By Holly Hoppe
Some years ago, toting two preschoolers by the hand, I strolled into the public library of a major urban city. Up the stairs we went into the children’s section, plopped down on bean bag chairs, and snuggled up for precious reading time. A growing pile of books quickly appeared at my side, mostly ones with colorful, attention-grabbing covers that beckoned small hands to pluck them from the shelves. I scanned the titles, ready to dive in… but one gave me pause. This definitely was not a book on my worthy-to-be-read-aloud-to-children list. I quietly slipped it back on the shelf behind us, hoping its absence wouldn’t be noticed.
A similar scene has played itself out numerous times since, though with increasingly older and more inquisitive children. As a family of readers, we love our local library and value the habit of feasting widely on worthy literature, the kind that shapes the moral senses toward what is good, true, and beautiful. Yet I admit the feelings of unease that day have grown faster than my teenagers’ shoe sizes. Today, our library experience no longer involves snuggling on bean bags and me quietly tossing aside books I’d rather they not read. Now it’s about confronting my own false “gods” of safety and control, praying for these moments to turn into opportunities to develop discernment and a love for the truth.
It turns out I’m not the only parent feeling uneasy. In 2021, the American Library Association tracked 1,597 attempts to remove library, school, and university materials, an almost 1000% increase from the prior year. This is despite data showing kids are reading significantly less books than previous generations. The most common reasons cited are racism, sexually explicit content, profanity, violence, and LGBTQ ideology. In addition, public school systems are making rapid changes to curriculum along ideological lines. In the U.S., a book can be challenged based on any objection to its material, resulting in a ban wherein the book is removed altogether. This “picketing-and-protesting” model for social change may be a common practice, but is banning ideas from libraries and schools a practice Christians should promote?
For some, behind the unease is the concern of indoctrination. Parental rights to control what children are exposed to seem to be under threat, and the promotion of books undermining Christian values reinforces the fear that children’s moral imaginations are being lost to a secular agenda. They desire to protect kids from what they see as harmful ideas. The other side argues that books which challenge traditional moral norms promote diversity and inclusion. They see “parental rights” as a power struggle over everyone else’s kids. Their hopes are to protect minority kids from feelings of isolation and to tell history from another perspective. Books get challenged from both directions, so to speak- Gender Queer and To Kill a Mockingbird are both near the top of banned book lists. The concerns of both sides are valid, but blanket bans do children a disfavor by stifling critical thinking. There must be a better way.
Becoming Thought-Exiles
During Israel’s exile, Daniel spent three years immersed in the literature and language of Babylon. Although Jewish views were marginalized, he served faithfully in the king’s court as God gave him “learning and skill in all literature and wisdom” (Dan. 1:17). Surely Daniel was required to read questionable material; he had no choice in the matter. Yet his indoctrination into Babylonian ideology was subverted by skillful wisdom and fear of the Lord. This wisdom positioned him to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and point him to the true God (2:47). His story reminds us of something Greg Lukainoff and Jonathan Haidt observed in The Coddling of the American Mind: “words don’t cause stress directly; they can only provoke stress and suffering in a person who has interpreted those words as posing a threat,” and that “you can use your opponents’ ideas and arguments to make yourself stronger” (p. 96). What’s more, engaging with the ideas around us trains us as Christians to help our neighbors make sense of their dreams and point to Jesus as the answer to their hopes and longings.
Daniel’s situation applies to those of us today whose moral foundation is rooted in the Judeo-Christian ethic of love for God and neighbor. Though we may not be physically exiled from our home, we have moved into a time in the secular West when biblical moral norms are seen as outdated at best, and oppressive and harmful at worst. Rather than publicly challenging books or banning ideas, we must practice being “thought-exiles”- people who filter our thinking through the lens of the biblical story- even as we engage with the ideas cherished by the world around us. Here are some ways we can help our children do the same:
Define your duty. Deuteronomy 6 places the priority for discipleship on parents. Our ethical responsibility is first to our own child, and we must judge his or her readiness to consider a book’s message. We do well to pay attention to what they are reading, and ideally, we should read and discuss it with them. Therefore, parents can go ahead and ban a book in the home, but with a long-term view toward maturity and critical thinking.
Focus on who they’re becoming. Books and stories have a powerful effect on shaping the moral imagination, so give kids the very best that literature has to offer. (Here’s a list we’ve used in our family.) From the time they are infants, expose their hearts to love what is true, good, and beautiful in God’s sight. Books can give them an appetite for these things and a distaste for what is evil and help them become the kinds of people who are sanctified in God’s truth and live in the world but are not of it (John 17:15-19).
Know the goal. Biblically speaking, education is about seeking after the truth. Proverbs reminds us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom, not viewpoint diversity or protection from ideas. As Christians, we are called not to flee from the world nor accommodate to it, but to engage our neighbors redemptively. When our child is handed a book with questionable ideology, reading it with wisdom can equip them to understand how others see the world and to build bridges to the gospel in future conversations.
Give them lenses. John Calvin said that Scripture should be the spectacles we look through to see both God and ourselves accurately. Prioritize giving your child a biblical faith and worldview by reading the Bible deeply and using a catechism. This will enable them to identify what is true in any idea they encounter while also offering thoughtful critique. Teach them basic logic and critical thinking skills, and remind them often to examine the worldview behind the book they are reading by asking good questions. This kind of maturity characterizes those “who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Heb. 5:14).
In our context of pluralism, we must negotiate between truth and falsehood side-by-side. Community members and parents should seek to bring biblical norms to bear upon our schools and libraries (1 Cor. 10:31), but we also must protect students’ intellectual freedom for the dissenting viewpoint to be heard, praying for God’s truth to shine brightly in the darkness. As with Daniel, a fear of the Lord can turn our trips to the library into discipleship opportunities. Help them be a faithful thought-exile, for God may call them to stand before kings.
Holly is a founding member of g+p and has served in a variety of ways. She is married to Vince, is a homeschooling mom, and graduate of Covenant Theological Seminary (MATS). She currently works as an MPD Coach with Navigators.