| As it happens, I have some history with Banned Books Week. The year that my book Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy came out, the American Booksellers Foundation for Freedom of Expression highlighted it as a book to be feaured during Banned Books Week -- not because it had been banned, but because it exposed the theocratic movement that gives rise to most of the book banning activities in the U.S. in the first place.
Dispatches is a very different kind of book -- and I think it has the potential to irritate, perchance to outrage, the book banners. Dispatches is a collection of 19 essays by 22 writers (edited by me)-- some of which are explicit calls by religious progressives for broad sexual and reproductive justice; which affirm the dignity and worth of all persons regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation; and which fiercly stand for religious pluralism and separation of church and state.
Consider Chip Berlet's essay:
...the issue is not secular versus spiritual ideologies; the issue is how to craft a pluralist civil society that honors the dignity of both secular philosophy and spiritual faith-while insisting that theological claims alone should never dictate public policy. That is why we say we are challenging theocracy, because that is what the Christian Right leadership is increasingly sowing: a theocratic society.
...the resurgence of an authentic, politically dynamic Religious Left will be part of a new broad progressive coalition that will help fulfill the long delayed promise of American democracy for all people, especially those who have historically been oppressed, marginalized, and abandoned by our society.
Throughout our history as a nation, Religious Left activists have been fierce advocates for justice and equality and opponents of unfair concentrations of privilege and power. In addition, they have joined with secularists and civil libertarian religious conservatives to defend our Constitutional tradition of separation of church and state.
Yep. The book banners are not going to like that! But that alone might not be enough to get their censorship mojo working. Maybe this excerpt from an essay by Rev. Debra Haffner and Tim Palmer will get their eyebrows raising:
The Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing was founded in 2001 to realize the vision of the Religious Declaration on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing, a declaration now endorsed by close to 3,000 clergy, theologians and religious educators
from more than 45 faith traditions. Since 2001, we have convened colloquia of prominent scholars and clergy from various traditions in order to create a series of open letters that provide a framework for religious leaders to address sexual and reproductive justice in their congregations, and to become advocates in the public square.
The emerging theology of sexual justice focuses on personal relationships, integrity and justice, rather than on particular sexual acts.
All persons have the right and responsibility to lead sexual lives that express love, mutuality, commitment, consent and pleasure. Grounded in respect for the body and for the vulnerability that intimacy brings, this ethic fosters physical, emotional and spiritual health. It accepts no double standards and applies to all persons, without regard to sex, gender, color, age, bodily condition, marital status or sexual orientation.
But just in case that isn't enough to stoke the fires of a book banning frenzy -- they should check out the essay by Rev. Carlton Veazey, President of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice:
The opposition to comprehensive sex education, HIV/AIDS prevention that includes condom education, emergency contraception and legal abortion comes from religious groups that claim these violate religious beliefs-the underlying message being that the only valid religious beliefs are theirs. The failure to appreciate and articulate religious pluralism as a powerful value often leads to capitulation and compromise on reproductive issues with factions that do not honor the differing value systems inherent in our religiously plural society, as well as the value of religious pluralism itself.
A Religious Left that is unwaveringly committed to protecting religious freedom and enabling religious pluralism to flourish should speak with one voice against all attempts to violate church/state separation, including in areas of reproductive decision-making.
Most of the Religious Right's challenges to books these days, are based on worldviews, either real or fictional, that do not conform to the views of the strident activists of the Religious Right. (My local library has a terrific display of challenged books from The Color Purple to Harry Potter). Thanks to the sponsors of Banned Books Week, and the millions of Americans who rally to support the freedom to read, banned books often enjoy a boost in sales, readership and public discussion.
So yes, ban this book, please. (Or at least try to.) The book came out on October 1st. So if you are a book banner, or thinking about becoming one, this is an opportunity to get ahead of the curve! |
