Library Poll: What Book got the Warning Sticker from Bob Jones University?
Posted on November 8, 2009 at 1:31 pm by Dr. Jim
I saw this over at Happy Jihad’s House of Pancakes and thought I just had to repost it!
The sticker was attached to a book obtained through Interlibrary Loan. Unfortunately, Mr. Happy didn’t say which book, so let’s have a vote to see which one is most likely! This is Dr. Jim’s first poll, so c’mon and give it a try!
November 8, 2009 at 10:01 pm
I love the way the minds of people like you work. This is a sticker that is put in every book in the library. It is simply a reminder that just because BJU has a book in the library does not mean that they agree with the contents of the book. Why do they have something like that? Because people like you would take the other approach if they did not have such a sticker. You would make a post that had the idea of “Can you believe BJU has THIS book in its library?”
The reality is that folks that are critical and uniformed like to make something out of nothing.
November 9, 2009 at 8:32 am
Oh brother… What university library has to put disclaimers in its books? I’ve been in a number of theological libraries and none feel the need to do that? Why does BJ University feel the need to do it? Certainly not because atheists would laugh at them having books that disagree with their doctrines, but that they are afraid of the asinine complaints of their anti-intellectual donors who can’t sort out that university libraries are supposed to be repositories of diverse opinions.
The fact that the stickers claim that they are holding books simply for acreditations’ sake only shows how gutlessly anti-intellectual BJ U. really is.
November 9, 2009 at 8:25 am
… says the very serious guy whose avatar has a banana dong.
November 9, 2009 at 11:05 am
Maybe the BJU people just figured out that all reading is an intellectual orgy — everyone getting into someone else’s head! Oh, where will it stop?
November 9, 2009 at 6:29 pm
The Revised Standard Version.
November 10, 2009 at 9:12 am
jim i’ve been in theological libraries from los angeles to london to zurich and ive NEVER seen such a sticker in ANY book in ANY theological library. EVER.
November 10, 2009 at 9:38 am
Mind you, you might not have looked at any of the books I’ve written…
November 10, 2009 at 11:33 am
FTR,
The avatar attached to my name has nothing to do with me. I have never seen it before and I do not know how it got attached to my name.
I would also comment that in some way the aspect of pointing out about the avatar is actually illustrative of what I was indicating. Rather than address what I was saying, Sean took something that was tangentially connected to me (because it somehow showed up with post) to attack me. This is exactly the kind of thing that BJU experiences every day from both sides – no wonder they see the necessity of putting a disclaimer on things.
November 10, 2009 at 6:53 pm
The avatar is generated by the system, and this is the first time I’ve noticed that it gave anyone a banana in the crotch… Sorry about that, but for Pete’s sake, Sean made a little joke, get used to it. It’s the internet.
But why is this are reason to but disclaimers on books? Wouldn’t it be better just to adopt exactly the same kind of attitude virtually EVERY other university has and not apologize for including material in the collection? My university has Mein Kampf, with NO disclaimers or anything like that. Why? Because there is an implicit trust that no one will mistake the opinions and lies in that book with the official or unofficial view of the university or the beliefs of any of its faculty, staff, and students. It is a very mature position and one that is virtually universal around the academic (and even PUBLIC) library world.
Why is BJU so concerned about disavowing contents of book? BJU would be laughed at LESS if they just adopted a more grown up position and trusted its own people to understand what universities do. Instead, it sticks disclaimers on things and that is why folks here are laughing. BJU is actually insulting the intelligence of its own library patrons, it is more worried about appearing doctrinally “correct” than legitimizing the free flow of ideas, something universities are supposed to do. It is a joke. You should consider transferring to a more mature institution instead of defending such a ludicrous one.
November 13, 2009 at 11:53 am
Jim,
You comment: “My university has Mein Kampf, with NO disclaimers or anything like that. Why? Because there is an implicit trust that no one will mistake the opinions and lies in that book with the official or unofficial view of the university or the beliefs of any of its faculty, staff, and students.”
Ah, herein lies the rub. While your university may indeed have that implicit trust that people will understand that the mere inclusion of a book in the library does not imply endorsement of the contents, authors, etc., BJU does not have that luxury. They have learned that fact over and over again over many years of criticism from the left and the right.
If XYZ University has a copy of “Mein Kampf”, they are (rightfully) given the benefit of the doubt that its inclusion does not represent the universities view. However, if BJU had a copy of the same book, they would not be given the same benefit of the doubt. So, instead of trusting that they will get the benefit of the doubt, when history has taught them otherwise, why not be explicit by issuing the disclaimer? Of course, then you have guys like you criticizing them for the disclaimer. Again, they can’t win for loosing (as the saying goes.)
BJU has had a history of experiencing criticism over and over again for even their good things. (And, yes, I recognize they have also received criticism for things for which they deserved criticism). Just a small example I remember. A pilot had a layover in the area and decided to visit the art gallery and then look around campus. Somehow I ended up talking to him and he really knew nothing about BJU (this was before BJU became an issue again in the 2000 Republican primaries). The one comment he made that he had heard, however, was that BJU had built Barge Hospital (the campus hospital) because they were trying to hide all the single dorm girls having babies. He had heard it on the way to the school from his taxi driver. Now, anyone actually familiar with BJU would hve known that this was rediculous (for one thing, a single girl getting pregnant would have been “shipped” for violating a number of rules in the process) and yet this was passed on as something true about BJU. So, for XYZ University to have a campus hospital is a good thing, for BJU to have one is to somehow be hypocritical and involved in a cover up. This is the kind of thing they experience a lot. Perhaps this has made them a little extra-cautious on some things. Granted. Do they need to be rediculed for their caution, as well?