[excerpted from a long diatribe explaining how Shakespeare is diabolical...]
" If we consider the ungodly thoughts of Shakespeare we will uncover the truth. In Hamlet, he portrays the idea that life is simply a dream or a stage. Hamlet says "there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so."
Oh, how foolish we have been. How could we allow our innocent children to be manipulated by such doctrine. They may even begin to question the theology of the Bible itself. Is it any wonder that many children have departed from the faith of our fathers? In Romeo and Juliet, the young couple betray their parents and secretly meet. In the end, they commit suicide in a mistaken understanding of love and life. Do we then have any excuse for our own children in society who follow what they are taught in Shakespeare's writings? When murder, witchcraft, depression, and suicides are common among our youth, how can we even wonder how it all happened?
My dear readers, let us all Step out of the Darkness of delusion. You may think it is funny or a cliché when you read this, but the Bible, which was written through the inspiration of God himself, is the only literary work we really need. If you feel the urge to laugh or scorn my thoughts, may I suggest you try it? I did a little experiment with a teenage girl who was caught in the dark, gothic world of which she found pleasure. I told her to write out her thoughts at the moment. (Which were depressing to say the least.) Then I brought her an intense, spiritual novel to read. I told her to again, write her thoughts after she finished reading the book. The difference was miraculous. She felt like a new person. The contrast was un - mistakingly extreme. She even felt the presence of the Holy Spirit and began to witness to her Gothic friends."
[much more on the site]
86 comments
That's right. To save one's children one must deprive them of some of the greatest works in the english language. Good thinking, SW.
Now how is it that you know Shakespeare is evil? Did you read it? If you didn't then STFU. If you did, explain why you are uneffected by such horrific text.
They may even begin to question the theology of the Bible itself.
Aye, there's the rub...
It is clear that Sharon never have read the Bible - a more vile mess of random words is almost impossible to find. Murder, rape, molestation, genocide and injustice (an so on) are a centerpiece in the "good" book.
Sharon desperately needs deprogramming!
And I find it rather funny that she is quoting Thess 5:22 in her text - Thess 5:21 has more relevance when it comes to her limited "researh" on "evil" in classic litterature.
Hee! Hamlet's soliloquy.
I wonder whyever anyone takes it so seriously, since it's basically Hamlet, knowing that he's being spied on, spouting a bunch of random crap to convince them that he's insane.
--GF
I know he's not that great of a writer, but sheesh even I didn't think his stuff was vile filth.
As for the "difference" its either complete BS, she's lying to you, or more likely she's just a child and her mood changes as often as the wind.
Oh my GOD.
[puts on English Ph.D. hat]
YOU ARE A STUPID, STUPID BITCH.
When Hamlet says that there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so (II. ii) he is speaking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, whom he knows to be perfidious false friends whose only "loyalty" is to their own ambition. Hamlet is a cruelly sarcastic character who uses his intelligence and facility with language to fuck with the people who think they're fucking with him.
Also, no one is butt ignorant enough to give Hamlet to a small child. It's too complex and too disturbing. I love that play so much I have a poster of the full text on my wall, two feet from where I'm typing this, and I wouldn't give it to my 10-year-old son.
Of course I wouldn't give him your ghastly hateful Bible to read either, but I'm not a moron like you.
SHIT, this made me mad.
Yeah right. Let's not read Shakespeare, he's just too awful. Instead, let's have our kids read a book that is filled with murder, incest, rape and the constant message that everyone is evil just because they are alive. Oh, and how many murders have been commited in the name of your god? Except you probably don't consider brutally beating someone to death for being gay to be a crime, do you?
FURTHERMORE...
The big question with which Hamlet struggles is whether or not there is "special providence in the fall of a sparrow" (V.ii), in other words, whether R & G and Claudius and Polonius are correct and there is nothing to our existence but selfish ambitions, in which case the murder of Hamlet's father is just a successful political move, or they're wrong and the universe is ordered around absolutes of Right and Wrong, in which case Hamlet is obligated to "set it right" (I.v.).
Hamlet ultimately decides that he's going with Order and Rightness.
HOW IS THAT IMMORAL?? STUPID BITCH.
I thought Act I, Scene ii was a little early for R & G. Heck, the ghost of Hamlet pater hasn't even shown up yet.
Oh, Ms. White, what was that spiritually intense novel you brought her? I bet you'll say it's the Holy Bible. I've read it. It's a bit boring in the middle. Sad ending.
Sheesh, this woman makes Ophelia look totally rational. What is it about fundies that they don't even grasp the concept of literature? I just cannot fathom how it can be that THEY cannot fathom the concept of fiction!
Shell: I have one of those 1-page plays as well, Macbeth , displayed above my fireplace. Cool stuff!
Oh I get it now its not Ozzy or Iron Maiden or Slipknot that's leading our children towards the forces of darkness but Shakespeare! Thanks ever so much for clearing that up.
How could good parents ever let their children read a book full of murder, genicide, rape, incest, more genicide, witchcraft, even more genicide, magick.... oops I was thinking of a different work of fiction ;-)
@Sharon White
Oh, how foolish we have been. How could we allow our innocent children to be manipulated by such doctrine. They may even begin to question the theology of the Bible itself.
You say that as if it is bad.
In Romeo and Juliet, the young couple betray their parents and secretly meet. In the end, they commit suicide in a mistaken understanding of love and life.
So what is love to you?
... the Bible ... is the only literary work we really need. ... Then I brought her an intense, spiritual novel to read. ...
Did she just torpedo her own claim here?
I honestly will never understand the fundies' propensity toward sheltering their kids from EVERYTHING. Lady, do you think it's good for your kids if you make sure they never see anything of the world, because it might possibly involve something negative?
Gawd. You'll relegate your kids to "Dick and Jane" books till they graduate, won't you? Oh, no I'm sorry, we can't have our kids reading a book that has the word "Dick" in it, and where a male and female are allowed to be near each other with no parents around.
Dumbass! Shakespeare wrote those plays as entertainment. Not as moral guidelines. The point behind Romeo and Juliet wasn't to tell kids to disobey your parents, but to show how stupid and senseless hate and rivalries are. Hamlet is one of the most realistic and human characters ever to come out of English literature, and if you missed the part about there being a special providence in the fall of a crow, then it sucks to be you.
I don´t think that there is a correlation between your daughter(who probably never read Shakespeare, to begin with)and Shakespeare. Second, you´re unable to differentiate life from fiction. Shakespeare wrote those works for people OF HIS TIME and was meant to entertain, not to set moral guidelines. Second, the Bible is not a medicine by itself. It´s full of violence in some passages and actually, it was meant to be an apollogy of it in its time and place and in certain circumstances. If you´re an ignorant, at least don´t be proud of it.
1. Hamlet was babbling. He didn't necessarily mean everything he said. Jesus.
2. In Romeo and Juliet, their families were far more immoral than they. They'd been murdering each other for years.
3. You said you were going to prove that all we need is the Bible. You said you gave that goth chick a different book. How does that prove that all we need is the Bible?
IDIOT!
Shakespeare was one of the most brilliant playwrites EVER...and your suggesting that we not read his works because of a few bad things in his stories?
I wouldn't suggest a child read Hamlet because for one thing its shakespears LONGEST play, and its just simply to damn complex for any child to understand. i wouldn't forbid them to if they want though.
YOUR bible on the otehr hand has FAR more "evil" things in it.
I pity that your childeren will never be exposed to Shakespeares's work. I pity your childeren because they are your childeren.
...but the Bible, which was written through the inspiration of God himself, is the only literary work we really need.
But it doesn't answer the salient question in my life right now: Will Harry Potter die at the end of book 7?
dykitty: Shit! I knew someone was going to beat me to that one.
We better get this, 'Bill Shade-Shaq, Shakespeare' on the ban list immediately! We must nip this in the bud before it spreads worldwide!
maybe she's a kjv bible thumper and the olde English letters made her think it was the polar opposite of her treasured book?
That's nice, don't expose your children to fiction and explain the difference between reality and fantasy. Just let them find it for themselves and hope they somehow found enough brainpower on their own to understand those concepts, (the reason children have the problems you listed is because of parents like you who find it easier to not let them decide what they like on their own and then take an interest by being there to help them along with any issues that may come up for them - again they are going to discover the world with or without you no matter how hard you try to keep them from it) meanwhile warping their sense of reality by teaching them that the mythology of the bible is all they need to live a good and happy life.
A most notable coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise breaker, the owner of no one good quality. (All's Well That Ends Well).
Persons doubting Wm. Shakespeare's authorship, read this here website:
http://shakespeareauthorship.com/
Yeah, the naysayers regarding authorship don't have a lot of credibility in English departments.
Also, Hamlet is neither crazy nor babbling. He's pretending to be crazy but is still very careful about what he says while appearing to babble. Everything Hamlet says is important, which is one of the (many) reasons that's such a fantastic play.
I highly recommend Branagh's movie version, by the way. It's long but he's awesome and Kate Winslet's Ophelia is glorious.
I have yet to see Branagh's "Hamlet" but I do want to get around to it one day, not just because of the director but because it is a complete production of Hamlet - nothing edited from the original play. (I was rather disappointed by the Mel Gibson version, especially given that Mel can only play babbling insanity.)
"Henry V" was absolutely incredible.
Hmm, I've seen Jacobi, Branagh and Olivier do Hamlet, and I can't really decide which I prefer. (Not Mel fucking Gibson, that's for sure). I do rate Olivier over Branagh for Henry V, though. Fantastic film.
I don't even know if I should laugh at this or just weep for the death of literature. And sanity.
Also, I'd say the thing she should most be concerned about is the abundance of naughty jokes in Shakespeare. He was catering to the groundlings, after all.
Damn I love that man. And Hamlet fucking rocks.
@Tyro: "the abundance of naughty jokes ..." >> Nah, they'd go right over her head
Duke Vincentio:Why should he die, sir?
Lucio: Why? For filling a bottle with a tundish.
M4M,III-2
I saw a big leather bound gold imprinted version of teh collected works of Shakespeare a while back. I almost bought it because it will look so good on between my other books. I'd probably never read it, but damn, just think about how it would look.
Then I turned the book upside down and saw that it cost 50 euro (US$68) and decided that I hadn't that much to spend.
Branagh is a fucking genius at Shakespeare. I LOVE and ADORE his Much Ado about Nothing with every fiber of my being. His Loves Labours Lost is brilliant and imaginative. I would say the only Shakespeare movie that surpasses both of those, and it's not by Branagh, is the Midsummers Nights Dream with Stanley Tucci, Rupert Everret, and Michelle Pfiefer. That is pure brilliance.
But I love Branagh.
Great, as if fundamentalism isn't bad enough, now we have Neo-Puritanism. Check out the rest of her site if you don't believe me.
If we spirits have offended, think but this, and all is mended, that you have but slumbered here, while these visions did appear...
But it doesn't answer the salient question in my life right now: Will Harry Potter die at the end of book 7?
LISA: "How does the Harry Potter series end?"
ROWLING: [exasperated sigh] "He grows up and marries you. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
LISA: [contented sigh] "Oh, yes!"
-- The Simpsons
Sounds like you're condoning book-burning.
By the way, making claims without evidence of the event does not equal proof.
I can say that I taught a duck to eat with chopsticks, but that doesn't make it true.
Oh, and I believe you missed the point of Shakespeare's plays.
Let me see your research paper and journal then.
And one subject is hardly an experiment, it's a case study, and that's being generous.
"You may think it is funny or a cliché when you read this, but the Bible, which was written through the inspiration of God himself, is the only literary work we really need."
For this alone, you are a stupid fuckwit who should have her children taken away from her. I am saddened when I think of the incredible fantasies and adventures you're denying your children on such mindless grounds. Learn to differentiate between reality and fiction, moron.
Hamlet is hardly a children's bedtime story. By the time you are able to read and understand Shakespeare you're not an innocent child anymore.
"Follow what they are taught in Shakespeare's writings"? It's a fictional story, stupid!
Gothic novels can be intense and spiritual too, can't they?
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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