In a list that has not been released to the public the Bureau of Prisons has censored the titles of religious books that are to be permitted within prison libraries.  Many well known and loved theologians were left off the list of permitted books.  These included: Karl Barth, Reinhold Niebuhr, Robert Schuller, and all the church fathers!  While I certainly do not agree theologically with some of the folks left off the list, the fact that there is a list in the first place is unsettling.  

The reason behind the list was to prevent prison libraries from fueling extremist recruitment.  While this is a noble cause, it just does not make any sense to limit the library to only 9 C.S. Lewis titles!  Or as Douglas Laylock, University of Michigan Law School, says “Government does have a legitimate interest to screen out things that tend to incite violence in prisons... But once they say, ‘We’re going to pick 150 good books for your religion, and that’s all you get,’ the criteria has become more than just inciting violence. They’re picking out what is accessible religious teaching for prisoners, and the government can’t do that without a compelling justification. Here the justification is, the government is too busy to look at all the books, so they’re going to make their own preferred list to save a little time, a little money.” 

Many titles and authors that have been influential in Christian thought were left off the list due to what appears to be a bias from the list's authors.  This was apparent in a list obtained by the NY Times by the fact that more than 80 of the 120 approved Jewish titles are from the same publisher, as well as the fact that the list for Christian titles appears to be only mainline protestant authors.

From a kingdom standpoint it is a shame to think that some of the titles that have brought prisoners hope, encouragement, guidance, discipleship, and consolation are being ripped from their libraries in a bureaucratic-turned-religious-homeland-security-botch-up. 

However, there is something you can do.  Sojourners has put together a letter writing campaign to the Bureau of Prisons Director, Haley Lappin. 

Source: NY Times: Prisons Purging Books on Faith from Libraries 

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