The ALA says people complaining think putting the Bible on library shelves violates the separation of church and state, but that’s really not the case. James LaRue, director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, says the library association does not oppose having Bibles in public schools. He says the Bible does not violate the separation of church and state as long as the library does not endorse or promote the views included in the Bible.
“The Bible has been criticized, challenged, and banned by individuals, groups, and governments through centuries of persecution yet it remains the singular, most popular, life-changing literary work in the world because of its unique inspiration (2 Tim. 3:16-17), and Bible Gateway is committed to making it accessible wherever people are,” says Rachel Barach, general manager, Bible Gateway.
Barach says it’s important to keep in mind that the ALA list is based on a relatively small number of challenges, and that the Bible continues to be overwhelmingly accepted by people around the world. For example, “the Bible is read on Bible Gateway by people from more than 240 countries or territories, including China, Vietnam, Cuba, and North Korea,” says Barach.
The ALA report goes on to quote The Harris Poll of 2244 Americans, saying a third of the respondents (33%) don’t think children should be able to get the Koran from their school library and 29% say the same of the Torah or Talmud. And 26% don’t think children should be able to get books that question the existence of a divine being or beings from school libraries. But Americans are least opposed to restricting children’s school library access to the Bible (only 13%).
The Bible is currently crowned “America’s favorite” in another recent Harris Poll. In 2014, the same as in 2008 when The Harris Poll last asked the question “What is your favorite book of all time?,” the number one answer was the Bible.
According to a report by United Bible Societies, the full Bible is now available in 563 languages spoken by nearly 5.1 billion people and a further 1,334 languages spoken by 658 million people have a New Testament. This leaves 281 million people with only some portions of the Bible and a further 497 million people with no Scripture translated in their language at all.
The above numbers indicate much work remains to be done to bring the Bible to languages where it does not yet exist, and to make the Bible available to those who want to read it but are prevented from doing so by the censorship of an anti-Christian government. But the Bible’s broad availability—online and in print—and its acceptance and prominence in American public life should be a source of encouragement for both Christians and advocates for intellectual freedom.