Alece, I really like the sound of “cognitive dissonance”. I must admit I did have to look up it’s meaning.

“cognitive dissonance” is an uncomfortable feeling or stress caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously”

I may be lucky in that I have a hard enough time holding one idea at a time in my head.

My guess is this means you are open minded, willing to examine both sides of an issue. I think that is a very good thing, as long as you do get around to making a decision at some point.

“obscene word? that’s hard to define across the board. so much of it is culturally relevant. how about… if you wouldn’t say it to your grandmother, it’s probably obscene???”

That rule might work depending on the vocabulary of your grandmother. I have meet a few grandmothers who could swear like sailors, my sister being one. I have even dated a few .

you do have me bent on reading “on the road”. it’s been added to my amazon wishlist!

i’ve read (and underlined) many a phrase that captures me. the only one i can think of off the top of my head is “cognitive dissonance”. that seems to describe so well what i feel most of the time.

obscene word? that’s hard to define across the board. so much of it is culturally relevant. how about… if you wouldn’t say it to your grandmother, it’s probably obscene???

book banning — there’s a lot of things out there that i wouldn’t choose to read, but i don’t think books should be banned.

1 John 1:9 (New International Version)

“9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

The part of the above passage that my eyes go to is “purify us from all unrighteousness”. The word “purify” is such a strong action word.

My perception is that the Bible serves to inspire people when there is an emotional connection, the readers God, between the words and person searching for that inspiration.

I am writing a post about “inspiration”. We all need it, even though our source may be different.

I also agree that most of us known when a word might not be appropriate for the person(s) we are talking to. If the word doesn’t feel right we shouldn’t use it.

I will guess we disagree on which words may be obscene. As you say we all have control over what books we choice to read. Parents do have the responsibility to control, as much as possible, what their children are exposed to.

I think every book that has ever been written should be available in public libraries, within the constraints of funding. I think there should be a public section where the books are out on display. I would also like to see a “private” section where the public has to ask the librarian to get the any book they want to read.. Each community can decide for itself which books are public and which private.

Obscene – that is a tough one – I try to be sensitive to those around me. Ed, I think we know when we are being obscene for the most part. Some of the comedians today can be very obscene – and they know it.

Censorship – some books are just filth – they contribute nothing. My thought? Don’t read it and it won’t be published. And – keep it out of the hands of minors.

Just my thoughts bro !