Thank you so much for reconsidering your inital decision and offering Mr. Weinstein an appearance at your store. You have shown strong support for freedom of speech and freedom of (and from) religion, fundamental American rights.
Way to go!
Jan Swan

I'm another small business owner. My shop in Santa Fe is nestled between two wonderful indie bookstores and I'm willing to admit that I have not been to your store in Albuquerque. But I am a serious reader and a great admirer of the indies that have survived beyond the borders of 'Borders.'

Still, it's appalling to me that you have chosen on such flimsy grounds to censor the snowflake/avalanche author. I'm sure you were trying to balance the evangelical and military community you serve with the content of the volume whose author you rejected, but what you need to know as an indie store is how far and wide this news travels thru the real indie network: person-to-person contact. Think of how many readers and indie store shoppers are finding out about you through this hideous censorship blunder on your part.

The whole idea of movable type was like a bell ringing across the lands for the rights of people to be able to hear ideas other than their own. And that bell rings less clearly when you choose not to allow people with important ideas to stand on a platform to be heard from.

You have my sympathy for the loss of business you will surely incur for this poor, misguided choice you have made. I'm dubious that you will reneg and re-evaluate your decision, but I do sincerely hope you will allow the diverse voices that enrich our world to be heard from the aisles of your store in the future.

Letter of rejection from
Bookworks bookstore:

[Julia is a representative of Vireo, publisher of
No Snowflake in an Avalanche]
Hi Julia,
Our store owners and I discussed this at length, and based on what we know about our customer base and the political climate of Albuquerque at the moment, we don't feel that this event is a good fit for our store. We are trying to be conscious, in this election year, that tensions are running high between people with very disparate religious and social beliefs. We strive to serve customers of all belief systems, backgrounds, and ideologies and try to never consciously marginalize anyone, of any philosophy, who might walk into our store at any given moment. We are located in a city with an Air Force base and we do count many active-duty military personnel among our best customers, and we have to be cognizant of that. We also work with Albuquerque's evangelical community at times on book events, and have many customers who are members of Albuquerque's evangelical churches. While we do not specifically cater to that clientele, we cannot afford and do not want to alienate them either.
While I personally have tremendous admiration for Mr. Weinstein and sympathize with his activism, our event curation is not about me, and what I believe, or even what our owners support and believe. We are not at all sure that it would benefit the store or our community of customers to foment this kind of discussion in the midst of the heavy political tensions people are experiencing right now. And at the end of the day, we must do what we feel is best for our store and our customers, so that we can remain in business.
I hope you understand and will accept my apologies for declining the event, and pass on our apologies to Mr. Weinstein. We would be interested in working with you in the future, for other books. I can also make some suggestions, if you would like, for possible organizations that might be interested in hosting Mr. Weinstein. If you do find a non-bookstore venue in town that can host him, we might be able to sell books at the event (I would have to run that by my owners).
Thanks, Julia, and please let me know if you have any questions.
Amy Lahti
Marketing Manager
Bookworks

I have read that your bookstore refused to host an in-store appearance and book-signing event for Weinstein's new book, NO SNOWFLAKE IN AN AVALANCHE: The Military Religious Freedom Foundation, its Battle to Defend the Constitution, and One Family's Courageous War Against Religious Extremism in High Places -- because you "strive to serve customers of all belief systems . . . we also work with Albuquerque's evangelical community at times on book events." Yet you do not want the voice of persecuted people in the military heard? Business must stop caving to the right-wing extremists in this country. What you have done is no better than Lowe's withdrawing ads from a TV program because it showed that Muslims are human beings. And you railed against Arizona's recent spate of book bans. Shame on you. I will not be able, in all conscience, to purchase anything from your store again.

Jan Swan
Albuquerque, NM

I'm sorely disappointed with your decision to not allow a book signing for Michael Weinstein's book NO SNOWFLAKE IN AN AVALANCHE: The Military Religious Freedom Foundation, its Battle to Defend the Constitution, and One Family's Courageous War Against Religious Extremism in High Places particularly for the reason's you've stated. I sincerely hope that this is not your final decision on the issue as I would hate to have to withdraw my support of your store.

Is Bookworks taking down (or not posting) comments critical of its decision not to host Mickey Weinstein because he and his new book are "not a good fit" for your "business model"? I know of at least one comment (so far) that was "disappeared." You are a BOOKSTORE, in the United States. You are NOT in Argentina under The Generals. Free speech, anyone? What are you afraid of? Are critical comments also not a "good fit" for your "business model"? Just what IS your "business model" then anyway?

-- Roger, ACLU member and fan of free commentary

I hope you understand that you have caved to pressure from those who, if they succeed in their goal of transforming our democracy into a theocracy, would insist that you ban almost every book you now carry. How far are you willing to go to please an unpleasable faction of extremists? Your appalling lack of courage in refusing to host the author of No Snowflakes in an Avalanche empowers these extremists and misses a chance to educate sincere followers of all Christian faiths who might be taken in by their fascism just because it pretends to be Christianity. I hope you will take a more thoughtful and courageous look at what they are currently trying to perpetrate in the name of Jesus and reconsider your decision.