Right next door, in the “Live Free or Die” state of New Hampshire a Christian couple is seeking to remove a book on social economics from their son’s school curriculum because they don’t like the way the author represents Christ as having been a poor man on the fringe of society.
The book that Aimee and Dennis Taylor object to is “Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America,” (2001) by Barbara Ehrenreich, who documented her experiences and reflections on our economy based on time spent actually trying to get by on minimum wage. Ahead of its time in many ways, this award-winning book is pretty universally recognized for its seminal importance in drawing attention to the realities of American lives trapped in the economic race to the bottom.
In Nickel and Dimed, Ms. Ehrenreich briefly describes a tent revival meeting, recounting how it caused her to reflect on the emphasis that is placed on the crucified Christ rather than the exemplary life he is said to have led, teaching about social justice and choosing to live a common life among the poorest of the poor.
“Jesus makes his appearance here only as a corpse; the living man, the wine guzzling vagrant and precocious socialist, is never once mentioned, nor anything he ever had to say,” she wrote.”
That view of the legendary life of Christ is apparently objectionable to some tightly-wound Christians; and rather than courageously stand-up for the value of a thought-provoking education, Bedford School Superintendent Tim Mayes took the low-road:
“I thought we could seek better balance in terms of covering multiple topics in personal finance, and maybe we were spending too much time on the one topic of working as a minimum wage employee,” he said Monday.
I’m very glad that he is so optimistic about the future of his students as to conclude that the topic of working as a minimum wage employee doesn’t even merit a single targeted reading assignment.
There is also the Taylors’ objection to the book’s “foul language,” of which there of course is none in other twentieth century literature of merit, not to mention most of popular culture everywhere.
I went to “The Immaculata” Catholic high school for girls; and when I was a senior there in 1967, we were assigned The Catcher in the Rye by Sister Mary Catherine. You’ve really got to wonder at the detour in pedagogical progress since then!
Be careful what you wish for. The Taylors might not be so happy with the trend they are in danger of creating. What if Muslim parents begin objecting to assignments that discuss 9/11, because some Muslims figure in that story in a less than flattering light? Some might take the popular and flawed fundamentalist position that this is a Christian country; so, in their view, constitutional “waivers” and protections should go only one way.
If school boards routinely cave to the widespread efforts by the Christian right to impose revisionism on their curricula, what hope is there for the future of American excellence on the world stage? Where are the objections to this festival of ignorance, on the part of the Christian left; the ones who continue to live by those principles of social justice and tolerance that I was taught? I know they’re out there and didn’t all die-off with the good sisters at “The Immaculata.”
There has been an impassioned outcry for Muslims to “do the right thing” and speak out against the terrorism of jihad fundamentalists. We should be asking as well for Christians to rally against the fundamentalist Christian crack-pots, ginning-up hatred and ignorance from their platforms of self-serving righteousness. Jesus must be spinning in his sepulchre!
Our history books spend too much time on the one topic of slavery.
Our chemistry books spend too much time on the one topic of atoms.
least religious states in the country!
besides the religious aspect, there is a real class war going on in america…
I’d just mention that I tend to think Jesus does his spinning outside his sepulcher. =) I’m with Ehrenreich that the point of Christianity is not Christ as a corpse!
I’ve read Nickel and Dimed, and it is an excellent book for high school kids, who must be prepared to face the modern disconnect between haves and have-nots. BeGreener is spot on, and I’d go further to say the class war part of this, in a lot of ways, is more important than the religious one.
Fundies are common pawns in our class war, of course, for their b&w view of things. I reject their worldview that seems to up-end so much of what Christ taught (which is the point of the quoted passage, too). But I’m not sure the Christian Left is to blame for a spineless superintendent, here. Doing the right thing is something we all fight for together as allies — not distant relations.
If, in one of the least religious of states, you are really interested your Christian allies, I’d be happy to discuss them. Bear in mind, though, that we’ll never be quite as outrageous and headline-grabbing as these reactionary fools.
I’m surprised that I’m the first to testify to this.
Nickle and Dimed is a good book. Much better than that horrible “economics” book I had to read in high school. All I remember is it extolled the virtues of capitalism.