Right, I’ve actually always liked the term. Something I really worry about in the age of social media is that people can put out the appearance of being a good person, while not actually being one. It’s a pretty serious problem, when someone is signalling they are an inclusive employer, etc, but they actually aren’t.
I’m just quoting because I’m signaling that you have fucking nailed it.
When that drug warrior gambling addict wrote The Book of Virtues it seemed like the righties were fine with virtue signaling. But now with Trump as their front man they’ve lost hope of credibly claiming any moral superiority, so they have to sneer at the very idea of virtue.
The vile slime they post everywhere instead is a kind of viciousness signaling.
Did Bill Bennett actually claim that gambling was immoral?
No, no, there’s nothing wrong with his particular vices. Just ask him.
I guess we each get to write our own book?
Those of us who weren’t locked up for decades for drug crimes anyway.
When you need to mold the minds of the youth, release a new board game!
They need to do a new “Mystery Date” about the horrors of dating, then.
Turn this into a board game?:
Well, GSA is in charge of buildings, after all . . .
Hmmmmm… (Warning: Autoplay Video)
Naturally.
just like when the cops investigate themselves
I thought he was Jeshua ben Miriam…son of Miriam.
He didn’t become Christian till he died…my goodness, no wonder everyone argues over religion, it’s SO confusing!
“replica and inert explosives”… *facepalm*
They’ve since seen the silliness of the position, but it was still pretty dumb in the first place.
WTF????????????
ETA:
She added: “We really don’t get into censorship in such selections other than making sure that what we put in our school libraries are age-appropriate materials for our classrooms.”
I think this school superintendent needs to look up the definition of “censorship”
I wouldn’t count this in Random Silly Grins, although certainly it is silly.
I’ve managed to spot a few of Rowling’s literary sources over the years. In the Name of the Rose has a herbalist monk named Severus, and the monks of his order drink pumpkin juice. The monastery itself is like a giant stone puzzle, and may have inspired some of the descriptions of Hogwarts. I think I’ve spotted some influences from John Le Carre’s George Smiley novels too.
She pulls from British folklore as well, but since those don’t trace back to a single book usually I don’t always catch those.
I’ve never had the stomach to read the Malleus Maleficarum, the infamous witchfinder book first published in the 15th century, but whenever this sort of thing comes up, I think Rowling must have at least browsed it.
“These books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception,” Rev Dan Reehil wrote. “The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text.”
A Catholic can’t claim this with a straight face unless they’re referring to the Malleus, pretty much. Bad news for Rev Reehil: the authors made that shit up. So if Rowling used it as a reference for curse and spell names (possible, since all her terms sound Latin-ish), they’re going to sound “real” to anyone credulous enough to take the Malleus at its word.
And I can’t find a reference on-line, but I know I’ve been told/have read more than once that it was discovered in the 19th century that their permission to publish was discovered to be a forgery. That is, they never had papal blessing.
Even if they did publish with permission, their claims about witches have been contested nearly since the first publication. From a scholarly point of view, it seems to be much more interesting for the attitudes it captures and the damage it did than for any actual witch behaviour it captures.
Thanks! That’s very interesting.
Yeah, I think I should have put this in the Wha. . . this is the stupidest thing I’ve read thread.