Tarot Censorship

------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 10:33:54 -0400
From: Thomas Canfield
To: nitefall@idirect.com
Subject: [Fwd: Tarot Censorship in Seabrook, NH]

There is a case of censorship in Seabrook, NH, which needs to be publicized and protested. In August, the Seabrook Public Library was going to have lectures on Tarot and Numerology. They hired Debra Calvi (a Tarot reader from Portsmouth) and Dusty Bunker (author, astrologer, numerologist) to give the lectures. Before the lectures were delivered, Rev. Elizabeth Walton of the Congregational church declared,"It's Satan!", and she organized a protest with other ministers. Although Fundamentalists make up 2% of the population in Seabrook, they claimed "the majority" did not want the library sponsoring "this occult business."

A petition was brought to the town council, demanding that the library budget be cut because they were having lectures with "religious programming." Two of the three council members voted to take it under advisement. One voted that way because his mother told him Tarot cards were "evil." (In this heyday of "Family values", I suppose there is something to be said for officials, supposedly elected to serve the public, who discuss Constitutional matters with their "mommies.") Dusty Bunker offered to give her lecture for free, so that no one could be accused of using "public funds" for promoting "the occult." The town council went in and threatened the librarians with loss of jobs and closing down the library if they went ahead with the lecture. Under those circumstances, the library had to back down and cancel the lectures. The most moronic justification for the cancellation came from Selectman Oliver Carter Jr., who said he did not want the library being used by unsavory groups such as the KKK and the Nazis. (Funny, but I don't recall any Tarot readers who have lynched black people, nor Numerologists who have killed six million Jews.)

The Boston Globe ran a small article about the matter. The Portsmouth Herald ran an editorial attacking censorship, praising the work done by Debra and Dusty in helping others, and calling the clergy "intolerant." Rev. Elizabeth Walton wrote an editorial reply, saying that she was taking the word "intolerant" as a badge of honor, because she was intolerant of sin, evil, wickedness, and the occult. There were also numerous letters to the editors in the Hampton and Amesbury newspapers, complaining about the censorship in the town next door.

Dusty Bunker rescheduled her lecture for the Hampstead Public Library, and after she spoke a Seabrook librarian told her that this issue is not over yet. The town council has taken a lot of heat from phone calls and letters attacking censorship. One of the letters was from the President of the NH Library Association, which means all of the other libraries in the state are aware of this problem. Dusty Bunker had a wonderful line about the matter:

"Seabrook is a town with a porno bookstore, tattoo parlors, fireworks stores, discount liquor stores, a greyhound race track, a nuclear power plant, and they consider 'us' to be a corrupting influence?"

I am organizing a magnanimous revenge against the religious bigots in Seabrook. Rev. Elizabeth Walton said she wanted the lectures canceled because she did not want the library sponsoring "this occult business." I think the best solution is to put "this occult business" into the library. If people are outraged by this censorship, I suggest they take action by donating occult books to the Seabrook library. I contacted the library, and they are excited by this kind of protest. They will put the books on the shelves. All they ask is that the books be in good condition and of recent publication (i.e. the 1990's). The address for donations is:

Seabrook Public Library
101 Centennial St.
Seabrook, NH 03874-4506

If books start coming in from all over, that will send a message to the librarians that people out there are willing to stand up for First Amendment rights. It will also send a message to the religious bigots that others are not going to allow those rights to be taken away. The best way to fight censorship is to keep on communicating.

Suggesting donations, Thomas Canfield