WILL UNWOUND #215: “Sunday Meditation: Librarians and Religion” by Will Manley
August 29, 2010I have always thought that one of the most interesting aspects of Christianity is the very last responsibility that Christ put on the shoulders of his apostles: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19).
The irony here is that many people have rejected Christianity simply because they do not enjoy being recruited into the faith per Christ’s instructions. That is particularly true in this country where people savor their freedoms and don’t appreciate being told what to do, especially by clergymen waving the sword of hellfire and damnation.
Those who are on fire for Christ, however, feel that they have divine authority on their side to preach “the way, the truth, and the life” to non-believers. Although they are often looked at as self righteous scolds who are trying to impose their belief system on others, these proselytizers of the faith for the most part feel that they are actually showing their love for others by trying to share with them the spiritual treasures of their religion.
Librarians get pulled into the middle of this cultural tug of war when the proselytizers either ask that a book be added or removed from the collection in the name of Christ. When you throw in the pressures of local politics (especially if your library is located in the Bible Belt) the resulting stress on the library staff can be very upsetting. Librarians have lost their jobs fighting attempts to censor books that are “anti-Christian.”
As a result, there is a very uneasy relationship between religion and librarianship in this country. In my four decades in the library profession I have picked up a very strong vibe that a good number of librarians are anti religion because they resent being dictated to or pressured in the name of God. The temptation is great for librarians to paint all strong believers with the broad brush of intolerance.
The other side of that coin is that I have also picked up a strong vibe that librarians who are devout Christians feel very uncomfortable about bringing up the tenets of their faith within the library profession. They are afraid of being ridiculed or worse being lumped with the censors. A number of librarians have told me that they feel ashamed that they are afraid to claim their Christian beliefs among their professional peers. Instead of following Christ’s directive to “make disciples of all nations” they go underground with their faith.
This is one of those taboo subjects that we never talk about in librarianship, and that’s precisely why I have recently introduced “Sunday Meditation” as a regular feature of this blog. I am fascinated by the relationship between religion and librarianship and feel that this is as good a place as any to explore its many issues.
What are your thoughts on the subject?
My job is to represent all points of view, no matter how objectionable I, or anyone else, find them. It can be a very precarious position, as we all know. Fortunately, I have not had too many problems with people asking for addition/removal of a book. However, the few times it has happened, it comes from someone who is deeply religious. So yes, I can see where the resentment comes in for many librarians. What I want to know is what are these people afraid of? Ideas of all kinds ought to be freely discussed. And people of all faiths should be respectful of each other – which, to me, makes ongoing prosyletizing deeply offensive. As an atheist, I self-censor all the time in order not to upset those who believe. So it goes both ways.
Leslie, let me ask you this: do you think filtering pornography from children’s room computers has legitimate social value?
Yes, these are children. As for filtering adults – well, as a director, I really like not having to deal with all the problems – on the other hand, that whole slippery slope thing starts coming to mind…
We have to filter every computer for porn to get erate money – and sometimes they block legitimate sites. We do post a sign by the computers telling people that if they are 18 or older, and have been blocked from a site, they can ask any staff member to override the block. And my staff has been trained to do so without comment, and in a timely fashion.
Institutionally, there’s no relationship. As the old saying goes, my library has something to offend everyone.
I have been in positions where there has been pressure from one segment or another of a community. (Ironically, the worst have been in situations where self-identified Christians were fighting with one another. That’s almost as bad as dealing with divorced or divorcing parents whose child has an overdue book and there’s an opportunity for the blame game to kick in.)
Where my lower lip bleeds is if I work in the youth section and a home schooling parent won’t let a primary grade level kid take out a book because it has dinosaurs in it and they’re not declared to be contemporaneous with humans. And, yes, it’s happened. And, yes, I kept my big mouth shut.
It was not my proudest professional moment.
I have a different perspective.
I am a Heathen, a follower of Asatru. I follow the Gods of my Ancestors. I get ridiculed by staff, both the Christians for being a “satanist” and by the atheists for believing in fairy tales. I have suggested books on Heathenry to be added, we have a sizable community in my city about 7K. Yet I get laughed at or preached to about how I am going to burn in hell.
I wear my hammer and it has caused many a stink. Some patrons refuse to let me help them since it has came out I don’t believe in their little desert god. Also I was dis invited from giving information about our summer reading programs from the local Catholic schools. They called up and requested someone else get sent to their schools or not to come at all.
I really don’t give a damn what people think of me or my Gods. Same goes for the censoring of books. I don’t give a damn what a person thinks we should take off the shelf. I’ll weed it when it is falling apart. However they usually just steal it if they see it has not been pulled. I don’t suggest anything anymore either.
I agree with Tyr. I am not a Christian although I have very strong spiritual beliefs. I would NEVER bring it up where there is a Christian of fundamentalist persuasion because, librarian or not, they would not allow me the dignity of having the intelligence to know what I believe in. It is my observation that Christians of all denominations are in the majority and that no one criticizes them. Christianity is the default in this country. Look at the fuss about the mosque in New York. You do not get sympathy from me trying to say that Christians get ridiculed. Most often they are the ones doing the ridiculing. Tolerance is not a Christian virtue, and many of them have told me that. Like Tyr, I just keep quiet about my spiritual life and try to be support of everyone who comes in looking for religious information.
This to has always been an issue with me. I am not a Christian, I was raised by a family that believes in a vague God but does not believe in any one organized religion.
I am currently working as a Children’s Librarian in Wyoming where other staff are open about their Christianity, but are thankfully not pushing me to discuss religion.
It is the patrons that are more pushy, they ask me what church in the community attend,invite me to their churches, and wonder at my childless state since I am married.
I am always very vague in my response to patrons because I don’t want them to know I am not a Christian because I worry about response similar to what Try had. I might be doing a disservice to my patrons and how understanding they may be by not being more honest with them. But it is not a chance I want to take….
Tyr,
“….little desert god”? Do I detect some arid-diety-a-phobia?
Karen,
Christianity is the default in this country because it was founded on Christian principles. I would not call this a Christian nation anymore though.
No…it was not founded on Christian principles. Look up the Treaty with Tripoli (1797) that says:
“As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Musselmen; and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.”
Most of the founding fathers were deists and many would have been viewed as atheistic by today’s standards.
Lora,
The Founders understanding of man and his relationship with the creator derive from Judeo-Christian thought. That is what is meant when it is said that the country was founded on Christian principles.
@ Lora and to all,
I will have to contest that characterization of the “founding” fathers ironically enough.
More than a handful were Freemasons – and – one of the tenants of being a Freemason is that you cannot be an atheist…
John I did not claim any were atheists. I said that they would likely be seen as atheistic by many today for being deistic. I know some people today who are characterized as atheists for being deists. Many did not believe in a personal god, but that God created the universe and then stepped back and was hands-off.
And Bill I’m not sure there is any one thing that is always meant when someone says the country was founded on Christian principles. That may in fact be your take on it, but most people I have met take it to mean that our founding fathers intended for Christianity to be represented in the government over other religions or lack of religion.
Great discussion topic!
During my first year as a public librarian, the staff I worked with was (I thought) entirely non-Christian and even seemed anti-Christian. I eventually found out that at least half of the staff were devout Christians, but intent on keeping it to themselves in what they perceived as a hostile environment. When a non-Christian co-worker found out I was a Christian, they were shocked. After all, I wasn’t the intolerant, simplistic conservative they believed Christians to be. I actually could think! I had a sense of humor! Over the years our staff has begun talking more openly about all our worldviews. It is a huge improvement.
For me, my Christianity gives me a huge amount of motivation for serving my community. But even as a Christian, I am offended by Christians who seek to impose their faith through attempted censorship at my library. Somehow they don’t understand that asking for censorship is like smiling at a crocodile. He’ll eat you next. It’s a hard concept for people to understand, but educating our community has helped with the challenges we’ve had.
One last thing – the fact that our staff has such a variety of worldviews really helps with collection development. I expect that most of my librarians will at some point have a subject they don’t want to select for. Whether it’s conservative talk show hosts, homosexuality, wicca, or hunting (yes, I had one who couldn’t abide buying hunting books) – there’s always something. And I don’t think that makes them bad librarians. It’s only a problem if they are not aware of it and think themselves completely neutral. No one is completely neutral.
So here’s to openness, conversations, humor, and graciousness in the library world!
Episcopalians are encouraged to become part of a ministry either within or without the church. I see my work as a form of ministry – I help students and faculty learn how to do research, I do the best job I can as kindly as possible because I believe that is how I am supposed to live, I listen to students who need someone motherly to confide in, and I sometimes go beyond what is necessary because, at the time, it is what someone desperately needs. But I’m smart enough to know there are days when I fall far short of my ideal. God doesn’t supply infinite patience. :-0
I believe trying to live faithfully is far more important than spreading the Good News. I know I’m not the only person in this world who has met up with “good” Christians who were rotten human beings. Preach and prosleytize all you want, but you’re a prime example of what Jesus railed against (I’m thinking about his parable about the scribes in Mark).
I get weary of people who complain about materials because they deal with witchcraft (Harry Potter, for example), foul language (ummm … I’m fixing to curse a blue streak at you!), abortion, birth control, etc. It’s not about you and your values or the community’s values. It’s about information and freedom of access.
I should mention that I work for a Catholic university. We welcome people of all faiths – we have lots of Christians (Catholics and Protestants), Jews, Muslims (several women wear the hijab), Hindus, agnostics, atheists and some who’ve never given faith a bit of thought. It is the most open environment in which I’ve ever worked.
I worked in the department that covered the Dewey 200s, so I was exposed to a lot of books (and library users) on many different religions. My main conclusion: people will believe whatever they want to, and there’s no use trying to make rational sense of it. I just smiled, nodded, and tried to get them the information they wanted.
I don’t care what people believe – maybe the world IS balanced on the back of a cosmic turtle – quite possibly I’ll find out when I die, if indeed there is an afterlife, but for now, I don’t believe in any one faith. I worked with devout (and some not so devout) Jews, Christians of most of the standard varieties, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and atheists. Some of them would mention their beliefs from time to time, but as long as they weren’t proselytizing, I had no problem. In fact, occasionally I would ask one of them something about their religion.
Having said that, I WOULD have objected had anyone actively tried to convert me or build/weed our collections based on their own beliefs. I don’t think any workplace, and particularly a public library, should be a church (unless that workplace IS a religious institution) – staff have a right to freedom FROM [someone else's] religion as much as freedom OF religion.
Ideally, our libraries and our profession should be inclusive — as is true Christianity.
Below is the “conclusion” to an essay entitled “A Rationale for Integrating Christian Faith and Librarianship” by Gregory A. Smith that I found quite interesting and well done on a subject that won’t be discussed in the library community though it will likely generate negative feedback. It was published in “Christian Librarianship Essays On The Integration of Faith and Profession by Gregory A. Smith and Donald G. Davis.
“Contrary to the opinion of some, the relationship between the Christian faith and librarianship need not be adversarial. Three factors suggest the two can be integrated with mutual benefit. First, for two thousand years Christians have developed libraries in order to further their religious mission. In the process, they have preserved secular resources and stimulated the development of libraries at large.
Second, Christian interest in libraries is not merely pragmatic. Rather, Christian theism provides a rationale for many of the philisophical assumptions that underlie contemporary librarianship. The Christian faith justifies the librarians’ committment to service, intellectual freedom, preservation, literacy and other professional ideals.
Third, Christians have energetically explored the relationship between their fatih and disciplines such as philosophy, psychology, history, and biology. Though little has been done to interpret library science from a Christian perspective, insights from other fields suggests that this process would be fruitful.
In this essay, I have referred to Christianity primarily as a philosophical system. It’s central concern is, of course, spiritual–drawing us into a proper relationship with the creator of the universe: ‘And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent’ (John 17:3). No librarian should identify with the Christian faith simply because of its historical and philosophical ties to libraries. Nevertheless, librarians who identify themselves as Christians (and those who might consider doing so) should be encouraged to find that they may pursue their religious committments without sacrificing their professional pursuits. In short, Christian librarianship is not an oxymoron.”
[...] Librarians and Religion” by Will Manley…08.29.10 29 08 2010 Interesting post “Sunday Meditation: Librarians and Religion” by Will [...]
I believe that all religions should be included in the collection of a library. I do not believe, however, the library is a place for anyone to try and espouse their religious beliefs on anyone else. That is to say, no witnessing, leaving of religious tracts, etc. The library is to be a place where all are welcome and that anyone can have their opinions but it is also a place where those opinions are not to overwhelm others’ opinions and beliefs.
I live in the Bible belt but I do not subscribe to any religion because of the heavy handed way I was raised in the Southern Baptist Church. I have always felt, since I was 15, that church was not for me. I have had to learn not to overpower my coworkers’s beliefs when we are out of the public areas of the library. In fact, I think some of my coworkers and I would go hammer and tongs on each other about politics instead of religion!
I believe we live in a glorious multi ethnic country and need to try and a lot more openminded about other people’s beliefs or nonbeliefs.
Interestingly enough, I’ve just come from church where the sermon was on Exodus 20:7: “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.” and the minister mentioned that one way certain folks disobey this commandment is by currying political favor by stating he or she is doing whatever because “that’s how God wants it”. We’ve had a patron or two use that argument when they didn’t care for a book or magazine or movie that they found on our shelves. Not a position that finds much favor from me.
I’ve had a staff member who told me she always silently prayed for anyone who asked for books on witchcraft but was the most enthusiastic Harry Potter reader I’ve known. Another told me he just couldn’t work on Sundays because of his religious beliefs & I honored those. Then there was the agnostic who couldn’t stand any kind of “Christian fiction drivel” but was the nicest, most helpful person I’ve ever worked with–far more so than many of our fundamentalist patrons. During slow times at the desk (meaning, when patrons aren’t around to overhear–and yes, we do get those) I’ve had some wonderfully enlightening conversations and have learned much about the Catholic & Mormon faiths (& was particularly amused by the Mormon who was pretty much addicted to Mountain Dew)
My feeling is that if asked, I may (note the may; actually I probably won’t while on the clock) share my religious & political views but if I’m doing my job right, no one will be able to point at me & say “she’s a Methodist” or “she supports Democrats” based on how I do my job. Perhaps it’s because of the way I was raised but I think my actions are more important than my words–that if I treat people with respect and dignity (a lofty goal that I often fail at) than I don’t need to proclaim myself as a religious person. I’m not ashamed to tell people that I go to church but neither do I feel it necessary to inform people of it, either. I don’t look down at people because of their religious beliefs–or lack of them–unless they become judgmental and/or hypocritical. Very few of the current staff regularly attend church and it doesn’t keep them from passing judgment on others. But I figure that’s their problem, not mine.
As a student of history, I am a firm believer in the separation of church and state, hence my reluctance to include religious artifacts in a library setting (unlike a neighboring town’s library that is full of angels and Scripture readings hanging on the wall) and my dislike of the American flag hanging in a church sanctuary. But I will certainly provide material to my patrons on any number of subjects, including religion, because that’s my job and quite possibly my mission in life.
Just don’t ask me to read any books by Glenn Beck, Karen Kingsbury, & Tim LaHaye. But I’ll sure show you where we keep them!
I agree with Tina S.’s first paragraph. If I could have put it together myself, I would have.
I was raised in the Disciples of Christ Church and that is where my heart still resides—though not as often my body—-as witnessed by my being at a computer on a Sunday morning at 11:15 instead of in a church pew. Christian principles are an excellent way to govern your life, but not the only way.
The Christian Church is sort of a live and let live denomination and that is one of the things that make it a good fit for life.
I hate to say it but the public library work schedules hacked into my church going habits. The usual split days off and eventually sometimes working on Sundays just never seemed to give me a window of time to go to church. I know this is probably a cop out, but I also know that I have made my peace with my life and consider myself a Christian.
I guess to me the biggest “witness” you have is how you lead your life. Various family members have gone other directions—some to other Christian denominations and a couple have embraced a Buddhist way of life which I find also very appealing.
So what of people like me who seem to have dropped out of organized religion? Maybe for me, being a librarian was/is sort of my religion.
I want there to BE organized religion but where is my support? I do lend financial support to the church my daughter and her family have chosen and occasionally to other religious organizations.
This is a tricky issue in my life.
When I said:
“The Christian Church is sort of a live and let live…..”
I was referring to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) denomination—-not the broad context of the “Christian Church”. In fact that is the actual name of our denomination–Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and so we are known jokingly as “The Church of the Parenthesis”—-how can you not love a church that calls itself that!
I think a church’s approach to aiming humor at itself is a useful evaluative tool. (I know we’re no doing that here, but…) The church that I’ve had the closest association with as an adult are the Unitarians. The congregation that I was associated with sang “Coffee, Coffee, Coffee” (to the tune of the Doxology) during one Sunday morning service. They talked about Unitarians having question marks burned on their lawns. They why Unitarians can’t sing well in choirs and answer that it’s because everyone is reading ahead to see if they agree with the next verse. It’s a fine place for a skeptical agnostic who looks for like unbelievers.
BTW, I have a brother who’s a DoC minister.
Another thing you CAN say for the DoC’s—they keep the disposable communican cup industry in business—having it every Sunday. More smiles.
Bill, I sang in a Unitarian church choir for two years. We mostly sang poetry set to music, so we didn’t have to read ahead too often.
Another onetime Unitarian chorister here! I was a bass-baritone; you?
And, yes, I have been known to hum “Coffee, Coffee, Coffee” to myself when making pirate coffee for the staff in the morning.
Alto II, though I’ve since gotten comfortable with my upper range and could probably be an Alto I. Any tenors or sopranos out there wanna round out our quartet…?
One of my Unitarian friends assured me that his church’s hymns were known for being unsingable – probably related to the poetry influence Jessa mentions!
Wow. Brave topic, Will.
If you think it is hard to ‘come out’ at work as a Christian (Jew, Muslim, etc.), just try coming out as an nonbeliever. In the public imagination, nontheists are only a step above murderers or child molesters. Name one openly nontheist person holding elected office anywhere. (I’ve heard there might actually be one. Only one.) We have essentially instituted religious tests for office, contrary to the U.S Constitution.
Public displays of religion such as the wearing of crucifixes, stars of David, head coverings, etc., mentioning church attendance, and requesting time off for religious observances are unremarkable features of the American workplace. But declaring that you do not believe in an all-powerful, supernatural being? It’s probably easier to be openly gay.
When it is no longer acceptable to demonize LGBT people, the Religious Right is going to demonize nontheists. I learned the Niemoller “First they came for” quote well and I have stood for others. I wonder who will stand for me.
I completely agree with everything you said
This is an interesting question for me too. When I was in public libraries, we had a particular fundamentalist Christian couple who complained loudly that we did not have many books about the Nativity for loan around Christmas time. We looked at the collection and saw that it was indeed lacking in picture books (in particular) on that very subject. So the following year, we ensured that there was a better representation in the collection. The same couple then wrote a letter of complaint to the branch manager about one particular book: The Nativity, illustrated by one of Australia’s much-loved artists, Julie Vivas. Their objection? One of the pictures in the book showed a heavily pregnant Mary being led on a donkey by Joseph in search of lodgings. According to them, Mary was not pregnant…I am not going to go into all that here. Suffice it to say that these two made me VERY wary of any particular interest group (whoever they were) trying to dicatate what did or did not get put onto the shelves in our library.
You need to understand that this is actually an unusual occurance here in Oz – we are reasonably laid back about most things – even our faith (or lack of it).
I think that as long as every point of view is represented then libraries should be left alone to provide information and recreation. Religion has no place in a library at all, other than on the shelf in the 200s. Whatever your belief system is, keep it to yourself and I won’t try to convince you about mine either.
For the record….me???? Agnostic. I believe in something, just not necessarily “God” as such.
Thanks for reading this far….
Well, at least this predicament led to more needed Nativity books for the rest of the community to enjoy. And now you’ve raised my curiosity – what Christian denomination believes Mary was never pregnant? I thought that was part of the miracle of Jesus – fully human and fully divine. I’ll have to put my reference skills to work on that one.
I live in a community with a sizable community of devout Jews, so the public library (not my workplace) orders a a fair number of picture books with Old Testament stories. They come back from the jobber with a “Christianity” label on the spine! This same company slaps “African-American” on the spine of books that take place in Africa with nary a mention of the good old USA in the story. Have other libraries experienced this sloppy labeling? Have you approached the vendor about it?
susan2,
Not sure about a Christian denomination that believes that Mary was never pregnant. But that may be a misinterpretation of the Catholic Church’s doctrine of the miracle of the Virgin Birth. Mary’s delivery of Jesus is likened to “light through glass”, thereby maintaining Mary’s perpetual virginity.
They objected to the fact that Mary looked pregnant, which made her “just like any other woman” I would have thought that was a good thing, because she was, if I am interpreting correctly, chosen by God. I would think it is good to know that God would choose an average woman of the time to bear his son….But Susan 2 is right – at least the library got some Nativity books it was lacking!
I get so weary of Christians complaining that the media, the government, the library, etc., is censoring them because of their religion. They are the majority and they make the rules. I learned back in school that I shouldn’t dare admit openly that I am an athiest for fear of what the Christians fanatics might do to me and mine. Many seem to feel that they have a duty not only to preach but to force conversion, and that they have a right to be judge, jury, and executioner of anyone who doesn’t agree with them. Apparently, the Beatitudes and the rest of the Sermon on the Mount don’t actually count as Christian values. Yes – I’ve read the Bible – I was raised Christian. I stopped believing after I grew old enough to start questioning.
I can definitely relate to what you say Deb!
My biggest challenges have come from extreme people meaning well. I’ve had challenges from very rigid rule oriented Christians and I’ve had challenges from hard-core atheists. The middle tend to be more live and let live.
We are in a university town and have people living here from all over the world. We carry materials on all the major religions and any of the smaller ones that are of interest to our community. The liberality of being in a college town was the one of the things that attracted me to this job. We have not had any challenges based on religious grounds.
No Christian of my personal acquaintance, which includes most of my staff, has ever had to hide their religion or “go underground” as you say, Will. Of course, no Christian of my personal acquaintance has spent time zealously trying to convert everyone they meet in that annoying, “If you only knew about Christ’s love, you would *have* to believe as I do,” way. My dad always said that the ones speaking the loudest about God and acting so proudly about their religious faith and works were usually the ones that, like a magician, are trying to draw attention away from the sins they are committing the other six days of the week. He called them “front-row Christians” and he was usually right. Eventually, their sins would come out. The (married) pastor that officiated at my wedding ran off with the (married)church secretary a couple of years after we were married and was eventually de-frocked. Two of the frontiest, front-row Christians you could ever hope to meet.
First, I’m one of those quiet Christians. I’m the one who wants to be “nice” to everybody. Yet as I’ve gotten older, I have made a few personal requests. People who are around me all the time don’t swear around me – although they do with others in their offices. Once I heard a couple people in my office ridiculing those people who believe “you can’t get to heaven unless you believe in Christ only” and how silly to think there was only one way. I just looked at them and said pleasantly that I was one of those people – then got off the elevator at my floor. They may now think I’m one of those silly people, but I still have their respect and friendship.
I have to chuckle at the media question brought up by Deb. From my observations, conservatives and Christians think the media is too liberal. Liberals and non-Christians think the media is too conservative. Go figure.
I’m a Baha’i in the Bible Belt. Religion is intensely personal for me and I won’t tell people my Faith unless they ask. When I wear my nine-pointed start necklace, I’m very aware that I’ putting my Faith on display–though most people think the star is just a cool looking star. My co-workers know my Faith, my student workers might ask about it after they take Comparative Religions.
In the Comparative Religions class, students must study a religion not their own. None of the Christians can study the Christian faith. The Baha’i Faith is an option for their project. Prior to this summer, we didn’t have any books about the Baha’i Faith. I picked up five books for the library while visiting the House of Worship in Wilmette, IL. I did this not only for the Comparative Religions class, but for all religious seekers. It’s very important to know what others believe to have a civil conversation.
I’m more than happy to request materials on all Faiths. I might shy away from fundamentalists or extremists from all faiths, but I feel as long as I can defend my decision to the college president, there’s no problem.
Will,
Even as a non-librarian, I share your fascination with these questions – especially, as they relate to the Christian “Great Commission”. Kudos on the Sunday Meditation. Keep taking-on the taboo.
Will, A crown of thorns for sure.
There are wonderful things in the bible – there are horrors in the bible. They are teaching stories – almost everyone has them – all of them are valid for teaching, all of them have multiple messages depending on the student.
For the literalistic – sorry – nothing was written down at the time in English – its all after the fact and hearsay with translation errors, get over yourselves.
From an Indigenous perspective – when you arrived you had the book and no land. We offered you land to live on, gave you food. Now we have the book, and you have all the land. Hmmmm…
I am not sure I understand what this means: “…a book be added to or removed from the collection in the name of Christ”. Why would a patron think that “because Christ does/doesn’t approve of this” is a good impetus for collection development? IS that what this phrase refers to?
My intent is to have all religions represented in our collection. I expected gnashing of teeth when I moved Wicca from the occult to religion but no comment was ever made that I know of. I frequestly get patrons who ask for and are amazed that we have Bibles (separation of church and state, ya know). Also had a lovely Muslim woman who offered a donation of the Koran/Quran and was most pleased when I told he we already ad several.
Personally, I am one of those spiritual not religious liberal feminists. My beliefs are mine and are a combination of some Eastern, some Pagan, some just stuff that gets me through the day. I was raised Presbyterian (a more bland form of Pretentantism you won’t find) and attended a Presbyterial college for undergraduate and a Catholic college for graduate school. I have friends who are very religious but they don’t try to convert me. That’s the key: I won’t ridicule your beliefs if you give me the same consideration.
Organized religion, as opposed to belief systems, have caused most of the heartache and bloodshed in the history of men; it’s too bad we didn’t stay with the original Mother Goddess.
As for this being a Christian nation, I really don’t think so. Most of the founding fathers (where were the mothers?) were Deists. The religuious freedom so important to our history was freedom from religious persecution by Christians – or at least the organized Church.
Never-the-less, you believe what helps you and leave me to my own beliefs. Just don’t ask me to be “washed in the blood of the Lamb” or tell me that I’ll burn in Hell because I don’t believe what you believe. I’ll get there or not based on my actions and my treatment of those less fortunate than myself. Except that I really think we live many lives and perhaps suffer Hell in some of them based upon how we lived in previous lives.
Interesting topic and potentially incendiary. Sorry to go on so long.
Yay Lynne \o/ well said.
Sorry about the typos. That was supposed to be Protestantism in the second paragraph. Though the word came perilously close to pretensionism, which may be pretty accurate too.
I’m late to the party on this one, but I’d still like to pitch in a word or two. As a liberal Christian (yes, there is such a creature), I have always been struck by the many commonalities between American public librarianship and what used to be called “mainline” American Protestant Christianity (the Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, and other similar denominations, once prominent in our national life and now in serious decline). Both have a strong sense of calling and mission, respect for individual dignity, a self-effacing service ethic, and a belief in their duty to help make a better world and better lives for people. In many communities throughout the United States for the past century and a half, those mainline Protestants provided the civic leadership, fiscal foundations, and political support that have made it possible for public libraries to develop and grow. Now that the very name “Christian” has been hijacked by people whose beliefs and behavior would astonish Jesus and his early followers, it is only natural that librarians and others who believe in freedom in its broadest senses would be put off. This is an unfortunate loss both for libraries and for the progressive forms of Christianity.
Long ago in my early library director years, I was visited by a group of people who objected to the library’s hosting of a Dungeons and Dragons game-playing group. Their spokeswoman asked, “Mr. Ashton, are you a Christian?” When I answered, “Yes I am, but the library is not,” they were stymied, and the discussion ended. Perhaps a consciousness of the distinction, the difference between individual belief and institutional policy, would allow people, in the immortal words of Rodney King, to get along.
The ongoing uproar about the siting of an Islamic center/mosque in lower Manhattan is a reminder that religion-based conflict is alive and well. Rather than recoil from the whole matter in secular distaste, librarians can help their communities learn and grow by embracing and encouraging religious discussion and debate. That’s the other part of the First Amendment that we can all support.