RedskinsFanInTX Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 SPRINGFIELD, Va. -- A group of high school students that wants the Fairfax County School System to allow library books that offer a Christian perspective on homosexuality demonstrated Thursday. The students said they are asking that their viewpoint gets the chance to sit on bookshelves and be read. Dozens of students from throughout Fairfax County gathered at West Springfield Hig School. They said that they tried to donate books that promote an evangelical Christian perspective on homosexuality to their schools but were turned away. A schools spokesman said the books were rejected because of school system regulations. Among other things, the books were not age appropriate and there were no reviews of the books. "We collected reviews for all of the books, multiple reviews, presented them to the librarian, and honestly, she didn't even look at them," Link I heard about this on the radio in San Antonio. As a West Springfield graduate it caught my attention. How much has been covered in the news there in Northern Va? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Harris Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 is there a link? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACW Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/02/AR2008100203644.html I remember reading this. Found it interesting. MH, which WVU player is that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IHOPSkins Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 A christian book on Homosexuality is not "age appropriate" for HS? At what age do they pass out condoms? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Harris Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 MH, which WVU player is that? noel devine. specifically inspired by the cut he made on this run against maryland (opening highlight of the video) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 While I assume the books are retarded and all, I don't think schools should be censoring their bookshelves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedskinsFanInTX Posted October 4, 2008 Author Share Posted October 4, 2008 It amazes me that they are into book banning at my old school! These are people that like to talk about tolerance. (as long as you agree with them):puke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 It amazes me that they are into book banning at my old school! These are people that like to talk about tolerance. (as long as you agree with them):puke: So you assume that they were lying when they said "the books were rejected because of school system regulations. Among other things, the books were not age appropriate and there were no reviews of the books..." :whoknows: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 I found this interesting too... But library officials said donated and purchased books alike are evaluated by the same standards, including two positive reviews from professionally recognized journals. None of the donated titles met that standard, said Susan Thornily, coordinator of library information services for Fairfax schools. Some librarians also said that the nonfiction books were heavy on scripture but light on research, or that the books would make gay students "feel inferior," she said. Thornily said school librarians have rejected other books that "target minority groups" and would offend African Americans or other nonwhite students. In this case, librarians were concerned about the level of scholarship in the books, many of which come from small church publishers. "It all goes back to the books and the publishers and the presentation and the research," she said.... [The conservative interest group] Focus on the Family selected and supplied the books. The teenagers assembled yesterday did not say they had read any of them... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/02/AR2008100203644.html At a minimum there are two sides to this story, it appears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slateman Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 A christian book on Homosexuality is not "age appropriate" for HS?At what age do they pass out condoms? I think the reason they pulled it was because it was a religious book. Thus violating the whole separation of church and state Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special K Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 Christian books on homosexuality are not AGE APPROPRIATE...in HIGH SCHOOL??? Yet discussing sex ed and distributing condoms is age appropriate? How does the school determine what is age appropriate here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special K Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 I think the reason they pulled it was because it was a religious book. Thus violating the whole separation of church and state Having a few Christian books on the shelves of a public high school is now a church and state issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slateman Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 Having a few Christian books on the shelves of a public high school is now a church and state issue? No, but having one that specifically targets homosexuals and calls it sin against God does bother me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 Having a few Christian books on the shelves of a public high school is now a church and state issue? None of the stories here say that separation of church and state was the reason for the decision. He was speculating. The librarians said they rejected the books because the books sucked and no one had heard of them, the same way they reject lots of other books. You may or may not believe them, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runs with Scissors Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 The Christian viewpoint on gays will fill a book? They do love the subject,it's their favorite sin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 Well this is quite interesting, I would say. I'm a West Springfield graduate and I have a sister who is attending West Springfield right now. She's never mentioned this "controversy" to me at all. A serious question... Does anything think that anybody would even consider checking out one of these books? Seriously? What benefit do these books have in West Springfield High School? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special K Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 None of the stories here say that separation of church and state was the reason for the decision. He was speculating.The librarians said they rejected the books because the books sucked and no one had heard of them, the same way they reject lots of other books. You may or may not believe them, of course. Well, I suppose that's the librarians' right. So long as it is not the actual government censoring the books, I don't really have a problem with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 My thoughts: 1 - This was organized by Focus on the Family. I find it rather disgusting for a group that certainly doesn't promote tolerance of different ideas to try to use this ideal to push thier intolerance. While certainly a valid legal style argument the spirit of it is clearly being misused. It's worth noting the group shouting about censorship would be the first to back outright bans of any and all inclusion of pro-homosexuality information in the US. 2 - The librarian here is plainly wrong. There are opposing view points on homosexuality and while promoting religion is a no-no opinions on morality and politics is not. The issue of homosexuality in america both morally and american politics is far from settled. The books should get a fair shot despite the dishonest motives leading up to their donation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 The librarian here is plainly wrong. There are opposing view points on homosexuality and while promoting religion is a no-no opinions on morality and politics is not. The issue of homosexuality in america both morally and american politics is far from settled. The books should get a fair shot despite the dishonest motives leading up to their donation. Again, you are assuming that the librarian rejected the books solely because she disagreed with the viewpoint. School libraries do not contain whatever pile of old books the school gets donated to them, or can be bought for cheapest at Goodwill. A librarian's job is to put together a broad, high-quality collection, as well as to catalogue and maintain that collection. Every school library will have a copy of the works of Shakespeare - very few will have the "Autobiography of Carrottop." They will have the Encyclopedia Brittanica, but not "My Thesis that Nostradamus, Napoleon and Bill Clinton Were All Space Aliens" written by Joe Smedley, a crazy guy who lives in his mom's basement. It's the librarian's job to make those calls based on the information available to them about the scholarship and credibility of the books. We don't have enough information yet to know that she did anything wrong - we don't even know anything about these particular books. IMO, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 We don't have enough information yet to know that she did anything wrong - we don't even know anything about these particular books.IMO, of course. apparently we know this much... Some librarians also said that the nonfiction books were heavy on scripture but light on research, or that the books would make gay students "feel inferior," she said. "It all goes back to the books and the publishers and the presentation and the research," I have no problem with screening books in public schools as long as there is no bias....but there always is,one way or the other.imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 TWA is right on both counts, I think. School systems censor books. They always have and probably always will. Some of the sifting is for academic reasons, others for child protection, and sometimes it is because of cultural bias. However tight the rules for determination of what a "fit" book is though bias can and will creep in. I would guess that these are not great works of scholarly merit by what I read in the quotes, but I'd also guess that PCism definately played a role in their rejection too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corcaigh Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 Before a book is admitted to a library the librarians, quite reasonably, want to assess its quality. For books that claim to be factual they do this by published reviews. Any such reputable book will be reviewed - there is a whole industry set up to do just this on behalf of public libraries. From what I've read the books submitted failed to be supported by independent reviews. An article written by a teenager for the church newsletter doesn't meet this criteria. If I wrote a book, claiming to be factual, with anecdotal opinions on any subject (say, how certain religions demean and hate women), do you think a school library should be required to make it available on their shelves? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Harris Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 the more i think about this, the more i think that this is just another case of someone trying to stir up :pooh:. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimboDaMan Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 the more i think about this, the more i think that this is just another case of someone trying to stir up :pooh:.Well sure, that seems pretty obvious. I mean, it seems pretty strange that there are absolutely no books representing this viewpoint that have been able to get positive reviews. My guess is that either this was a deliberate attempt to get the books rejected, for the ensuing publicity, or these people are extreme enough that nothing that will be reviewed positively is acceptable to them. Mind you, if these books boil down to "gay is bad because Jesus says so", I agree they have no place in a public school library, thats what churches are there for. Unless you wish to open that same door of acceptance to Wiccans, Satanists, and the jihadist flavors of Islam also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 A lot of assumptions going on here. I wonder, has anyone read this book they're defending or decrying? ~Bang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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