Almost two weeks ago I wrote about the new Bureau of Prisons policy that is removing all religious books except for a government-approved list (original story here). I could say something smarmy and passive-aggressive like, "Boy, I am so glad we elected a true religious conservative to the White House." Or possibly I could ask, "How did someone so publicly aligned with the One who spoke against fear come to be so ruled by fear?" But I will avoid those thoughts as they might cause controversy.
According to an article in this morning's NY Times, the government plans to continue with this policy, despite calls for its end from both the left and the right. But, I did learn in the article that each prisoner was allowed to keep five books for themselves.
This got me wondering: If I were imprisoned during the Bush Administration and had my religious liberties taken away in the name of fighting terror, what five books would I want with me? This is not a list of my five favorite books, just those I would want during this time of Orwellian religious political structure. Below is my list; please feel free to add your own in the comments section:
Scott Bartchy is a radical. He believes in a subversive system that embraces those on the fringes of our society and seeks to establish a new way of life that goes against the status quo.
Kind of like Jesus.
Bartchy, currently the Director of the Center for the Study of Religions at UCLA, notes a great gap between the original, early form of church in the first three hundred years of Christianity, and the modern concept of doing church today.
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Scott Bartchy is a radical. He believes in a subversive system that embraces those on the fringes of our society and seeks to establish a new way of life that goes against the status quo.