School Board judges God
Rejects Christianity, Inflicts Pluralism
in Fascist Fashion
Op-ed by Jen Shroder
6/23/04 Repost at will
As public schools bewail their financial straights, a
school board
refused FREE donations of a brand new Christian book series
(gasp) by
Bill Myers about the hilarious escapades of Wally McDoogle, a "boy
blunder" who faces everyday problems like bullies or temptation
to cheat on a
test. Occasionally Wally actually prays, (gasp again) but aside from
that, the references to God are minimal.
Fictional stories accepted by the school library include boys
praying to prairie gods, canyon gods, Greek gods, acts of sorcery and
assorted beliefs. Often required reading includes "The Giver," a
science fiction where everyone comes from a test tube and parents are
assigned to children. Graphic descriptions of "merciful
injections" to the brain are given to kill retarded or deformed
infants (pro-abortion), and euthanasia is an eloquent act.
So how is it a Christian book fails such low standards, especially
when "no library materials should be excluded because of religious
views."
Mary Matakovich, Ed.D., Director of Instructional Services, wrote
they could not accept the free donations and test materials because
"these books do not meet the following guidelines":
"To provide materials that will enrich and support the curriculum
and personal needs of the users, taking into consideration their
varied interests, abilities, and learning styles; [varied interests
include Christian]
To provide materials that will stimulate growth in factual
knowledge, [like Harry Potter?] literary appreciation, aesthetic
values, and ethical standards;
To provide a background of information which will enable pupils to
make intelligent judgments in their daily lives; [like "The Giver"
which encourages infanticide?]
To provide materials which realistically represent our pluralistic
society and reflect the contributions made by these groups and
individuals to our American heritage; [because there are so many books
about Native American gods, I believe they are referring to Native
Americans, not our Christian founding fathers]
To place principle above personal opinion and reason above
prejudice in the selection of materials of the highest quality in
order to assure a comprehensive media collection appropriate for the
users. [I believe this actually means placing pluralism above
individual religious beliefs and secular humanism above religious
freedom, as carefully worded in the state standards and critical
thinking]
Be relevant to today’s world; [according to whom? Secular
humanists?]
Represent artistic, historic, and literary qualities; [literary
qualities of Bill Myer's books are validated by "Accelerated Reader,"
a teacher’s resource for test materials]
Reflect problems, aspirations, attitudes and ideals of a society;
[this could not exclude Christian]
Contribute to the objectives of the instructional program;
[frightening objectives to those who study examples]
Be appropriate to the level of the user; [Bill Myer’s books are
identified to grade level]
Represent differing viewpoints on controversial subjects; [none of
the school library books I’ve seen represents differing viewpoints!]
Provide a stimulus to creativity." [Bill Myer’s books are
incredibly inventive and creative.]
Matakovich would not respond to further inquiries or requests for
clarification, but one teacher showed great enthusiasm for the title,
"My Life as a Smashed Burrito" until she heard it was a Christian
book, to which she responded with obvious disgust, "Oh! We can’t have
any of THOSE books here!" When asked why not, she responded, "Because
we’re not ALL of that "slant!"
Indeed, Christianity and Judaism are often specifically excluded. A
webpage for "The Pluralism Project" gives evidence, providing a
directory of over 4500 religious centers, but "does not include
information on Christian or Jewish centers, as these can be readily
found in the local phonebook."
