[CALIBK12] The Case for a Creator...Lee Strobel

[ladewig]

Sarah,

I am familiar with the title and author and he is considered to be a
well-regarded/mainline author within the Christian community - not from a
smaller sect or "cult" type group. He has written several books beginning
with the words "A Case for . . . " and we have several in our church
library. As far as having them in a public school (high school) library, I
would think that a good case could be made for them if there is at least one
class with comparative religions or if it might be a topic of debate (debate
team) etc. or if you have similar books for other faiths, or requests from
students. What does your selection policy say if anything on this topic? 

 

Lee Strobel is not the only former Atheist or "nonbeliever" to attempt to
disprove the claims of Christianity (and end up becoming a Christian
instead) - I recollect C.S. Lewis also shares that distinction, as do
others. This election season many faith-related issues are coming up and
teens may have legitimate questions about religion in general as well as the
personal religious beliefs of the candidates, just as adults do. Just this
past weekend, Barack Obama answered a political question by referring to
Jesus' Sermon on the Mount:
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=/Politics/archive/200803/POL200
80303b.html

 

Here's a previous case of his referring to that portion of Scripture:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/08/26/obama-invokes-bible-in-nola/

 

He's not the only candidate to make either direct or indirect remarks
relating/referring to the Bible or Faith.

 

As far as the teacher speaking with the student on this subject, I think
that depends on how the topic came up and the reason the teacher is pursuing
it. If the student had expressed honest questions about the idea of an
atheist challenging the claims of Christianity and/or the results of that
challenge, and the teacher could recommend that title, I don't see a problem
with that. If the teacher brought the topic up out of the blue and was
pursuing or attempting to persuade the student to read the book, that's
inappropriate and likely problematic. If the student expressed an interest
and the teacher located the material on a public library or the high school
library website, then offered that information to the student to follow up
on (check out on their own if interested), no problem. If the teacher was
attempting to persuade an uninterested student to do so, that's a problem.
I'm speaking from a common sense perspective and not a strictly legal basis.

 

Joanne Ladewig  (A.K.A. "Library Lady")

Library Media Tech

Lawrence Elementary, GGUSD

Garden Grove, California

shatz at verizon.net

 

Comments are my own and may not represent the views of GGUSD

 

  _____  

From: calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu
[mailto:calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu] On Behalf Of Daydream Queen
Sent: Monday, March 03, 2008 3:26 PM
To: CALIBk12
Subject: [CALIBK12] The Case for a Creator...Lee Strobel

 

What are your thoughts on this email I got from a teacher:

 

 

A teacher writes:

 

i was talking to a kid about a book where an atheist sets out to disprove
religion/ faith ect.. i told him that i saw a dvd of a book where an
editorialist who was an atheist set out to do the same thing and ended up
becoming a believer in a supreme being/ creator based on scientific
probability - he spoke to physicists, geologist, biologist , chemists and
astronomers. first of all, am i within my rights to talk to this kid about
this? I kept the conversation stricktly based on the discussions about the
book in question. second, i want to know if its possible to order the books
and or dvd's of his series. The author's name is Lee Strobel and the books
in question are :

The Case for a Creator, The Case for Jesus, and The Case for the Real Jesus.


-- 
Sarah Bosler, Teacher Librarian
Montclair High School
Chaffey Joint Union High School District
http://mohigh.com 

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