It’s hard to imagine that any school
would have a problem with a book about the true account of a Christian family
that helped Jews escape the Holocaust. But
Springs Charter Schools in Temecula, CA, had a problem with “The Hiding Place,”
— the biography of Corrie ten Boom … a Dutch Christian who was imprisoned by
the German Nazis for helping Jews. They
also took issue with any other book that was written by a Christian author or
included a Christian message. “We do not
purchase sectarian educational materials and do not allow sectarian materials
on our state-authorized lending shelves,” Superintendent Kathleen Hermsmeyer
wrote in a letter to attorneys at the Pacific
Justice Institute (PJI).
Religious advocacy group PJI is representing a parent who
discovered what they called a “Christian purging” of the charter school’s
library. “She was told by one of the
library attendants that the library has been instructed to remove all books
with a Christian message, authored by Christians, or published by a Christian
publishing company,” read a letter PJI
sent to the public charter school. “The
attendant advised that the library would no longer be carrying those books. Indeed, our client was told that the library
was giving those books away, and she actually took some.”
“It is alarming that a school
library would attempt to purge books from religious authors,” said Brad Dacus,
president of PJI. “This is a major sweep by this charter school
to eliminate the religious viewpoint. Libraries
cannot engage in an open purging of books simply because they are of a
Christian perspective.” Dacus said the
charter school must reverse “their ill-conceived and illegal book-banning
policy.” If they fail to do so, he said,
PJI is prepared to take further legal
action.
So why would a public charter school
take issue with books written by Christians?
Superintendent Hermsmeyer replied to
the letter she received from PJI. What she told them was a bit alarming. “We are a public school, and as such, we are
barred by law from purchasing sectarian curriculum materials with state funds,”
she wrote. “We only keep on our shelves
the books that we are authorized to purchase with public funds.”
PJI said the charter school has violated the 1st Amendment. They cited a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling
that said “local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves
simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books and seek by
their removal to ‘prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism,
religion, or other matters of opinion.’” [case: Board of Education, Island Trees Union
Free School District No. 26 v. Pico]
Hermsmeyer denied they were
discriminating against Christian authors or publishing companies. “At no time, however, have we discriminated
against Christian authors or publishing companies who create secular
educational materials,” she wrote.
It’s quite unfortunate that the
charter school endorses the banning of books.
“Some of the greatest literature of Western civilization comes from
religious authors,” Dacus said. Are they
going to ban the sermons or speeches of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?” Heaven forbid the children find a Bible in the
library.
In my opinion, book banning is just
one step away from book burning. Last
time I checked, libraries have a wide variety of books … many of which I have
no desire to read (may even be contrary to my convictions). But that doesn’t mean they should be banned;
it means I don’t read them! I find it
more than ironic that a book telling the truth about the Nazis of WW2 is
treated like so many books that were ‘smoked’ by the Nazis!
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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