The other day my mom called me very excited about an article she was sending me from my hometown newspaper.( my mom may be the only person I know who still loves to send mail, she constantly cuts clipping out of the paper to send) . She said they are shutting down the bible trailer! The bible trailer is a trailer that parks outside of the elementary schools in my small town and if you have a signed permission slip you can visit the trailer for a bible lesson. I'm from a small conservative town and the bible trailer has been supported by the community for many years. I attended the bible trailer in the first grade and so did my 32 year old sister. Recently a local judge voted that the trailer went against church and state laws. This was a big shock to most members of the community. Here is an article about the school corporation meeting .
It has a few weird typos but I'm pretty impressed it was available online.
This got me thinking about libraries and the community they serve. My hometown community has supported the bible trailer program for years . Our library is very conservative and follows the unspoken guidelines the community creates. IF is an important practice to have in your library but I feel many communities would not support the idea. The group that has the loudest voice tends to make the rules.
It has a few weird typos but I'm pretty impressed it was available online.
This got me thinking about libraries and the community they serve. My hometown community has supported the bible trailer program for years . Our library is very conservative and follows the unspoken guidelines the community creates. IF is an important practice to have in your library but I feel many communities would not support the idea. The group that has the loudest voice tends to make the rules.
While I understand that you (as well as others in your community) have benefited and have fond memories of the "Bible Trailer," I can understand why it would be struck down as an appropriate activity. From what I gathered, it was supported by the school corporation. If they were simply teaching students about Christianity without attempts at evangelization (including not praying during school hours), and if the school was also teaching students about other religions, I don't think it would be as much of an issue. But as it stands, it is legally a public school (and by extension governmental) endorsement of religion, which is unconstitutional. And while I understand communities will influence practices within them, there is still something to be said (especially in libraries and schools) about staying within the confines of the law. If the community doesn't agree with the law, they need to take the steps to try to have it changed.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the question I had earlier in the semester: Does the library serve the community or does it serve something larger? Is serving the larger principles of IF actually serving the community? I think so, since there are community members, perhaps far less vocal than those in the majority, whose interests are protected by ideals such as our nation's value of the separation of church and state, or a library's protection of its patron's intellectual freedoms.
ReplyDeleteI had to smile when I read about the bible trailer. It seems like such a quaint idea - one I had never heard of but can imagine so easily existing in a simpler world than the one we operate in today. I guess I agree with the judge that its time is past.
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