SHOULD A GUIDE TO INTERNET SEX be on the shelf of a computer bookstore? Is it immoral, and do we booksellers have a social responsibility to keep this kind of book off the shelves? Or do we have the right to read it, and sell it, if we so desire?
One reader wants them removed. Check out this email we received the other day.
Hello,
I am a concerned potential customer who wants to make a request. I just want to make you guys aware (as all books sellers should know) that there is no reason to sell books that encourage any sort of immorality such as idolatry, blasphemes, or in the case of one of your books that you sell encouraging the act of adultery. I thought your site was about selling computer books but instead it is not just about that but the immoral things that can be done with them. This world is so corrupt with child porn, adult porn, raping, homosexuality, and the like that it frustrates me when someone creates or sells a book that helps people further these acts. I do not mean to e-mail you guys to beat you up in any way, but as someone who knows the consequences of such things and who now is standing up against it I want you all to know I do not appreciate such products. I use to be addicted to porn until several years ago I was released by the grace of Jesus Christ, so I know what it leads to and what it does to your relationships.As Jesus said in Matthew 5:27-29 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
And isn’t adultery and child porn illegal in this country anyways.
Please remove such products from your store.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Name and website witheld.example of product: ISBN10: 0789717980 Complete Idiot’s Guide to Sex on the Net
My Response:
Name withheld,
I’m not quite sure what to make of this. On one hand, I appreciate what you are saying and doing. On the other, I don’t want to be a book-censurer. I will have to get this book down and see exactly what it is about. For all I know, it could be a directory of places to go with sex problems, instead of places to commit adultery.
And yes, this is a computer bookstore, but the internet is a huge part of computing, and we carry a lot of books about the internet in general – internet cookbooks, internet gardening sites, internet pet sites, etc.
I would like to put your email on our blog and see how our readers feel about it. I will, of course, withhold your name and website.
Whatever the case, I’m glad to hear that you’ve overcome your addiction. Real life is so much better!
Regards,
Jill Armour
computerbooksonline.com
Should this book be available to those who want it? Or should it be the responsibility of booksellers to not carry a book like this? My own thinking is – I feel like movie makers should be more responsible in what they feed to our kids. So maybe I should remove the book? Then again, I’m sure there’s someone-or-two out there who is married to a programmer who spends way too much time at the computer, who is “addicted” to programming at the computer – but I’m not going to remove all the programming books because of them.
(AfterNote: I did check the book, and it contains information for “fulfilling your fantasies” on the net, and information on where to find answers to your sex questions or problems. Plus some other stuff, like online dating info. So it’s partly porn-ish and partly educational.)
What do you think?
