ON THE LATEST LIST OF BOOKS MOST OBJECTED TO AT PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES, ONE TITLE HAS BEEN TARGETED NATIONWIDE, AT TIMES FOR THE SEX AND VIOLENCE IT CONTAINS, BUT MOSTLY FOR THE LEGAL ISSUES IT RAISES. THE BIBLE.
“You
have people who feel that if a school library buys a copy of the
Bible, it’s a violation of church and state,” says James LaRue,
who directs the Office for Intellectual Freedom for the American
Library Association, which released its annual 10 top snapshot of
“challenged” books on Monday, part of the association’s “State
of Libraries Report” for 2016.
“AND SOMETIMES THERE’S A RETALIATORY ACTION, WHERE A RELIGIOUS GROUP HAS OBJECTED TO A BOOK AND A PARENT MIGHT RESPOND BY OBJECTING TO THE BIBLE.”
LaRue
emphasized that the library association does not oppose having Bibles
in public schools. Guidelines for the Office
for Intellectual Freedom note
that the Bible “does not violate the separation of church and state
as long as the library does not endorse or promote the views included
in the Bible.” The ALA also favors including a wide range of
religious materials, from the Quran to the Bhagavad Gita to the Book
of Mormon. LaRue added that the association does hear of complaints
about the Quran, but fewer than for the Bible.
The Bible finished sixth
on a list topped by John Green’s “Looking for Alaska,” which
has been cited for “offensive language” and sexual content. The
runner-up, challenged for obvious reasons, was E L James’ raunchy
romance “Fifty Shades of Grey.”
“I
Am Jazz,”
a transgender picture book by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, was
No. 3, followed by another transgender story, Susan Kuklin’s
“Beyond
Magenta.”
The list also includes Mark Haddon’s “The
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,”
Alison Bechdel’s “Fun Home,” Craig Thompson’s “Habibi,”
Jeanette Winter’s “Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from
Afghanistan” and David Leviathan’s “Two
Boys Kissing,”
with one objection being that it “condones public displays of
affection.”
“MANY OF THE BOOKS DEAL WITH ISSUES OF DIVERSITY,” LARUE SAID. “AND THAT OFTEN LEADS TO CHALLENGES.”
The association bases its
list on news reports and on accounts submitted from libraries and
defines a challenge as a “formal, written complaint filed with a
library or school requesting that materials be removed because of
content or appropriateness.” Just 275 incidents were compiled by
the ALA, down from 311 the year before and one of the lowest on
record. The ALA has long believed that for every challenge brought to
its attention, four or five others are not reported. LaRue says the
association does not have a number for books actually pulled in 2015.
Challenged works in
recent years have ranged from the Harry Potter novels to Harper Lee’s
“To Kill a Mockingbird.”
Discussing recent events,
LaRue said he was concerned by legislation that Virginia Gov. Terry
McAuliffe recently vetoed forcing schools to warn parents if their
children will be assigned books with sexually explicit content. A
Fairfax County mother had protested the use of Toni Morrison’s
Pulitzer Prize-winning “Beloved” in her son’s high school
senior class. The 1987 novel set in the post-Civil War era includes
scenes depicting sex, rape and bestiality and has appeared
occasionally on the ALA challenged books list.
“We
see the danger of censorship moving from the school library into the
English classroom,” LaRue said.
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/the-holy-bible-is-now-on-the-list-of-challenged-books-at-public-library/
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