Bible Libel? [NY Fed Ct Dismisses Suit Seeking Warning Labels on Bible]

Red Harvest ^ | April 2005

[d-back]

Hmmm. Easy to laugh off this one--what federal judge would order a bible publisher to put warning stickers in their books? But note the commentary by the source, and query whether some future court won't go the other way. And also wonder: What would a Canadian court have done?

[struggle]

Heaven forbid they get around to "communist Manifesto:"

"The ideas in this book have killed over a hundred million people."

[mlc9852]

Sitting here scratching my head.

[raccoonradio]

>>warning stickers in their books

PARENTAL ADVISORY: EXPLICIT SCRIPTURE

[wideawake]

Woo-hoo! Finally those poor put-upon Amalekites have their day in court.

I wonder if there were micus curiae briefs filed by the International Perizzite Union and the Jebusite Anti-Defamation League.

[flevit]

"I WANT THE TRUTH"

"YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!!"

[untenured]

A federal court in New York last month dismissed a lawsuit alleging that the Bible contains passages that are defamatory toward members of certain nationalities or ethnic groups.

Have I missed something? Is defamation of "members of certain nationalities or ethnic groups" now actionable at common law? I know Europe and Canada have taken these so-called "hate speech" measures much farther, but I hope that the plaintiffs here were just making up legal principles out of whole cloth rather than relying on some actual statute or precedent.

[Americanexpat]

Maybe the judge ought to compare the passages in the Bible with passages from the Koran.

[Tennessee_Bob]

Speaking as a representative of the Amalekite Defense League, we're very upset at the ruling of the court.

[wideawake]

"The ideas in this book have killed over a hundred million people."

Really?

Even if we were to conclude that all the external killing in history done by Jews or Christians over the past 5000 years was inspired by the Bible rather than ethnic hatred, I don't think we could get to ten million.

The Communist Manifesto, however . . .

[newgeezer]

Ping.

Indeed, the Sodomites are one such maligned group.

[clearsight]

If the Bible is defamatory then the Koran cannot be excluded from such a such suit as well.

[biblewonk]

What a joke.

[d-back]

Dr. K, any comments?

[Old Landmarks]

The fact that this kind of nonsense was even looked at, even for a split second, shows you how far removed from reality the court has become.

If someone ever mentions something like this again I believe those in charge should simply play a corny old laugh-track, loudly, to show disdain for something so utterly far-off from reality.

The founding fathers quoted the Bible all the time, and considered it to be wonderful for guidance. This litigant needs to move, or he needs to study history, then apologize.

[Jeff Gordon]

what federal judge would order a bible publisher to put warning stickers in their books?

None, hopefully. But this is same mentality that leads to evolution theory warning stickers being put onto science textbooks. Same idea, different topic.

[weegee]

The warning on a science book was that evolution was "a theory, not established fact".

That got struck down although it remains the truth.

Religion is taken on faith (although some historical facts can be confirmed). Some have a problem with the faith of others. Some have a problem with theories being pressed as absolute fact (which changes when hoaxes like piltdown man are exposed).

Can we put a sticker on science texts that Global Warming is a pseudoscience as well? We are only a few decades from the warnings of a looming ice age.

[Gil4]

WARNING: Contents are living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword...

[Millee]

"Place your hand on the....uhmmm......."