BY Berit Kjos
My favorite book as a child was a Norwegian translation of an old British book titled “The Wide Wide Word.” It tells about a young girl sent to live with a distant aunt after the death of her mother. Since Ellen had already learned to trust Jesus, she knew He was with her in the midst of her dark and lonely surroundings. She saw His love in amazing ways–especially through a kind young woman who uses every painful hurdle in Ellen’s early life to point her to God’s ever–present comforts.
Since my family rarely mentioned God in those days, this book opened my eyes to His loving sovereignty. It became my life–line to His special strength during Norway’s post-war years. And when we moved to America, it was the main treasure I brought with me.
Such books may soon be forgotten–banished by a law that prohibits the sale of children’s books published before 1985. The justification for such an outrageous decree is that the print might contain a tiny amount of lead. Testing books for lead is prohibitively expensive. According to an article titled, The New Book Banning, “no one seems to have been able to produce a single instance in which an American child has been made ill by the lead in old book illustrations–not surprisingly, since unlike poorly maintained wall paint, book pigments do not tend to flake off in large lead-laden chips for toddlers to put into their mouths.”
Could political goals have prompted this specific ban? I don’t know. But if I were a postmodern change agent, I would want to hide old books that refresh young minds with moral absolutes and the unadulterated memories of our historical roots. Truth and freedom are incompatible with today’s evolving standards for global solidarity.
Today’s Christian books are different. Actual Scriptures are usually missing, and new marketing schemes have led even Christian publishers to adapt their books to postmodern demands. Since entertainment is vital to sales, their new children’s books often show silly images of our holy God–designed to amuse, not show reverence. We seem to have forgotten God’s admonitions:
“I will not let them profane My holy name anymore.” Ezekiel 39:7
“You thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you.” Psalm 50:21
Nothing speeds America’s memory loss faster than its spreading boundaries for Biblical truth. And it’s no accident that today’s emphasis on politically correct tolerance rarely applies to Christians. Click here to read this entire article.
