national writing day

[Jonathan Lighter]

>>
 for learning has brought
_disobedience,_ and _heresy,_ and _sects_ into the world...

And he couldn't even spell "sex" right!

JL


On Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 10:58 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: national writing day
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Dennis,
>
> I'm sending the Web of Language article to two teachers of ESL I know.
>
> 1)  For your quotation from Sen. Alexander:  I didn't find it
> Googling.  And the paragraph is not in the Web article -- were you
> unable to verify it?  8-)
>
> 2)  It might be amusing to add Virginia Gov. William Berkeley's 1670
> remark upon printing (and "free schools").  I found the following via
> Google Books in _Religion in America ..._ by Robert Baird (1844),
> page 147, footnote:
>
> "Sir William Berkeley, in 1670, in replying to the inquiries
> addressed to him by the Lords of Plantations, says:
> 'I thank God, _there are no free schools nor printing,_ and I hope we
> shall not have them these hundred years; for learning has brought
> _disobedience,_ and _heresy,_ and _sects_ into the world, and
> printing has divulged them, and libels against the best
> government.  God keep us from both!' "
>
> 3)  And to add a comment about prohibitions against printing the
> Bible in the vernacular, and against the hoi polloi reading it.
>
> Joel
>
> At 10/21/2009 12:31 AM, Dennis Baron wrote:
> >There's a new post on the Web of Language:
> >
> >It's National Writing Day. I wrote today, did you?
> >
> >Senate Resolution 310 proclaims today, Oct. 20, as the National Day on
> >Writing. Sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English, the
> >National Day on Writing seeks to promote personal, professional, and
> >civic writing in all its forms and celebrates writing by establishing
> >a National Writing Gallery to display all the writing created on
> >National Writing Day.
> >
> >The Senate resolution passed only because nowhere in its text are the
> >words "health care" or "communism"; there is no mention of the colors
> >red or pink; and so far as the administration's leftist agenda is
> >concerned, left-handed writers are specifically prohibited from
> >receiving government funds for any writing-related activities.
> >
> >Speaking against the resolution, however, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R.,
> >Tenn.) attacked the National Writing Day for promoting socialism. As
> >Alexander told a gathering at the Hoover Institution, "The
> >Resolution's second whereas clearly states, 'Whereas the social nature
> >of writing invites people of every age, profession, and walk of life
> >to create meaning through composing.' That says it right there, the
> >'social nature of writing' -- writing is a socialist activity."
> >
> >Read the rest of this post on the Web of Language: http://bit.ly/weblan
> >
> >
> >____________________
> >Dennis Baron
> >Professor of English and Linguistics
> >Department of English
> >University of Illinois
> >608 S. Wright St.
> >Urbana, IL 61801
> >
> >office: 217-244-0568
> >fax: 217-333-4321
> >
> >http://www.illinois.edu/goto/debaron
> >
> >read the Web of Language:
> >http://www.illinois.edu/goto/weboflanguage
> >
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