SpeakSpeak News

“Like forbidden dissenters in some intolerant land, a couple hundred families took refuge in a church basement in Washington yesterday for a morning of dangerous television. So controversial were the images that the Bush administration wants its underwriting money back. So subversive was its plot that the local public television station refused to air it.”

Debbie Does Dallas?

Nope. Buster Does Vermont.

From What Has Floppy Ears And a Subversive Tale? in the Washington Post.

The Russian Government has decided to pre-emptively “verify the morality” of an avant-garde opera to be performed at Moscow’s famed Bolshoi Theatre. The lower house of parliament has voted for a resolution requiring the legislative “culture committee” to fully review the opera before it opens later this month.

According to the legislation’s sponsor, “The Bolshoi should produce the great classic shows such as Giselle or Swan Lake. If it stages modern works, they must be acceptable from a public morality point of view.”

He also stated that the legislation is intended to “send a message.”

When it happens there, it’s “repression.” When it happens here, it’s “family values.”

From Agence France-Presse.

A Virginia school district has cancelled a lecture by mystery novelist Greg Herren after the American Family Association objected to his sinful gayness.

A resident who protested Herren’s visit said, “There are plenty of avenues for folks with this particular opinion or position to express their First Amendment rights, but I don’t believe a public school is the proper avenue without input from parents.”

School District Cancels Gay Author Event

Two Dallas moms discuss parenting in the age of indecency in the Dallas Morning News. They give a good synopsis of both sides of the argument.

Gail: I agree with the president [who stated that parents ought to control TV], and I remain optimistic that more parents will curb the role of television in their children’s lives. As a conservative, I’m an advocate of limited government, especially in areas such as media consumption, where we are free to make our own choices. Parents, in aggregate, can wield tremendous influence in the marketplace if we refuse to indiscriminately accept everything the media offer to our children.

Ellen: By the president’s logic, if we don’t like air pollution, should we just stop breathing? The media create an environment, and we can’t raise our children in a bubble. Placing all the responsibility on families and none on large media conglomerates is like sending David out with pebbles to fight Goliath on steroids.

Who Has the Remote? (Registration required, or use BugMeNot.)

The Traditional Values Coalition is slamming Shrek 2.

“When you take Pinocchio and show him with women’s underwear on, or you have a transvestite bisexual person, what is that trying to accomplish in the mind of a child?” [Rev. Louis] Sheldon asked. “You’re bringing in a social disorder, gender identity conflict, and you’re throwing it to little children. This is like pumping and positively showing alcoholism and brutality.”

In the Charlotte Observer.

Some churches are turning to the teachings of…. Sherriff Andy. And Tom Hanks. And Nemo.

At Pine Valley Church of Christ in Wilmington, N.C., churchgoers watch an episode of “The Andy Griffith Show” and discuss its moral lessons with John Bair, family life involvement minister.

In a session based on the episode “Andy on Trial,” Bair focused on themes such as respecting authority, revenge, boasting and the value of friendship.

While the spirituality of “The Andy Griffith Show” never occurred to many of the program participants, they say they see its moral messages after participating in the Mayberry Series.

Preaching Morals Via Harry Potter, Homer Simpson and Andy Griffith