The Bible.
By… it’s complicated
Reasons: Religious Viewpoint
For the first time The Bible made it on the list of the most frequently challenged books. It’s interesting to think about why this has made the list. James La Rue, from the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom speculates that it was “people who feel that if a school library buys a copy of The Bible it’s a violation of church and state…. 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.”
Deborah Caldwell Stone, deputy director of the American Library Association thinks that it shows that faith is “very present on the minds of many people in society.”
I’ll admit this one stumps me a bit. Yes, it’s a bit of a gross generalization but most of the books that make it to the top of this list are because of people who claim themselves as Christian (I would argue that they aren’t actually being very christian, but that’s a whole other post). The Bible rising to the list means something, I’m just having a hard time articulating my thoughts on it.
So, I wonder what your thoughts might be. What does it mean — that The Bible made the list this year? Where do you think the challenges came from?
If you want to read some more (and for the resources that the above quotes came from) here are some articles with more information about the Bible making the list.
Eclectic Alli 