forum for your BNP inspired xenophobia.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
I hope this publicity will double it's sales. Just think of it as free advertising. The Christian voice has done you favour without realizing .
nbarrett100 3 years ago 2
I hope so too. Christian Voice's actions do have a history of backfiring; I've heard that Stephen Green (the organizations leader) currently owes a great deal of money in court costs for the Jerry Spring The Opera stuff. A deeply unpleasant man and a deeply unpleasant organization.
Thanks for the comment.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
Threats and bullying tactics, they don't sound like very christian attributes, but then, christians never really practice what they preach, do they.
unixhead101 3 years ago 2
Stephen Green and his group certainly don't. I wonder what Jesus would make of them and their hate.
Thanks for the comment.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
i find it absolutely unbelievable that when considering the mindset and actions of people such as stephen 'birdshit' green' and the supporters of organisations such as christian voice, it would appear that the intelligence of the human race has actually fallen dramatically during the last few decades.
whatever happened to "love thy neighbour" or "do as you would have others do unto you"?
this suggests to me that all intelligent people should noisily picket 'birdshit' green and christian voice
axiomizer 3 years ago 2
It is indeed alarming that stuff like this can still happen in twenty first century Britain. I also found myself wondering whether this kind of nonsense would have happened during the nineties. I suspect the like of Christian Voice, knowing that their extremism is a failing cause, are becoming more and more desperate to gain relevance.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
I've been reading about all this and had a look at the Stephen Greens Voice Website.
I picked up on it on the NME website.
Could you post the genuine offensive lines?
joesoap2006 3 years ago 2
Not without patrick jones permission, but I can say that one line that Green keeps citing is about Mary Magdalene and Jesus relationship.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
Oh look. Another company on my shit list. I feel a letter coming on.
thatgaybloke 3 years ago 2
Thanks. Its great that the response in favour of freedom of speech has been so strong from YouTube as well as elsewhere.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
I will do a video response, in Ireland athistIE is forming an Irish Atheist society, I think we need a Blasphemer Society, I will also go down to Waterstones and order my copy.
aZeroGodist 3 years ago 2
Thank you and thank you again. I look forward to your video response and I hope you enjoy patrick jones book.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
It is indeed. From an interview I've just heard on the beeb Stephen Green doesn't seem to have even read 'darkness is where the stars are'. I imagine Christian Voice just heard a few poems and decided that it is as good a target as any. As it has got him on the radio and TV Green is probably happy.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
another case of selective "freedom of speech"
Result0 3 years ago 3
Indeed, this hypocrisy is rife.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
Christians have been directly involved in censorship since 405, when Pope Innocentius (Innocent) I. proclaimed a list of prohibited books.
yourcamden 3 years ago 2
Stupidity needs censorship. Although I dont want to generalise, I know plenty good Christians who don't want to silence all opposition. As I say in the vid, Christian Voice does not represent all Christians, just one particularly ugly group.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
However the is a long history of Christian censorship. Pope Innocentius I. had a major book session.
The Renaissance started when Arabic scholars in Spain handed over copies of texts that had saved from Christian book burning sessions.
Those great authors include Soranus, Plato and Aristotle.
yourcamden 3 years ago 6
That's all true, Christian oppression is an historical fact and has done a lot to harm development in the arts and elsewhere, but I'm glad and recognize that at least some of Christianity has liberalised and surpassed this aspect of its past. It is a shame the likes of Christian Voice remain so firmly locked in this outmoded and disgracefully dogmatic mentality.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
That open letter was beautifully revealing. I'll do my part by not shopping at Waterstone's ever again. Not that they'll loose much business, as I've never even been inside one of their buildings yet.
Good luck with the contest and with your press.
hatethestate 3 years ago 3
Thank you.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
Damn, It's been a while since I've written any poetry, since English class in school, in fact, but I might just give it a go.
WizardJim 3 years ago 3
I hope you do. It doesnt have to be stunning or profound, amusing and fun will suffice.
Thanks for the fav and rating.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
I hate poetry with the burning heat of a thousand suns.
But I like and support this idea. =)
sy1234 3 years ago 2
Thanks for your support.
Perhaps you havent found the right poetry yet? Its a diverse medium.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago
> Perhaps you havent found the right poetry yet? Its a diverse medium.
Maybe. I hate by default, but I'm still open to the idea of liking it.
I assume it's like falling in love. It sneaks up on ya.
sy1234 3 years ago 2
Id say that is a very accurate description.
RowanFortuneWood 3 years ago