Why I'm not linking cookbooks to Amazon ever again

posted on: Friday, November 12, 2010




I made a personal decision long ago that if anyone molested my children I would kill them. It's un-Mormon of me, it's illegal, it's twisted. But I would kill them.

When I read about Amazon putting the e-book "A Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure" on sale  I felt sick and upset and then sick again. First of all Amazon has censored items in the past and the press release about keeping this book on sale because they're protecting Freedom of Speech is BS! Here is the thing, I don't believe that you have the right to say whatever you want. I don't believe that a book like this being sold is protecting freedom of speech. I don't. I've been reading News Paper articles about this controversy, I've been on blogs, and on twitter. Oh twitter, your power baffles me.

Bloggers, bless their hearts, went up in arms calling for a boycott against Amazon on Wednesday when techcruch posted about this book on their blog. One report stated that over 30,000 mommy bloggers contacted Amazon or blogged/twittered/FB calling for an Amazon boycott in less than 24 hours. Today the book is no longer on sale.

Lots of thoughts.
First,  I think it's phenomenal how mommy blogging is powerful.
Second, I think Amazon is stupid and clearly irresponsible. With only 2 weeks left  before the biggest shopping day of the year they clearly did not think this through. If you have 30,000 mommy bloggers calling for an Amazon boycott right before the Holidays then their sales will suffer. Most of the items I purchase, not food related (except for cook books) are off Amazon. I buy a lot of things from Amazon. As I'm sure many of you do as well. Now, I will move my purchasing powers elsewhere, thank you very much. I understand that Amazon sells billions of things. It sells books on how to build bombs. It sells video games that simulates rape. It sells very distasteful items. However, selling a book that has this description.

This is my attempt to make pedophile situations safer for those juveniles that find themselves involved in them, by establishing certian rules for these adults to follow. I hope to achieve this by appealing to the better nature of pedosexuals, with hope that their doing so will result in less hatred and perhaps liter sentences should they ever be caught.


is simply above my tolerance level.
 Here is why; first I know the affects and repercussions being molested has on an individual. It may not define you but it does scar you. Second, pedophiles are extremely threatening for many reasons. First, sex has to be consensual always. Children can not consent. Second, My life is dedicated to my children. Infinite hours are spend so that they are safe, healthy, and happy. When someone decides that their sexual pleasure is more important than the safety, health, and happiness of a child then we have a problem. When we travled to Bahia this year we saw so many campaigns fighting against child prostitution, trying so very hard to keep those who are disenfranchised safe from sex tourism.  Then I come here and the same place where I buy Enzo's lego set for Christmas sells a book that has step-by-step instruction on how to lure children into having sex with adults makes me sick. I am thrilled that mommy bloggers spoke up. I'm thrilled that our purchasing power is strong and that it gains such a strong voice and that voice is being heard. I am saddend that the reason we have a voice is because we are consumers. I'm saddened that Amazon only pulled the book off their shelves because we threatened to do our Christmas shopping somewhere else and not because this book is so obviously morally and ethically wrong. I think that the book should have been pulled out immediately before mommy bloggers even said anything.  I'm not stupid. I am aware that pedophiles will exist with or without this book. I know. But that is besides the point.


The point is that as a society we have decided that children have rights. They need to be safe. It's frustrating that we point fingers at developing countries "look at child labor, look at child prostitution, look how many kids don't go to school." I agree with you, it's horrible and we need to change all of that. But to say that it's o.k to sell a guidebook for pedophiles because we have the right to say what we want and the right to buy what we want, in my mind is worse. 


I want my Enzo safe. When I was his age I was molested by a neighbor. It 's one of my earliest memories. I want Enzo's 4 year old memories to be filled to the brim, over flowing, taken for granted even, of happy moments. Innocent moments. Always!  

32 comments:

  1. Thank you, Da. Thank you for speaking up and taking action. This makes me sick to my stomach. I'm disgusted by what Amazon is doing; their policy for censoring books is inconsistent to say the least and to stand behind something like this just blows my mind. I agree with you completely.

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  2. You are very brave and I agree with all you have written. We don't have the other problems with mistreating children that some countries do but it is worse because we should know better! Being molested changes who a child is and will become. It is the worst thing that can happen to a child and it is up to us as Mom's to be vigilant and fight the battles that our children should be too innocent to even have on their radar. Sorry if I'm rambling, it is so frustrating when wrong is hidden behind freedom of speech.

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  3. I was disgusted when I saw that Amazon had listed this book for sale. I agree with you -- there are limits to the freedom of speech. Speech can be destructive, and anything that puts people at jeopardy, especially children, shouldn't be tolerated. I'm so glad you took a stand on this issue. It's such an important one.

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  4. I love you Damaris...for your honesty and strength to stand up for what is right.
    You are inspiring

    ~Melissa

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  5. oh, the power of blogging. that really disgusts me about amazon. i agree, freedom of speech.. to an extent. that pic of baby maria is heartstopping, and the cute video of enzo dancing is too..

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  6. i love you for writing this. it makes me cry when you talked about enzo. and brought out memories of my own that i hide. i am too protective of my kids (in a freakish way) and my husband can't understand why.

    i am so proud of you for writing this and for the Band of Mothers that gets things done.

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  7. Very Powerful toughts!!! I am with you and I am not buying anything on Amazon.com anymore!!!!

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  8. I could not agree with you more, Damaris. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I use amazon to purchase most of the items in my home, aside from groceries, and this will definitely impact how I shop in the future.

    Cheers,
    Melinda

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  9. Oh my I didn't know about this. I'm withdrawing my use of Amazon as well. Very wrong. Freedom of Speach is important in so many ways however this example is abusing it and can only cause harm. thanks for informing us. Our children are to precious.

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  10. This whole thing is crazy. For lots and lots of reasons.
    I think you've effectively convinced any crazies out there to leave your kids alone.
    I wish it wasn't something I worried about.

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  11. I have other reasons not to love Amazon (I heart independent store owners, books, toys etc).

    Total agreement: you are brave & total agreement in wanting to protect these sweet bunnies of yours (ours, all of ours). And had a close family member who was molested (by a stranger) as a child so this is something I do feel near the bone. AND yet, always wondering how to balance fear vs nurturing independence because I don't want to be so scared I make my kids scared of everything. That's general. That's about fear that defies reality. That's not about pedophiles.

    No reason for Amazon to sell books about how to lure children or how to build bombs. That's a choice. Free speech may say you can write 'em. But don't sell them.

    May your children be safe. May they grow to be free feel the world is theirs; that's how you live, caring about it all & I am so trusting that's how they will live too. What a great role model they have.

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  12. Amen. Need I say more? I think you've said it perfectly.

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  13. I can't believe they would sell such an obviously, awful book. I will be doing my shopping elsewhere, and I do love shopping on Amazon.com. Thank you Damaris for the enlightenment. I have 6 grandchildren, and would also kill someone if they stole their innocence, and soul in such a way!

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  14. Bradley I saw your follow up comment on Facebook. There are lots of things I don't agree with. I think pornography is a sick industry. I do and it's worrisome how much child pornography has increased. No I don't think breast feeding is pornography. I think people like to throw that in the mix to confuse things and disempower woman. would anyone say that a picture of a guy eating is pornography because he uses his mouth to give oral sex? Absurd right?

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  15. oh my god!!! i hadn't heard about this in australia. i am so disgusted! someone at amazon should be accountable! how many people did this go past before it was even put up on amazon?? too many! who published this book?! it's not good enough that amazon took it down. it should NEVER have been available. ergh! i feel sick to my stomach and will never ever buy anything from amazon. ever.

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  16. i just posted about this on my facebook. i don't care that amazon have since taken it down. it's not good enough. i will NEVER EVER shop at amazon again.

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  17. Metta, thanks for your input. I'm so happy to hear about apple and their standards. I was worried when i started reading your comment I was like "oh no.." as I'm working on installing our new macbook. I'm glad it was positive.

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  18. i am SO glad to hear this!!! i saw it on yahoo.com and i didn't even click the newslink because it was so awful--i didn't even want to read about it!!!!! i am not a blogger, but i am a mom, and i am so proud of all the mommy bloggers who stood together and made their voices heard! amazon has done a superb job of disgracing themselves! i thought there was already a law against this kind of thing, so i wasn't even ever worried about it! it's not about freedom of speech--if it's illegal to act out the speech, then the 'speech' part should be automatically punishable as well. encourage it and talk about it--but no will ever actually act on it??!! on what planet does THAT ever happen?? absolutely ridiculous! again, so proud of all the mommy bloggers!!

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  19. oh, Damaris. I'm so sorry for your childhood stolen.

    You've just helped me answer your question from months ago: why do I homeschool? I want to preserve my children's innocence for as long as possible.

    Here's to their filled to the brim, over flowing, taken for granted even, happy moments!

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  20. I think too, it's one thing for the book to be written and another for a company to choose to advertise and sell it. They are advertising it, saying "Here it is everyone! Please buy it." I will never buy from Amazon again and I'm going toadvertise this.

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  21. Haha Da, no, living with Marcos would make me hard pressed to say bad things about Apple now that he has drunk their kool aid ;-) I am actually really impressed that they promote a standard, even though Apple keeps a third of the cost of each app sold. If they offered porn apps, I'm sure they would sell like wildfire in some circles, and Apple would make bank. But they have already made a decision about where they stand on that. They are the vendor, and they can choose what goes through their company, and they choose to keep out real trash. I like it.

    Have fun with the new laptop! XOXO

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  22. I am so glad you brought this to my attention. I am ashamed to say I was unaware. I do most of my christmas shopping on amazon, now I am reconsidering. It's just disgusting. I agree 100%.

    Mariko over at the little Foodie told me about you! I love your blogs. they are fabulous. I have 3 small children and blog about food and mommy stuff too. so nice to "meet" you.

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  23. Wow, this is the first I am hearing of this. That is insane that a book like that would even exist. I think freedom of speech is one thing, but when it aims to harm someone it is not OK.

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  24. Wow, I didn't know a thing about this book and I'm amazed at the power of Internet! And blogging... I usually link my recipes to Amazon when they come from some cookbook, but I might consider it now too... Thanks for the info.

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  25. Wow! I hadn't heard of this book until now...where have I been?! Society is WAY to concerned with political correctness instead of focusing on doing what's right. It's sickening. I will not be shopping Amazon because of this. Thanks for the post.

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  26. Very well said and very honest as always.

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  27. Your honesty about the situation and your personal story are part of the reason why blogging is very powerful.

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  28. Wow! I had no idea that Amazon did that. I don't shop there often, but I never will again. It's disgusting that companies are so driven by profit that they have dropped all moral and ethical boundaries. This goes WAY beyond freedom of speech. Should pedophiles be free to start creating groups where they share their passions? That would never be allowed, why should anything along those lines?

    Thanks so much for this post! And I'm glad to hear that mommy bloggers have that power. :)

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  29. I am so disturbed. Thank you for blogging about this and bringing to light this issue. I have never been a huge Amazon girl, there are lots of very nice family owned book shops in MN, but I do lots of browsing on Amazon. I will no longer be shopping or browsing with them.

    I just cannot wrap my mind around the fact that a book like that even gets past a publisher. THAT IS ILLEGAL beyond freedom of speech. Like you said, BS.

    You have to stand up for what's right, always.

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  30. I hadn't heard of this at all, and I am absolutely shocked about this!! I think it's INSANE that a book like that would ever be advertised anywhere and there is no reason what so ever this book should be out there in the first place. That is just so wrong.
    I agree with you totally and I am so glad you wrote this post!

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