Stuffing Books With Gospel Tracts

[debrand]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQXFhAx63_Y

Tony Miano is asked in this video if it is ethical and legal to stuff tracts into books. He says that it is legal but advises that if asked to leave, the person should stop their activity for that day. He tells them to return the next day and continue with their book stuffing activity.

I wonder how they would react if someone shoved an atheist or pagan tract in one of their library books?

He also goes to Christians stores and stuffs his tracts into the book because those books aren't Christian enough to him.

[doggie]

better yet stuff their books with gay porn pics. what a waste of tree's. anyone that is converted by those lame tracts has to have a screw loose.

[Koala]

I'm surprised he gets away with it in the stores. It's lame either way.

[longskirtlotsakids]

Legally, I think it could be proven as free advertising, even for a non-profit. Coke and Pepsi can't advertise without copyrighting and fronting for ad space.

The authors or copyright holders to the books could sue them for libel and misrepresentation if they took it far enough- let's say a gay youth rights book was stuffed with pamphlets for counseling resources to "pray away the gay", That is not only advertising for a misguided branch of "health care", but it also corrupts and undermines the message of the author within the pages of the authors work.

[demgirl]

Meh. It's annoying. When I worked at Barnes and Noble, we found tracts in the books all the time. We knew who was doing it too, but there wasn't much we were allowed to do about it. But really, they usually fell out when someone flipped through and we'd just pick them up at the end of the day. Customers who found them didn't really complain -- just binned 'em on the way out of the store. Waste of paper though.

[maybeizfundie]

I would find that annoying, even if I didn't necessarily disagree with the beliefs presented. It's just....obnoxious and inappropriate, really. I don't go to the library or the bookstore looking for "church" or anything other than what I'm deliberately wanting to read or learn.

I did once run into a really, really, really odd family once, through a friend of mine. This friend was on the phone with Odd Mom and when she finished the call she turned to me slack-jawed and said "Her husband wants her to work in the library so she can weed out th "bad" books and hide them away. She wanted my advice."

[Rosa]

As long as they're not defacing the books, i'm happy. I know I've said this before, but in my hometown any "occult" or sexuality books were regularly defaced, and the library couldn't afford to replace them. So I'd go looking for information and things would be blacked out with marker or important pages would have been cut out with a razor blade.

I know some anti-sweatshop organizers who put sweatshop information slips into the pockets of clothing on the rack in stores; it's the same thing, except that there's no one on this green earth who hasn't heard of Jesus Christ and there are a lot of people buying clothing with no idea it was made in sweatshop conditions.

[ladypuglover]

I would find that annoying, even if I didn't necessarily disagree with the beliefs presented. It's just....obnoxious and inappropriate, really. I don't go to the library or the bookstore looking for "church" or anything other than what I'm deliberately wanting to read or learn.

I did once run into a really, really, really odd family once, through a friend of mine. This friend was on the phone with Odd Mom and when she finished the call she turned to me slack-jawed and said "Her husband wants her to work in the library so she can weed out th "bad" books and hide them away. She wanted my advice."

Odd mom would be fired in about an hour once the head librarian found out. Also if odd dad doesn't like the books, then he shouldn't read them. There is such a thing as self control.

[lilwriter85]

Tract stuffing is pretty annoying and I have heard and seen different organizations doing it. My aunt was a teenager when Carrie was released in theaters. She said the book was really popular for the first few years after release and a church in the area where my relatives lived did go to one bookstore and stuffed the Carrie books with religious pamphlets and she said she found a photocopied note from a pastor saying that the movie bashed religion.

The boyfriend that I had in high school used to buy video game magazines and around time that one of the Grand Theft Auto games was released, he found a tract inside that was obviously homemade that a url to Phil Chalmers' website.

[debrand]

When we went to the zoo, I found a tract near the chimpanzees. I threw it away.

[GeoBQn]

Once when I was using a library computer I found a tract slipped under the keyboard. Annoying, but not as bad as when they are mailed to me or slipped under my apartment door. Whenever I find tracts, I tear them up into little bits before throwing them out. Immature, but satisfying.

[apple1]

Seems like passive-aggressive behavior to me.

[musicalbookworm]

Not only is the book stuffing annoying, but if the tracts, or anything thicker than a piece of paper, are left in the book too long it does damage the spine.

Granted, this doesn't matter with modern mass market paper backs, but some numb nuts stuffing things into 19-20th c books in a research library....well, let's just say I'd go all Pearl on them.

[libmomj]

My husband got this Chick tract in his department's fill-the-boot drive for MDA. He saved it for me, and was a bit dismayed by how happy it made me. We don't get many tracts around here; in fact, the only other one I've personally seen was from a couple of Jehovah's Witness women at a garage sale.

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/1005/1005_01.asp

[JesusFightClub]

Done this, but not with, um, tracts.

It would be horrible if, say, a person realised he or she was gay and got a book out on their newfound sexuality from the library and a tract fell out. But some ideas should not go unchallenged.

[Swamptribe]

I've worked in bookstores for the last four years. I hate when people stuff tracts in books (gay and lesbian books are huge targets). Everything from religious tracts to anonymous stuff. When it was found, an employee used to have to go through the section looking for it to get rid of the junk. It's a waste of paper, and all it succeeds in doing is wasting some employees time, and polluting.

And yeah, I believe it is illegal, because a bookstore is private property, not public. Also, most retail centers have 'post no bills' or 'no soliciting' signs all over the place. We have actually kicked people out, including religious nuts, who were asking for donations from customers.

[JesusFightClub]

Oh yeah. I wouldn't do it in a bookstore. But I do cop to inserting material into library newspapers.

[bbfreethinker]

I found a tract today in the children's museum I work for. It was crumpled up and on the floor so it could have just fallen out of someone's pocket. The worst part is that the writing and artwork were definitely targeted to children, asking them if they knew they were sinners and needed to be saved. Just what every child needs to hear. :roll:

[Squeaky]

I'd love to find tracts in books! Then again, I'm a big weirdo atheist who, uh, collects religious propaganda literature.

I recently found 2 Chick tracts on a bus stop bench and literally squealed with delight. I've also got some Islamic stuff (came free with the free Koran they were handing out one day on the college campus where I work), a few odd Buddhist books from a train station, and a Scientology DVD that shipped to the receiving dock of a library I used to work at. But it's mostly stuff about Jesus.

[Buzzard]

LOVE IT! I never thought it was possible to have bad acting in a comic strip but BAM! Fo Sur that woud convince me!

So, If I check "no" in the box at the bottom and mail it back to them, what happens? Why even have a "no" box?

[Rosa]

my favorite found writing EVER was inside a copy of I Kissed Dating Goodbye I found at a thrift store - in it was a multipage note where two teens stuck in IKDG study were flirty - it was in two handwritings, all "your mad sexy your so hot i hate to wait" "see you tues b4 grind?" "you have mad sexy eyes"

I gave it to an ex-fundy friend and she had it on her bedroom door for ages.

[mirele]

I know people who stick information about a certain space-alien cult in books published by that outfit.

http://youfoundthecard.com/ << website

[Childless]

I used to work in a bookstore. We actually found a couple of idiot teens stuffing tracts in books one day. They were kindly escorted out of the store. The crappy thing about it was that I had the joy of going through every book in that section and removing all the tracts. Yeah, that was fun time. *eye roll*

Nobody has the right to stuff tracts in books in any location. If you don't like the idea the book is putting forth, then don't read the book. If it bothers you enough, write a book of your own about why the idea is bad. You do not own those books. They are not your property, so you do not have the right to deface them or stuff your crap into them.

[Marian the Librarian]

It happens regularly in my public library system. When I find 'em, I shred 'em.

[JesusFightClub]

Nobody has the right to stuff tracts in books in any location. If you don't like the idea the book is putting forth, then don't read the book. If it bothers you enough, write a book of your own about why the idea is bad. You do not own those books. They are not your property, so you do not have the right to deface them or stuff your crap into them.

Don't agree...well, I do about defacing things, but not about inserting things. Given the content, that could not be shutting down conversation, but opening up a space for it. Mirele's example is one of that.

If this was done in reverse and "pray the gay away" books (such as might be bought for fundie teens struggling with accepting their sexuality by parents) had a little card put into them with a helpline number where those kids could call and get REAL advice, would you object?