Editing literature to conform to current custom

[naamagatus]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "cindysphynx" <cindysphynx at c...> wrote:

> 
> As I understand it, there are many English-language versions of the 
> Bible.  Many of these versions exist solely as an attempt to make 
> the text more accessible for today's reader (translating arcane 
> phrases into modern slang and usage and such), and these versions 
> were written to attempt to convey the ancient text in a way that 
> makes sense in light of how much the world has changed.  I actually 
> prefer these versions, myself.
> 
> So, uh, if it is OK to tinker with what Christians believe to be 
the 
> *Word of God,* why is it not OK to make changes in a children's 
> story to reflect that times have changed and the world is now a 
very 
> different place?  Under Amanda's argument, shouldn't all copies of 
> the New Testament, for instance, contain the books Paul wrote 
> exactly as Paul wrote them because Paul didn't authorize any of 
> these changes to his words?
> 

Paul wrote in Greek. So, ALL English versions of his writings are in 
any case translations of the original.

Kipling's text in English, however, is the original text that Kipling 
wrote. Changing words in his stories is problematic since the stories 
are presented to the reader as the original Kipling stories (or so I 
assume. Are the books marked as "sanitized" in some way?).


Naama