{"id":356,"date":"2011-04-04T15:39:03","date_gmt":"2011-04-04T19:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/?p=356"},"modified":"2011-04-04T18:18:24","modified_gmt":"2011-04-04T22:18:24","slug":"publisher-puts-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/publisher-puts-warning.html","title":{"rendered":"Publisher puts warning to parents on U.S. Constitution"},"content":{"rendered":"

A small publisher that specializes in reprinting classics believes the U.S. Constitution should come with a warning. Since 2008, Wilder Publishing has published this\u00a0caution in its\u00a0version of America\u2019s founding document:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today. Parents might wish to discuss with their children how views on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and interpersonal relations have changed since this book was written before allowing them to read this classic work.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>The warning stirred up a firestorm of protest about a year ago on the Internet \u2013 with appalled readers calling for a boycott. The company maintained absolute silence \u2013 which it continues.<\/p>\n

The company also offers the warning on its version of the Federalist Papers, Thomas Paine\u2019s Common Sense, <\/em>Teddy Roosevelt\u2019s The Rough Riders <\/em>and Benjamin Franklin\u2019s Poor Richard\u2019s Almanack. <\/em><\/p>\n

The company sells the books on Amazon.com, which displays the front cover and page 3 with the controversial disclaimer \u2013 for which Wilder offers no apology \u2026 or comment.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The company’s website provides no\u00a0 phone number or physical address. It\u00a0is in the business of “publishing print-on-demand books (mostly self-help and public domain reprints).”<\/p>\n

\u201cPrint-on-demand books\u201d means that such companies run off their books one at a time whenever they get an order. Technology has revolutionized the publishing business these days. Whereas in years past, it was seldom economical to print fewer than 1,000 books, it\u2019s now feasible to do books one at a time. Basically, the books run off on a high-tech computer printer that also prints an attractive color cover and even binds the book so that it looks like\u00a0a regular paperback.<\/p>\n

Amazon also offers\u00a0Wilder’s electronic Kindle version of the books.<\/p>\n

Although warning labels are usually posted to protect a company from potential lawsuits, constitutional attorney Noel Francisco says such a disclaimer has no legal benefit. Francisco says it is more likely to have the opposite effect: people refusing to buy a book because they are offended by the disclaimer.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy putting on the warning,\u201d said Francisco, \u201cyou\u2019re making controversial something that\u2019s not controversial.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A small publisher that specializes in reprinting classics believes the U.S. Constitution should come with a warning. Since 2008, Wilder Publishing has published this\u00a0caution in its\u00a0version of America\u2019s founding document: \u201cThis book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today. Parents might…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84,101,83,88,102],"tags":[103,393],"class_list":["post-356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-children","category-history","category-inspirational","category-students","category-u-s-constitution","tag-parental-warning","tag-u-s-constitution"],"yoast_head":"\nPublisher puts warning to parents on U.S. Constitution - On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/publisher-puts-warning.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Publisher puts warning to parents on U.S. Constitution - On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A small publisher that specializes in reprinting classics believes the U.S. Constitution should come with a warning. 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