I am looking for a book whose title and author I do not remember. It
contains age-appropriate thought questions for children.
One of the book's purposes is to show that there may be more than one
acceptable answer to a question. One question I can remember is, is it
morally wrong to steal medicine in order to save someone who needs it
but cannot afford it?
The copy I read was a slim paperback. I was in Fort Worth, Texas,
probably around 1980, and the Christian fundamentalists were making
such a fuss about how awful this book was that I just had to read it.
They believed it undermined Biblical teachings, because (they said)
there can be only one answer to a moral question, and the Bible tells
us what it is. Questions that make you think of alternative answers
put your soul in danger.
The fundamentalists claimed the book was written by "secular
humanists," whose philosophy was "moral relativism". James Robison
was one of the local preachers who denounced it from the pulpit.
It may take someone in Texas, older than 30, to track this down, since
I remember so little. A minister, rabbi or priest might remember, or
an aclu person.
There may have been a word like relative or relatively in the title.
It also seems to me that there was another flap at about the same
time, by the same people. It characterized the peace symbol as a
broken, inverted cross and symbol of Satan, falsely presented by the
secular humanists as a symbol of peace. |
Request for Question Clarification by
knowledge_seeker-ga
on
19 Apr 2003 07:14 PDT
Hi jeannie1,
I don't want to jump to a conclusion here, but as soon as I read your
question a particular book came to mind. Rather than post an answer
that may be wrong,(I'm a bit bothered by the date of publication), I'd
like to give you a description of the book I'm thinking of and you can
let me know if it sounds like the one you remember. If so, I'll post
the full information as an answer.
This children's book was a spin-off of the original adult version of
the book. The slim 250 page paperback came out in 1988. The book
"prompts real non-biased conversations about choices, ethics, and
problem solving surrounding issues such as popularity, telling the
truth, money, sports, and much more."
Questions include --
"Do you think boys or girls have it easier?"
"If you became so ill that you would die if you did not stay hooked up
to a large life support machine for the rest of your life, would you
want someone to pull the plug?"
"If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do?"
Does this ring any bells?
-K~
|
Request for Question Clarification by
pinkfreud-ga
on
19 Apr 2003 09:25 PDT
Does this sound like the question about the morality of stealing
medicine?
"Mr. Heinz's wife is dying. A druggist in town had recently discovered
a medicine that might be able to save her. The medicine was expensive
to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the medicine
cost him to make. He paid $400 for the ingredients and charged $4,000
for a small dose of the medicine. Mr. Heinz has asked the druggist to
lower the price, or to allow him to buy the drug on credit, but the
druggist has refused. The druggist says that he spent a lot of time
developing the drug and he now has the right to benefit. Mr. Heinz
cannot buy the drug and he cannot borrow money for it, so he is
considering breaking into the pharmacy to steal the drug. What should
Heinz do, and why do you feel that way?"
|
Clarification of Question by
jeannie1-ga
on
19 Apr 2003 21:26 PDT
Hi, pinkfreud.
I didn't remember the question being so long, but, yes, that could be
it. Another person, knowledge_seeker, has sent me some sample
questions from a book that also sounds as if it could be the one I am
searching for.
I suppose Google has a solution for this. Actually, I'd like to have
two copies, but $50 is pretty steep.
Knowledge_seeker sent me the following questions:
"Do you think boys or girls have it easier?"
"If you became so ill that you would die if you did not stay hooked up
to a large life support machine for the rest of your life, would you
want someone to pull the plug?"
"If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do?"
Does your book contain these?
Jeannie1
|
Clarification of Question by
jeannie1-ga
on
19 Apr 2003 21:42 PDT
Hello knowledge_seeker!
Yes, that sounds like the book I am looking for. I even think I
remember the first question you offered.
I am very bad about dates, so the 1988 publication date could be
correct.
Another researcher, pinkfreud, has also answered my query. I hope
google has a method for resolving this, in case both of you are right.
He/she sent this version of the question I posted in my request:
"Mr. Heinz's wife is dying. A druggist in town had recently discovered
a medicine that might be able to save her. The medicine was expensive
to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the medicine
cost him to make. He paid $400 for the ingredients and charged $4,000
for a small dose of the medicine. Mr. Heinz has asked the druggist to
lower the price, or to allow him to buy the drug on credit, but the
druggist has refused. The druggist says that he spent a lot of time
developing the drug and he now has the right to benefit. Mr. Heinz
cannot buy the drug and he cannot borrow money for it, so he is
considering breaking into the pharmacy to steal the drug. What should
Heinz do, and why do you feel that way?"
Jeannie1
|
Request for Question Clarification by
knowledge_seeker-ga
on
20 Apr 2003 15:20 PDT
Hi jeannie1,
Just to let you know that I have seen your clarifications. Let me get
in touch with Pinkfreud and she and I will work out the best course of
action.
Be assured, no matter how it's done, you will get your answer and
there is no chance you will have to pay twice.
One of us will be in touch shortly. Thanks for your patience. :-)
-K~
|
Hi jeannie1,
Pinkfreud and I agree that the book you are remembering is probably:
THE KIDS' BOOK OF QUESTIONS, by Gregory Stock.
Scott Foresman (Pearson K-12); (October 1988) 208 pp.
ISBN: 0894806319
As I said, this little paperback came out in 1988 following the
success of Stock's first book, The Book of Questions (1987) which, to
date has sold over 2 million copies and has been translated into 15
languages. The Kids' Book of Questions was in the top-10 best-selling
Children’s books for 2 months 1988.
Due to the continued popularity of these books, Stock has written
several more versions with specific targets –
Book of Questions: Love and Sex
The Book of Questions: Business, Politics and Ethics
All of these books are still in publication and can be purchased
online or in most bookstores –
THE KIDS' BOOK OF QUESTIONS - AMAZON
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0894806319/qid=1050933703/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/102-4721971-2911318?v=glance&s=books
Although I can't confirm it because I don't have the original to
compare to, it appears that Stock's "Book of Questions" (adult
version) is available in its entirety for free online here –
TOTSI.COM - THE BOOK OF QUESTIONS
by Gregory Stock, Ph.D.
http://www.totse.com/en/religion/pagans_and_wiccans/question.html
Regarding your point that there was a Christian fundamentalist flap
over the book when it first came out, I haven't been able to find any
reference to that specific episode. Nor have I been able to find any
current fallout from that. My guess would be that if there was a
flap, it was short-lived and possibly sponsored only by a local
fundamentalist group.
Today, wherever the book is mentioned by churches and / or schools, it
seems to be accepted, in fact recommended. I have searched to the best
of my ability but have not been able to find any large scale criticism
of the either the adult or the children's version of the Book of
Questions.
GREEK INTERVARSITY CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATION
http://www.intervarsity.org/greek/BookSuggestions.html
Developing Deeper Friendships Through the Art of Asking Questions
by Evangelist John David Hicks; Faith Encounter, Inc. 1997
http://www.faithencounter.org/deeperfriend.htm
Now, that's not to say that every individual approves of the types of
questions that are in "The Kids' Book of Questions." As you can see
by the reviews on the Amazon site, at least one reader considers this
book inappropriate for children –
"What a horrible book of questions. Have I lost it or are these
questions ridiculous for a child? … If you want to get closer to your
kids, spend time with them, buy them an ice cream, or make up your own
questions, any choice would be a better experience than what you can
expect from this book. "
I did a search of Google Groups to see what other people might be
saying about these books. There was really no discussion at all about
the Kids' Book of Questions, and the only references to "The Book of
Questions" were brief references and examples of questions. Again - no
criticism.
GOOGLE GROUPS SEARCH RESULTS - "book of questions" "gregory stock"
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22Book+of+questions%22+%22gregory+stock%22&sa=N&tab=wg
Some information about the author --
GREGORY STOCK
http://research.mednet.ucla.edu/pmts/sdegrees.htm
Finally, the question that Pinkfreud gave as an example was taken from
one of Lawrence Kohlberg's moral dilemmas. Kohlberg was a pioneer in
the study of moral development and moral reasoning and used questions
such as the one Pinkfreud offered to determine respondents' stage of
moral development.
KOHLBERG'S THEORY OF MORAL REASONING AND MORAL DEVELOPMENT
http://216.239.33.100/search?q=cache:k6kqUQslxHAC:teacherweb.com/NY/HamiltonCentralSchool/MrJarcho/KohlbergBasicsW2003.doc
Kohlberg's Stages - Explained & Illustrated
http://www.vtaide.com/png/Kohlberg.htm
Following my conversation with Pinkfreud, I did some further research
and confirmed what she told me -- that although his moral dilemmas are
cited frequently in psychology textbooks; Kohlberg's dilemmas have not
been compiled as a book of questions intended for popular audiences,
and certainly not for children. Thus our agreement that Gregory
Stock's "Kids' Book of Questions" was the one you referred to.
Please let me know if anything I've said isn't clear or if any of the
links don't work, and I'll be happy to clarify for you.
Thanks so much for your interesting question!
-K~
Search terms ---
"Book of Questions" "Gregory stock"
combined above terms with –
Reviews
Texas
Christian
Bible
Fundamentalist
Criticism
Religion |
