Religious Literature In Public Libraries

I laughed a bit when I read this this Daily Mail article twisting a simple story about a Muslim society in the UK requesting that the Koran be placed on a higher shelf. Apparently Muslim scholars believe the Koran should always be on the higher shelf to show respect.

The Library responded by putting all religious texts on the uppers shelves. This caused a predictable counter-reaction from some Christian groups who now claim to be persecuted victims. Bet you didn't see that one coming.

I think the Library made an acceptable compromise, although it wouldn't bother me either if the Library just ignored the request. The Dewey decimal system works fine and there is a strong argument to be made for pragmatism.

If you made me the Librarian I just might slap warning labels on those books that they are not suitable for children. Some of the stories in ancient religious literature are violent and sexist. And its fairly obvious that religious texts nurture severe bigotry in some people

The story does show how a simple request from one group gets turned into a whole Christian vs Muslim war of Civilizations controversy. Mark Steyn would be proud. The rest of us find it tiresome.

I'm in favor of Libraries stocking primary religious texts and I'm in favor of people reading the Bible and the Koran at least once to complete their general education. My own Library has a fairly diverse collection of primary religious texts. I also know there is a subtle pressure to stock some fairly ugly religious literature.

I wouldn't want to be a librarian these days having to use public money to purchase materials, and probably getting angry letters and phone calls from unbalanced people who aren't seeing their kind of books. Or mad because they see something they don't like. Please recommend this post

Whose Nativity Scene is it?

The nativity scene at a church near my house. Charming, though a little kitschy. You can't see it well in the picture, but there is a little Angel hoisted above the manger with a piece of rebar. Because I'm a neurotic stickler for details I thought something was not quite right. For some reason I didn't think there was an angel at the nativity scene, at least not as its told in the bible stories.

Quick refresher. Of the four Gospels only Matthew and Luke have stories about the birth of Jesus. Mark and John start their gospels with Jesus already an adult. Matthew tells the story of the three wise men, but Luke leaves them out completely. Luke tells the story of the shepherds in the fields woken up by angels in the sky. Matthew leaves the shepherds out.

And yes, I was right. Neither story says there were Angels at the manger.

Its a minor detail and a forgivable one in the name of artistic license. The reason it bothers me is that every year at this time we have horrible arguments about who owns Christmas and what it really means. I think that if you're going to be like Bill O'Reilly or the Catholic League and bully people into believing that your version of Christmas is the correct one, to be forced upon the rest of us, then you should at least get the details correct from your own source.

Make of the holidays and the various traditions what you will. Its yours to imagine. Or to ignore. If you want zebras and helicopters in your nativity scene go for it. If you want gay shepherds or a black Virgin Mary go for it. It is your spiritual path, your story, and your symbols. Please recommend this post