'Jon' from Cambridge, in the UK, writes:
I was astonished. Do these idiots not recognise the tip of an iceberg when they see it? Personally I think that the sale of Bibles — but not their use —should be banned. My prejudice may not be high up the list but once people get into a 'banning mood' they can cover quite a lot of ground quite quickly; so I won't give up hope.

For a nation founded by free thinking revolutionaries on a principle of free markets and personal responsibility this is shameful. Not so much shameful that it was done, but that the spineless idiots let it be done to them.

It is a primitive view of morality/spirituality which seems to conclude that you have to legislate to make people adhere to a narrow code of moral conduct. It seems to be motivated by a religious fundamentalism. Is their God so weak that he cannot be trusted to sort the wheat from the chaff when the souls line up for judgement? If you succeeded in taking away personal choice (which is a laughable thing to attempt) where is the basis for moral choice, free will and personal responsibility? Surely God would find us a bunch of boring, goodie goodies. I suppose He would have to look beyond what we did to our reasons for doing it and judge us on that — oh, hold on, wouldn't He do that anyway?

What twisted minds thought this was a good idea? Are they trying to save their own souls by imposing a moral code on others? Bastards! If I were God I would take a very dim view of this. I would be more sympathetic to a poor wanker who subscribed to a 'live and let live' philosophy than to this pompous, self-aggrandising, hypocritical bullshit.

I am so cross I could break something. I am staggered — I've said that already. Are you sure this isn't just a spoof?

Our webmistress, Miranda Givings replies: We only wish it were, Jon. Sadly, Mississippi is the fourth southern US state to enact such legislation. Mississippi joins moral Texas, Alabama and Louisiana in the war on sex toys. Because let's be quite clear that this is a war and one aimed squarely at women by men. Men moreover, who appear to be sexually inadequate morons who imagine banning sex toys will not only stop women masturbating but magically increase their own chances of getting a shag. Interestingly, Viagra is freely available in all the states that have banned sex toys. Double standards? Perish the thought! Bizarre as it may seem to us in Britain, large numbers of American men and women enthusiastically support these new laws. Proof, if proof were needed, that we are not so much two nations divided by a common language, but by vibrating, plastic willies and the threat they pose to what passes for American masculinity. No wonder nearly 27% of US women claim to be lesbians or would like to be. Hell, I would be if I had to live there.

'Bob' from New Orleans, in the USA, writes:
The state of Mississippi does not need sex toys because they are all screwing their cousins or farm animals. Actually that may amount to the same thing in some cases.