teach the Bible to us. Isaiah 30 says:
20 And though the Lord gives you The bread of adversity and the water of affliction, Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, But your eyes shall see your teachers.
21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.
We can know the way to walk through this world - God has not left us here to fend for ourselves; no, He desires to see us skillfully apply the principles that He has taught to us. The Bible contains the wisdom of God and instruction in walking in His ways. We can find out more about who He is and how He desires for us to walk. And, the Word of God provides a foundation for an orderly society and can shape our common morality.
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In 2nd Peter 1, we read about the potential that we have in Christ - to walk in His truth and to know
Him. We read, starting in verse 2:
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Every year, the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom compiles a list of the top 10 most frequently challenged books, according to its website. It says that it does this, "in order to inform the public about censorship in libraries and schools. The ALA condemns censorship and works to ensure free access to information."
The website goes on: "A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness."
The top book that has been challenged: Looking for Alaska, by John Green, for the reasons of "Offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group." 50 Shades of Grey came in second, followed by I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, for the stated reasons: "Inaccurage, homosexuality, sex education, religious viewpoint, and unsuited for age group." Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin is fourth, and the fifth most-challenged book is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.
So, I'm confused here, does the ALA really think these books should be made available without restrictions? That's what it sounds like. All 5 of these listed "unsuited for age group" as a complaint. Three of them had complaints about the "religious viewpoint," as did the #6 book on the ALA's list...The Bible! Yes, because of religious viewpoint.
James LaRue, director of the Office of Intellectual Freedom, is quoted on the Religion News Service website: “I think the value of the Top 10 list is it’s an index of complaints, and so it says, ‘What are the things we fear in our culture?'” He noted that the “persistent mistaken belief that separation of church and state says that you can’t find a Bible — or really any religious scripture — in a public library or school library, and that’s just wrong." He added, "I think it’s important for people to understand the job of the library is to provide information and provide access to a number of different views. We’re not endorsing one or trying to tamp down others. We’re just opening our doors and inviting people in to satisfy their curiosity."
He mentioned that, "There’s almost a little retaliatory feel to people speaking up against the Bible because they want to go on record as being opposed to Christian opposition to LGBT (issues) or Christian opposition to Islam."
A Christianity Today article quotes Andrew Hood, director of communications at the American Bible Society: "The Bible—the most-translated and best-selling book of all time—has informed centuries of literature, government, philosophy and social behavior,” adding, “To exclude it from public libraries and schools would be to diminish access to the most influential book of all time." The article points out that, "While five books on the ALA’s list cite 'religious viewpoint' as a reason why they made the list, the Bible is the only book where that is the only reason cited."
As we move into some more analysis, I think it's helpful to recognize that the Bible is more than a collection of stories or rules for living. In a macro sense, the Bible is a prescription for an orderly and moral society. What we call right and wrong, in many instances, can be traced back to God's Word. Taking the life of another person, or telling a lie, or stealing someone else's belongings - these are all universally accepted prohibitions that are found in the pages of the Scriptures. If you reject the moral code found in the Bible, then society is leaving it up to the whims of human beings. "Your truth is different than my truth" is not a sound basis for the structure of a culture.
And, interestingly enough, people find these books on the ALA complaint list unacceptable because they violate a common sensibility, right? So how did we acquire that? I would say that the objections to this so-called literature are consistent with the Biblical values that are ingrained in our society.
Finally, God's Word teaches us how to experience His life and walk in godliness. We learn about God through our careful study of Scripture and we can actually come to know Him as we allow the Word to take root in our minds. For our individual lives, we can experience an orderly and fulfilling life as we apply His principles to our thoughts and actions.
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